Letters to the Editor
Mister Marker
Published Letters: 271 Editor's Choice: 8
-
Outstanding List!
[Read the article: The ultimate family DVD list]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]But here's a couple someone missed (hey, that rhymes!):
1. The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T - Based upon the book by Dr. Seuss (who also wrote the screenplay!), this is a delightful movie for kids between roughly 7 and 11. Great old Technicolor, wonderful production design, and Hans Conreid as the villain.
2. Return to Oz - Directed by the editing legend Walter Murch, this film turned into a complete disaster for Walt Disney Productions because it was incompetently marketed. I should know, because I was working as an usher (remember those?) at a cineplex in my hometown when the film was released in the summer of '85. The first two days we had HUGE crowds of people, all with LOTS of little kids, because the marketing and advertising hype had proferred the film as a sequel to "The Wizard of Oz." Murch, using the second and third books as inspiration, never intended it that way. But that was only the beginning of the problems.
The movie begins with Dorothy (played by a very young Fairuza Balk) being taken for electro-shock therapy because of her incessant talking about the events that took place in "The Wizard of Oz." (!) Then there was the Gump, basically a moose-like head trophy that comes to life and starts to talk...yeah, no problems there. Last but not least were the evil princess who steals heads (all too realistically) and the Gnome King (voiced by Nicol Williamson). The cast is rounded out by Piper Laurie and Jean Marsh. And in fact it is VERY good. I recommend it for kids over the age of 10, but ONLY kids over the age of ten. Why? Let's go back to the that first day....
About 30 minutes into the movie, the doors to the auditoriums where it was being shown burst open and outraged parents - carrying screaming toddlers - poured into the lobby, demanding to see the manager. Our manager didn't want to come down from the projection mezzanine, because he had watched people's horrified reactions to the film. But come down he did, and defused the potentially riotous situation by offering refunds for anyone who wanted them. Only a handful rejected this offer.
The next day was exactly the same. Thankfully I had Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off the following week. By the time I got back to work on Thursday night, the auditoriums showing "Return to Oz" were deserted and the story of Disney's folly was all over the news because scenes like those I witnessed were replicated all over the San Francisco Bay Area and the nation.
But kids 10 and over will still love this movie!!
-
ALL American Beer Has Been Piss Since Before the Volstead Act
[Read the article: The rise and fall of an American beer]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Many of the brands cited were actually quite good in the late 19th and very early 20th centuries. But as the temperance movement gained strength and it became obvious they had to do something to forestall a ban on ALL alcohol, brewers started churning out "less damaging" swill, the chief selling point being that it had less alcohol. After the Volstead Act was repealed these same brewers, for whatever reason, continued churning out the carbonated, fermented piss that they had before. With the dynamic growth of microbrews across the country, I think the days of all the big breweries are numbered. And good riddance.
-
Dane Cook and Will Ferrell Are Both Symptoms of the Same Disease
[Read the article: "Step Brothers"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]A complete and total lack of a real sense of humor amongst modern Americans.
-
Glenn Doesn't Go Far Enough
[Read the article: Let's give "Blue Dogs" the boot]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think the time has come for drastic measures. All Democrats who think, act and vote like Republicans should be expelled from the party. Period.
Yes, this will cause problems in the short term. In the long term it will make it clear what the Democratic Party stands for and, more importantly, what it DOESN'T.
-
Every Damned Person Involved With Hamdan's Prosecution...
[Read the article: The bizarre trial of bin Laden's bodyguard]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...is a FUCKING CRIMINAL.
And that goes double for the judge.
-
One Thing Is Certain
[Read the article: Journalists, their lying sources, and the anthrax investigation]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If ABC coughs up the names of their four "high-level sources" and Bruce Ivins is one of them, then CASE CLOSED. It seems obvious from the information released by his therapist that the man was psychotic but brilliant. The easiest way to deflect suspicion from himself was to pick up a phone and tell ABC "Iraq did it." And it worked, for seven years. When it was no longer working, he killed himself rather than face the consequences.
Of course, on the other hand, if his "therapist" is lying......
-
Hi Heather! Welcome to the Land of You Are Screwed!
[Read the article: Perspire to retire!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Prepared in great earnest 28 years ago by various right-wing whack jobs, this LYAS was designed specifically to fuck people who actually have to work for a living. We ALL make it to LYAS eventually, but it appears, at 38, that you've arrived sooner than most. CONGRATULATIONS!!
-
Please, Stop
[Read the article: It all started with the Germs]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I am sick and fucking tired of reading/hearing about how "heroic" were certain individuals in the early punk scene. "heroic"?? Excuse me?!
All of the Ramones are DEAD. Nearly all the Sex Pistols are DEAD. There is no magic or wisdom in being DEAD. You're just DEAD.
By the way, I take this wisdom from John Densmore's books about being a member of The Doors. You want punk? They were punk, before anybody knew the name Syd Vicious.
-
My God, What A Moron
[Read the article: Let the games begin!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Gary, you have failed the test of history. You were unable to see its repition right in your midst. The Olympics belong in China no more than they did in Nazi Germany. But that's only the beginning.
You give short shrift to what the Olympics have become. You mention in passing the way in which the games have come to serve capitalism. We have one Olympic champion in prison right now because of doping. Doesn't that strike you as odd?
I suppose not. You chased the torch around San Francisco while failing to understand that it was being manipulated away from democracy and towards democracy's extreme opposite. I think that's the best expression of what the games have become. God help us all.
-
Here's An Idea
[Read the article: Will advertisers kill the market for online tv?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Charge people according to the popularity of what they want to watch. If a movie or TV show is highly popular, it's more expensive. If it's not popular, it's cheap. Simple.