Who’s lazy, Jack?

AS a member of the motion picture academy, I read with interest Patrick Goldstein’s column about the decision to not send out screening copies of the movies this year (“Screeners: Behind the Ban,” Oct. 7). I was fully prepared to chalk this up to “Things that I hate, over which I will silently fume,” until I came to the quote that Jack Valenti thinks that we academy members are lazy.

I have taken voting very seriously since I was old enough to see R-rated movies. Every year, I have sat in theaters, watching everything that is even remotely viable. I now have a small child, and no desire to pay for the multiple hours of baby-sitting in order to see all the films that stack up at the end of the year.

So, Jack, I have a suggestion. I promise to get off what you might describe as my lazy butt and see every movie in a theater if you are available for baby-sitting. You’ll find it refreshing -- my daughter whines less than the studio heads.

Quinn Cummings

Los Angeles