to scoop up extra bums for seats

Film Andrew Collins writes about filling in for Mark Kermode or not. It's a useful curtain sneak into the life of the modern film critic, not least how they have to watch films:

"Here how it works. The film companies screen all the week’s new releases on a Monday, traditionally. The national newspaper film critics attend those screenings on a Monday, sometimes a Tuesday, and file their copy in readiness for Friday, Saturday or Sunday depending on their paper. Most weeks there are about ten new films, released on a Friday, with the inevitable blockbuster that comes out on the Wednesday, to scoop up extra bums for seats and steal a march on that week’s box office chart. When, as happened two weeks ago, a Tuesday night screening is cancelled, and rescheduled for the following night, a review of that film (Scream 4) did not appear in that Sunday’s Culture section, due to its long lead-time. You can see how important the Monday and Tuesday NPS’s (national press screenings) are."

No wonder some reviews seem rather mean spirited; there have to be some weeks when the critic just simply isn't in the mood and no matter how hard, professionally, they try not to let it be reflected in the text, I know from my amateur experience it's almost impossible.