If You Saw Vertical Limit, You May Be Entitled To A Small Cash Settlement

Sony settles the long-running controversy over "David Manning," the fake film critic who gave raves to Columbia stinkers like The Animal, Hollow Man, A Knight's Tale, and The Patriot. (Actually, I kind of liked The Patriot, and now I'm kicking myself that I didn't save my ticket stub.) It's unclear how Sony intends to make the payout: The company will pay a "$1.5 million settlement" for the class-action suit, which I guess means they're confident no more than 300,000 people—a figure that probably exceeds the number of tickets sold for all these pictures—will claim the award. In any event, Manning, bogusly identified as the critic for Connecticut's Ridgefield Press, is gone (or is he?). News courtesy of A.S. Hamrah.

Extremely spartan site for the actual Ridgefield Press.

UK Ambassador to the United States Sir David Manning declines to comment on the controversy.

Recent headlines by ostensibly real critic Joel Siegel: "Johansson Finds Winning Ticket in 'The Island'" "'Bewitched' Offers Tricks and Treats" "'The Interpreter' Translates Perfectly" "Roaring Laughs in 'Madagascar'"