Not hard to figure this out
What’s up with Betsy Sharkey’s beef with Nancy Meyers? After reading her review of “It’s Complicated†[“Hot Flashes -- but Not Nearly Enough Sparks,†Dec. 25], I almost didn’t go.
Luckily, I thought otherwise and did. Laugh-out-loud funny, it also made me choke up throughout, and the audience I saw it with gave it rousing applause at the end.
If anything, this writer-director should be lauded for having the guts and wherewithal to show a gorgeous woman of a certain age free of plastic surgery in the throes of some pretty, dare I say it, “complicated†issues: the insecurities of romance, sex, aging, suddenly finding herself in an empty nest, etc.
Bravo, Nancy Meyers. Personally, I thought it was your best picture yet!
Charlie Bohl
Hollywood
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My husband and I (both in our 50s) went to see “It’s Complicated†despite Sharkey’s unflattering review. We found the movie delightful, as did the predominantly female audience who viewed it with us. For me, it was a playful adult fantasy.
What Sharkey missed in her review was how a woman could be flattered by a man who left her after 20 years of marriage for a hard body, but then realizes that it was her “softer†self, imbued with confidence and self-awareness, that was not only attractive to him but to another man as well. This doesn’t happen often in real life -- just ask any single or divorced woman over 40 -- but it’s fun to dream.
As one woman who is tired of seeing 50-plus actors romancing women half their age in film and in real life, I applaud Meyers for giving me a delicious holiday treat.
T. Grant
Pasadena
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Re: “She’s Got It,†by Amy Kaufman, Dec. 26: One only has to observe the photograph of Meyers on the cover of the Calendar section to deduce that “she’s got itâ€: narcissism, vapidness and a punctiliousness for artificiality rather than substance or artistry.
Kaufman’s article delineates how assiduously Meyers works to create her world of shallowness rather than provocative and substantive filmmaking. A world that, frankly, due to our current economic times, many might find offensively nauseating.
Giuseppe Mirelli
Los Angeles
Don’t forget actor’s B side
In regard to Susan King’s article on Peter Graves [“Impossible? Hardly,†Dec. 30], there were egregious omissions in his filmography. Graves starred in four B, low-budget ‘50’s sci-fi films much beloved by devotees of campy, dreadful films: “Red Planet Mars,†“Killers From Space,†“It Conquered the World†and “Beginning of the End.â€
These films were as funny (unintentionally ) as “Airplane!†Then again, I can understand why Graves didn’t want these listed. Heh!
On the other side of the film spectrum, Graves had a pivotal role in the 1955 classic thriller, “Night of the Hunter,†which was the only film directed by Charles Laughton and featured Robert Mitchum in one of his best roles as a homicidal faux preacher.
Steve Finkelstein
Las Vegas
Making note of music highlights
Question from “What Popped in Music This Year†[Dec. 29]: “Haven’t we punished [Kayne West] enough for his impulsive move [in interrupting Taylor Swift at the Video Music Awards]?â€
Answer: No.
As long as men continue to bully women, they need to be called out. There are more -- and continuing -- female victims of male violence than there were Jewish, Polish, gypsy and homosexual victims of the Holocaust. Never forget.
Henry Hespenheide
Hermosa Beach
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Wow! You put together “a collection of the best . . . “ that didn’t include Leonard Cohen’s spectacular international tour that played to sell-out audiences (that included Los Angeles and San Diego).
That’s hard to understand, especially since it was his first in ages -- and he’s arguably the most influential pop music poet-composer-performer alive today.
Garry Rosenberg
San Diego
TV archetypes hit a nerve
Whitney Friedlander writes of “recycled†television character types [“Reborn, Again,†Dec. 29] with a charmingly suitable amusement, quite different from the pretentiousness of industry people she quotes on the subject. Josh Schwartz, producer of “The O.C,†calls character types in the recent decade “archetypes†and “iconic,†and he claims that they have stood “the test of time.â€
Goodness, Mr. Schwartz, those heavy terms are appropriate for Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell and religious iconography, not for the fads of short-lived pop culture.
Viewers like character types for the same reason that children like to have stories read again and again: They are simplistic and familiar, with lots of mental fat and sugar and few mental demands. Let’s keep light entertainment out of the depths of psychology, myths, religion and ancient history. Fess up to providing frothy fun through character clichés.
David Eggenschwiler
Los Angeles
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Friedlander’s observation that “though not exactly a cliché, characters in wheelchairs suddenly popped back on television screens this year†begs the question, where should the disabled be?
As a television writer-producer who’s worked steadily since “Square Pegs†and who is disabled (post-polio), I am horrified at the article’s inference that the disabled shouldn’t “pop up†on television but be hidden away as we’ve always been.
And to lump Daryl “Chill†Mitchell (a paraplegic) in the same category as two able-bodied actors pretending to be disabled (Kevin McHale from “Glee†and Raymond Burr from “Ironsideâ€) is akin to comparing Bill “Bojangles†Robinson to Al Jolson in blackface.
If it’ll make Friedlander sleep better at night, fear not -- you won’t have to see actual disabled people all that often on television. Jeri Jewell and “Deadwood†are gone; “Chill†Mitchell and “Brothers†may not be renewed, and, well, just avoid Robert David Hall on “CSI†and RJ Mitte on “Breaking Bad.â€
Four of us representing 50 million disabled Americans. Yup. We’re popping up all over the place.
Janis Hirsch
Los Angeles
The writer is co-executive producer of “Brothers.â€
Give the happy couple space
Re “Sheens Want Reconciliation†[Quick Takes, Dec. 31]: How wonderful that Charlie and Brooke Sheen recognize how much they are in love and want to reconcile just days after he allegedly put a knife to her throat, threatened to kill her and talked of someone else eliminating her through a “hit†and leaving no tracks! Isn’t love grand?
This reconciliation should be completed, of course, with the starry-eyed Mrs. Sheen agreeing to waive any right to ever call for police assistance if and when another domestic donnybrook should break out at the couple’s love shack. Let the lovebirds hash it out themselves.
Oren M. Spiegler
Upper Saint Clair, Pa.
At last, holiday film sees the light
I agree with Susan King that “Remember the Night†is one of the best Christmas movies (most) readers have never heard of [“O ‘Night’ Divine,†Dec. 23]. I accidentally discovered this gem on Turner Classic Movies.
This is a fine example of how an original story combined with great acting by the entire cast can result in a thoroughly entertaining and unpredictable movie.
Cliff Nimrod
Long Beach
Only good movies
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