Subject: congrats
From: Paul Johnson [paul@inaflashanimation.com]

I was surprised to read on your site that you have no staff and create and maintain your site by yourself. I think that deserves a hearty congratulations, whether or not I or anyone else agrees with what you have to say - you are an example of free speech working to it's full potential.

Keep it up!

Subject: my defense of Eurotrip
From: Paul Wartenberg [wittylibrarian@lycos.com]

Yeah, it was blatant, rude, utterly un-PC, and far too derivative of "Room With A View", but still it has it charms. Therefore...

Top ten (and a half) reasons why I liked Eurotrip:

10) Where else can you find out Matt Damon is a piercing enthusiast?
9) That "Scotty Doesn't Know" IS a damn good song
8) Man U. needed a new rally song ever since they lost Beckham to Spain, anyway
8a) Vinnie Jones spewing obscenities at 112 km/ph = always funny
7) Because the Swedes never got insulted in this movie, and God Bless 'em
6) It teaches us that Prague can be visited and visited again and look different each time you visit
5) Pope hats on fire (and yeah, my dad's ex-Catholic. Go figure) 4) As a librarian, I can appreciate the subtle beauty of having Arthur Frommer appear as a character
3) Knowing that there's a set of twins out there who are the worst set of twins on the planet makes the strained relationship with my own twin seem normal
2) I can't wait for the Extended Edition dvd that will include Joanna Lumley's appearance as a hostel manager from hell in its entirety (aw, man, why did they edit that out? From the clips shown during credits it looked like it could have rocked!)

And the Number One reason I liked Eurotrip:
1) Because beating up on lame French robot mimes with Frankie Goes to Hollywood blaring on the soundtrack is damn funny

I respond:

Vinnie Jones swearing = not funny.

As does everything else in this film.

Subject: YOUR TOP 100
From: hugo_l@lineone.net

I recently came across your site and I think it rocks. I completely agree with you on the Lord of the Rings - Return Of The King, and I completely disagree with you on Kill Bill. But hey, your opinions and your website (and clearly a labour of love/obsession may I add and a damn good one to-boot).

So, to the point of my writing (and yes I read your FAQ's and the top 100 qualifier about them being "formative" films); still, all the same, why at #1, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the Eighth Dimension (1984)?

I recall it, just, from way, way back. Not bad in its way, but.... So why?

Perhaps an exception to your rule of not doing reviews on request might satisfy my curiosity (and surely others to)?

Also, do you feel it is due to be floated off the top spot by the river of tears shed over LOTR-ROTK. After all anything that emotive has got to be defining?

Well that?s all, please do keep up the great work.

I respond:

Why *Buckaroo Banzai*? Because there's a watermelon there.

I probably should do a little shuffling and updating of my Top 100, but I'm not sure if LOTR will be at the top. After all, the Hong Kong Cavaliers have been warping my brain for 20 years, and the Ring for only 3.

The reader responds:

Subject: Peter Jackson's next project
From: KELLY HALLORAN [halloranhouse@earthlink.net]

Dear MaryAnn, I loved the LOTR books and was glad when Peter Jackson admittedly made the movies as a fan. My Question is what book do you think he should bring to film next (after King Kong)? The Hobbit would be way to easy... Do you think we can make a list for him????xo Kelly p.s. Thanks for putting Buckaroo Bonzai at the top of your list...I loved that movie too !

I respond:

I'm sure Jackson's got enough people with lists of suggestions of what to do next. Frankly, he's so earned my trust after LOTR that he could propose to mount a production of the Wellington phone book, and I'd be there.

From: S Hennessy [jiggawhat_7@hotmail.com]

I'm feeling really crappy right now so if i spell rong deal with it.

Im not actually rude just crappy yeah.

I really agree with almost everything you say about movies. I do have characters i cant say goodbye to and jsut love relivin movies over an over again. You like all my favourites that you have reviews for which is cool. I enjoy reading your reviews for hours and trust your opinion alot. Keep working please Yure great!

A Guy who likes movies also.............

Subject: How I found this site
From: Andrew Kleinman [ask170@psu.edu]

apart from the movies that provoke you into an atheist diatribe, I've found that you are the movie critic whose tastes best dovetail with mine, and I've come to rely on your reviews when deciding whether or not to see a movie I'm on the fence about. With that (hopefully) warm and fuzzy knowledge, can you please review more of the stuff that comes out, even if it is big-budget shlock? I feel all alone without guidance. ;-)

I respond:

Wha? Can I please review more of what comes out? I review almost everything already! How much more can I do?

Subject: School of Rock review
From: Lawrence Horsburgh

Love the site, love the reviews, don't always agree.

I did feel the need to respond to your "School of Rock" review, because I wonder if maybe you didn't see something in it that I see. I'm not disagreeing with your review, per se, I'm just wondering about adding something to it.

To some extent, your review struck me as similar to seeing the Graduate and saying "Well, why doesn't he just get off his ass and get a job, then?" It may be right, but the whole movie kinda exists to make a certain point, and that question misses it.

"School of Rock" strikes me as not so much an attempt to make a "Rock n Roll High School" anti-establishment movie as a gentle satire of those movies. I say "gentle satire" because the whole point of the movie (to the extent that a movie can reduced to "a point") is that Jack Black's character is being mocked, but not cruelly mocked. His love of rock, his desire to "stick it to The Man," his need to break down the system and change the world with one good rock show -- that's all being ridiculed, not endorsed. It's a safe movie because it's pointing out "Look, how dangerous WERE Led Zeppelin, at the end of the day? Did the Rolling Stones really lead to the end of civilization?" The notion that rock should be dangerous and world-changing, that's what's being satirized.

So of course the best audience for Jack's beliefs IS a bunch of ten year-olds. This is the central joke of the movie. Preaching about the "goblet of rock" can't be done to anyone over 10 anymore. That's the only group that might still take this notion seriously. Everyone else has long since abandoned it. I think it's significant that Black largely stays away from punk and hip-hop (though they are mentioned). He's a classic rock/heavy metal fan, and these genres are just not considered dangerous anymore. It's a more gentle version of Spinal Tap -- sure, some people might think there's something Very Important about Stonehenge and rock combining, but most of us see it as pretty silly.

Now, of course, we might want to disagree with this. We might want our rock dangerous and paradigm-challenging. We might not like the idea that all these indie-people got together to make a movie that says "rock music is fun, but ultimately completely safe." We might think it's a terrible idea on which to center a movie. Or we might at least want our satire less gentle and sweet -- the Spinal Tap losers were mercilessly ridiculed, while Jack is more of a loveable loser.

But I think the movie pretty consistently presents a world in which "ROCK!" is not that important, just a fun little thing, and a character who, in failing to recognize this, is laughable, and can only find people who'll listen to him by turning to children. (Remember, also, that these children need to learn how to have fun -- they are a good audience for him precisely because, underneath all his claims that rock should be dangerous and transformational, they can still see the fact that ultimately all it ever is is fun)

Again, this isn't really disagreeing with your review -- if you want a movie that sticks it to the Man and makes rock dangerous, this is not it. This may be a bad movie, in the end. But I do think that it benefits from being viewed as a satire of this idea rather than a castrated attempt at portraying it in earnest.

I respond:

You may be right, but is there really such a thing as an effective "gentle satire"? I need some bite to my satire.

And I don't find anything "loveable" about Jack Black. :->

Subject: Spartan
From: Daniel Kibler [dankibler@yahoo.com]

I've been a regular to your site for about a year now, and I just wanted to express my thanks for such wonderful movie reviews. The last one for "Spartan" in particular, goes a long way to encapsulate that whole Mamet feeling to his work. Anyway, Thanks again. Take care.

P.S.: Who would have thought that Al Bundy would finally find his next niche in Mamet films? :)

Subject: Where this reader came from
From: Kris Landon [kplandon@comcast.net]

Hi! Love the site, love your take on films. I don't agree with everything you say, but that's what makes life interesting.

You asked how people found their way to your site. I tracked it down after liking some of your comments on Cinemarati Round Table. I still have plenty of reading to do on your site--I like that you have so many old reviews and articles archived. Lots of reading fun for the days to come.

I don't know if I should admit this (it's so geeky and uncool!), but something that made me want to find your site and read more of your reviews is your opinion of Lord of the Rings. I love those films deeply, and though they're far from being the only films I love, somehow a critic's view of them is important to me: a critic who is knee-jerk contemptuous of LotR, or who is bored and confused by it, is unlikely to have much else to say that interests me (or that I trust). The mind of such a critic will probably be closed to a lot of what I love, or even just enjoy, in films.

I like your clear, honest, beautifully written reviews. (I'm a copyeditor, and I wince at a lot of what I find on the Web--if it's worth the effort to put an article up for people to read, it's worth spell-checking it and reading through it a couple of times for syntax errors, right? But *you* know that, even if most people don't seem to.) I expect that reading your archives will point me to a number of interesting films I never considered seeing. This is a huge gift, and I thank you for it.

Subject: "Havana Nights" Scribes
From: The Jujube [thejujube@earthlink.net]

Hello, FF. I'm a fellow online critic and huge fan of yours. I thought I'd let you know of a possible error in one of your recent reviews: IMDb has reduced its list of writers for "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights" from 8 to 2.

Like you, I saw the 8 people listed (and assumed that's why the movie stank), but when I went back to double-check my sources the next day, the page had been edited. The two people now listed are also the writers credited on the movie's official site.

Thanks for all the great reviews,

Megan Kim
The Jujube
www.thejujube.com

I respond:

Thanks for the update. I'm hesitant to change the substance of any review after I've posted it, but I'll post your letter at my site so readers will be aware of the issue.

Subject: *Hidden Wars/Plan Colombia* review
From: Free-Will Productions

Thanks to you really. I believe this is the single best review we ever got. Very heartening especially when we too often feel that we are screaming in a desert (actually I don't mind screaming in real deserts !...).

Very best regards,
Gerard & Audrey
Free-Will Productions

Subject: Not psyched about anything?
From: Dave Turner [david.turner5@comcast.net]

Your recent review of Dawn of the Dead has fulfilled the role that I've come to expect from you. Occasionally, a movie comes along that I'm ambivalent about. It's not something I'd ordinarily go for, but it's getting some good buzz. Dawn of the Dead is one of those movies. When I'm on the fence like that, I always hope that you've written about it.

While our opinions about movies diverge at times, we seem to have one thing in common. Your taste in "outside the mainstream" movies matches mine fairly closely. I seem to be able to wallow in some Hollywood schlock better than you can, however. I suppose that I'm more of a movie gourmand to your movie gourmet. ;-)

Your review of Dawn of the Dead is the final critical push I'll need to see the movie. My weekend plans are now a bit less murky. Thanks so much.

I respond:

Glad you liked the review, and that it could help you plan your weekend.

I'm psyched for *Dawn of the Dead* again...

Subject: Great review of DAWN OF THE DEAD!
From: Batson, Jeremy [jeremy.batson@eds.com]

I think you nailed it perfectly,I really loved how you ended the review about this being a amazing horror film but not really a fun horror film. As my friends and I were leaving the movie I was saying the same exact thing,I also felt the 9/11 reference was amazinf as far as a overall feeling. I was in Michigan during the big Blackout last summer as well and can say I understand the chaos and how quickly life can change in a moment. This film I believe is probably the best horror film I have seen in my 32 years and very much like when our parents went to see the EXORCIST and John Carpenters THE THING for the first time. I even joked with my friend about when I buy this DVD it will stay in a drawer because I do not want to stare at it LOL<---kinda.......

Thanks for the great review!

Subject: subjects are stupid....
From: S Hennessy [jiggawhat_7@hotmail.com]

Hey I noticed that you dont have any American Pie or movies of that type, for example Dude Where is My Car and others. Is this because you just dont want to or because you have a hate for them because they are such crappy movies and dont deserve the credit they get bcause all they do is turn teenagers on to sex (which we really dont need) and stuff and makes them think theyre cool to watch a guy have sex with a pie or kiss another guy to see lesbians do the same or glue his hand to his wang or eat feces?And then during the interviews Tara Reid tries to tell us that her chaacter has grown in this movie...she didnt do anything! Al she does is stand there and look like a stupid....and sluttish.... Is this supposed to be funny? Go watch Steve Martin, Marx Brothers, Abbot and Costello or Peter Sellers. Even Jack Nicholson. Sorry I've gotten carried away but why dont u have those types of movies? (Stupid teen pop culture)

I respond:

I liked the first *American Pie* and I really like *Dude Where's My Car?* I just can't cover everything. I'd like to do a retrospective on dumb-teen-duo films: Bill and Ted, Wayne and Garth, and those *Dude Where's My Car?* dudes. Maybe I'll even get around to doing that someday.

04.08.04

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