Oh, Brother: Readers Speak Back to Our Film Writers

Kenneth’s Turan’s review of the Coen brothers’ “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”whetted my appetite to see the film (“Coens Sing a Song of the South in ‘O Brother,’ ” Dec. 22).

However, while Charles Durning’s Pappy O’Daniel may have some similarities to Jimmie Davis, it sounds like the character is more literally based on the real Pappy O’Daniel: W. Lee “Pappy” O’Daniel, Texas’ onetime singing governor (and later senator). As manager of the Fort Worth company that produced Light Crust Flour, O’Daniel created and hosted a radio show starring the Light Crust Doughboys, a band that included Western swing pioneers Bob Wills and Milton Brown. O’Daniel later sang on and hosted a radio show to promote his own product, Hillbilly Flour, and continued to perform with his band the Hillbilly Boys even after becoming governor.

The Coens seem to be continuing the curious recent trend of creating film characters that use the names of real historical figures (Robert De Niro as “Billy Sunday” in the recent “Men of Honor” is another example).

BRENT WALKER

Long Beach

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Kenneth Turan conceived of an excellent opening image for his “Shadow of the Vampire” review (“Dafoe Lustily Sinks His Teeth Into ‘Vampire,’ ” Dec. 29): “Rare as a crucifix in Dracula’s lair is a film opening for Oscar consideration in the last days of the year that actually has something in it worth considering.”

But permit me to suggest that rarer still is a truly vigilant copy editor. Such a professional would have discovered that Turan’s review actually began: “Rare as a crucifixion in Dracula’s lair. . . .

Also, if you are married and you accidentally encounter a former lover, think twice before you describe the encounter to your spouse as fortuitous.

“Fortuitous” indeed means accidental, by chance. But your spouse may think you mean “fortunate.” That is because (to quote Garner’s Dictionary of Modern American Usage) the word is commonly misused for “fortunate,” in itself a very unfortunate thing.

For example, a Kevin Thomas film review (“Toupee Comedy Has Roots in Irish Conflict,” Dec. 25) attributed much of the success of the comedy “An Everlasting Piece” to the quite deliberate “fortuitous” teaming of the film’s director with its writer-star.

MARK DAVIDSON

Pasadena

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Kenneth Turan’s movie review of “Traffic” points out that the United States spends $45 billion a year to fight a losing war on drugs (“Blurring the Battle Lines,” Dec. 27). I offer a realistic solution: Save the money. Offer to buy all the drugs the cartels currently manufacture for shipment to the U.S. The cartels then won’t have to be involved in bribes, death squads, murder, extortion, corruption and trafficking. The U.S. won’t have to be spending billions on interdiction, crime, payoffs, undercover costs, Coast Guard, Border Patrol and the like.

Destroy 90% of the junk and save enough for distribution at no cost to certified addicts at designated clinics. No new addicts need apply. The demand will drop, crime will drop, our national debt will drop, our murder rate and incarceration rates will drop, and I believe both sides of the equation would be satisfied. And it probably won’t cost anywhere near the $45 billion wasted now. Then declare the “war on drugs” over and say, “We won.”

SOL TAYLOR

Sherman Oaks

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I have to hand it to Patrick Goldstein for his column “He’s Better Than Good in a Room” (Dec. 26). I didn’t think it was possible to sum up everything that is wrong with Hollywood in one column.

JOHN SPARANO

Valley Village

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Shame on Ann Hornaday (“ ‘Sweet Smell of Success’: A Film With Staying Power,” Dec. 25).

She found the space to mention the director, two writers, four cast members, a handful of producers and the cinematographer, but managed to overlook the man who, as much as anyone, gave the wonderful movie its relentless beat--composer Elmer Bernstein.

BURT PRELUTSKY

North Hills

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Kudos to Kevin Thomas, who points out a truth about Hollywood and the leftist dominant media culture (“It’s a Wonderful Life . . . Well, Sort Of,” Dec. 22). In Thomas’ review of “The Family Man,” he notes that Nicolas Cage’s character is portrayed as making a dark, bad decision when he chooses an ambitious path that results in corporate success and wealth. The better decision is portrayed as choosing a career that is comfortable but more egalitarian--selling tires. This is typical.

Hollywood is happy to rake in millions for themselves, but if somebody has a corporate (read: Republican) job, they can only be selfish. Such hypocrisy.

STEVEN TRAVERS

Hermosa Beach

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Once again, clueless Kenneth Turan has used “bemused” as a synonym for “amused.”

In his review of “State and Main” (“Writer-Director Mamet Is in a Good Place in ‘State and Main,’ ” Dec. 22), he writes, “Mamet doesn’t moralize, he just records it all with a can-you-believe-this kind of bemused glee.” I also would take issue with his use of “just” instead of “merely” or “only,” but why pile on?

Turan may be bewildered and confused about the meaning of “bemused” (which means bewildered and confused), but your copy editors should know better.

JAMES DAWSON

Tarzana

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How curious to see that Woody Allen didn’t deserve even a mention in the article on ensemble films (“The Ensemble Movie Is Back--and With Good Reason,” by Stephen Farber, Dec. 22).

Oh, silly me, it’s by that same guy who said “Dancer in the Dark”was really, really awful.

THOMAS KITTREDGE

Palm Springs