Can we talk about how much the new Cameron Crowe movie sucks? I mean, seriously, what was going on with that freakin' volcano? And all that nonsense about the Chinese antisatellite device? And hoo-boy, that far-fetched third-act turn — oh, hang on. You haven't seen the movie? No worries, neither have I. Neither has anyone. It hasn't actually been made yet — but the reviews are already in at Scriptshadow. A no-frills Hollywood blog, Scriptshadow is diabolically simple: An anonymous figure who goes by the nom de Net of Carson Reeves harvests scripts from a network of industry contacts (including hype-conscious writers and their reps). He reviews the screenplays, critiquing structure, story, and character development — basically their DNA. Scriptshadow analyzes a screenplay for flaws and mutations months before it goes into production and years before the premiere. (The Hoeber brothers adaptation of Warren Ellis' graphic novel Red, starring Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman? Solid. Go see it — in like, a year or so.) The site is the 23andMe of flicks, reviews at the zygotic level, film criticism by amniocentesis. A precap, if you will.

Of course, that's not why Reeves started the blog earlier this year. He says he wanted to celebrate the writer, promote talented unknowns (aren't most screenwriters pretty much unknowns?), and acquaint newbie scribes with the art of the craft. "I've had so many emails from writers all over the world thanking me for making Hollywood feel closer and less intimidating," he says. "It's particularly appealing to amateur screenwriters who want to know what's selling. You have to realize that this is information they've wanted for years but just didn't have access to."

Naturally, this being show business, a little handicapping crept in. "People in the industry want to keep tabs on other scripts and writers," Reeves says. "What else is out there? Is it any good? Is it like mine?"

The site draws from three inexhaustible Hollywood resources: free-floating screenplays, insecure screenwriters, and nervous studio executives eager for someone to tell them they've done a good job — and what to do next. Reeves says deals are rumored to have been struck — and rewrites commissioned — based on, or at least influenced by, his reviews. Superproducer Scott Rudin, for instance, is a fan. (Cameron Crowe presumably is not. When Reeves posted his critique of Crowe's script, he got an earful from someone close to the project who claims what he saw was an unfinished draft. Reeves obligingly removed the entry.)

But all industry politicking aside, Scriptshadow is the logical next step in our increasingly impatient attitude toward the delivery of entertainment. We've seen the sun set on the medieval Age of Professional Reviews, the rise of the populist recap, and the boom of real-time in-theater Twitter. The precap, however, trumps them all. It's the kind of access Tinsel-trolls like me have been jonesing for since the '90s, when Ain't It Cool News hooked us with preemptive trashings of preview screenings.

Right now, Scriptshadow remains mostly an insider phenomenon; its total traffic is but a smattering of Entenmann's crumbs in Harry Knowles' beard. But Reeves can see that changing. (He is considering a commercial version of Scriptshadow, though it's unclear what form that might take.) "My hope," he says, "is that we keep getting closer to the point where screenplays are enjoyed the same way novels are, as stand-alone pieces of writing." Sure, until someone launches Pitchshadow and we can start critiquing movies the moment Crowe says, "Jerry Maguire, now 60, finds a crystal skull."

Email scott_brown@wired.com.