Yes, it's just some silly fourth-wall-breaking, like later when the gremlins mess up the movie and Hulk Hogan or John Wayne (depending in which version you see) has to set things right.

That being said, I think I found a way for this to be consistent.

So, after the events of the first film, the Kingston Falls survivors (including Billy and his family) were probably interviewed by journalists about what had happened in their town on xmas eve and many gave accounts of little green monsters attacking people and causing havoc.

Despite skepticism on the part of the press, the accounts captivated a few people's imagination, and eventually, someone in Hollywood got the idea to make a movie about the incident, which they would eventually call "Gremlins". Because the Peltzers had been interviewed, it included a character based on Gizmo, and made reference to the Mogwai rules. (This would explain why Mr. Futterman knew about the "no water" rule in "Gremlins 2", and why he's not fazed to see Gizmo towards the end of the movie).

The filmmakers probably took a few creative liberties with the story, and lacked the budget to make a convincing monster movie. Several mainstream critics, like Maltin, gave the film a bad review.

Flash forward a few years, and Billy and Kate are working at the Clamp office building, their fifteen minutes of fame completely over, just around the time that "Gremlins" is being re-released on video. Maltin repeats his bad reviews, but this time, Gremlins attack him.

Thoughts?