Where there's a Will, there's a way: Why is it so hard to find people who love movies to write movie reviews? While Westword reviews are always well-articulated and thought out, I find that they suck the pure joy out of going to the movies. Robert Wilonsky's criticism of Talladega Nights ("Crash Test Dummy," August 3) is a perfect example of this ongoing problem. Although I agree with his conclusions (the movie was disappointing), how he delivered his painful assessment was like watching one of those pretentious sport reporters drone on about how Randy Moss fake-mooning the crowd in Green Bay is ruining football.
Those who have a love of film embedded into our DNA don't watch Will Ferrell flicks for their perfectly molded character arcs, realism and moral fabric. Those are not the point of the films. We watch them for the quotes we can use later on to make fun of our friends, the scenes we can try to reenact in bars, or the sayings we can use as headlines on our myspace accounts. Debating how to pray to baby Jesus and arguing about crepes and pancakes is fun. I wish your movie writers would remember that fun is sometimes what going to the movies is all about.
William Walsh III
Denver
Lit laughs: Had a really good chuckle over Bill Gallo's Beowulf & Grendel review ("Fun With Flesh Wounds," August 3). But methinks perhaps he's being a bit hard. Personally, I thought this film was extremely well done, despite -- or even because of -- the humorous moments. I really enjoyed it -- and anyone who can bring Anglo-Saxon poetry to the masses should be congratulated. As for Gerard Butler, put quite simply, he was excellent.
Susan Davenport
Conwy, England
Spirit of discovery: It was good to see you cover the Fort Collins dynamic duo, Doug and Wendy Ishii ("All the World's a Stage," July 27). However, Bas Bleu was founded by three women, and only two were mentioned in your article. The third was Lynn Cordiner. With extensive coverage on Bas Bleu, to not mention her leaves a great vacancy in the reporting.
Laurie Balliett
Fort Collins
Ticket to chide: Regarding Jared Jacang Maher's "Wheeling and Dealing," in the July 20 issue:
What we haven't seen in this debate about Critical Mass is the cost. Residents of Denver should be outraged at the wasted resources the Denver Police Department is expending trying to "control" Critical Mass. On the May ride I participated in, ten motorcycle police and at least three police cars were overseeing a few dozen cyclists. In addition, the nearly seventy traffic tickets that were given out at the April ride are now working their way through the courts. The resources of city attorneys, judges and the police called to testify will be wasted on processing these tickets through Denver's strained court system.
Is District 6 really "protecting" downtown from a group of bicyclists who occasionally ride through a red light or a stop sign? Other writers have commented on the illegality of the riders going through a stop sign -- but what about having those same police catch car drivers blowing through red lights, which happens regularly in this town? That is equally illegal, and much more dangerous than a bike's doing so.
Instead of fighting real crime, the DPD is wasting police resources having thirteen-plus cops and vehicles riding herd on a peaceful group of cyclists. At a time when the police say they need more money and officers to protect the city, when crime is booming and things like car theft and burglaries regularly go totally uninvestigated for lack of resources, waste like this should be condemned.
Let Critical Mass ride for a couple of hours once a month unmolested, and use city and police resources to actually "serve and protect."
John Semple
Denver
Coloring perceptions: In "Cycle Killer," in the July 20 issue, Jared Jacang Maher wrote: "ŒHim,' he says, pointing to a black guy putting a new tire on a bike." And I wonder to myself: When have I seen "white" guy, "yellow" guy, "brown" guy? And I wonder: Is this a subtle form of racism so ingrained in our society, so unconscious that it is acceptable? "He" did not say "black man," and "He" was not pointing because the man was black. "He" was pointing because the man was a resident of Samaritan House.
The point of describing the color of a person being referred to, journalistically, is what? Used as an adjective, "black" would be used to describe a quality, quantity, to specify a thing as distinct from something else.
I am just questioning, wanting to understand. If I was writing the article, would I have specified the man as black? I really don't know that I would have.
Richard Hart
Denver
Last writes: This letter will probably not be the last word written about Russell Enloe, but hopefully it will put the subject to rest for a while and let his family and friends complete their grieving for a great but troubled man.
I had worked for and been friends with Russell for almost seven years, and on May 24 I not only lost my job, but I lost a mentor and one of the closest friends I have ever had. The events and nefarious actions that ensued after his death, originally propagated by people whom I presumed had the family's best interests at heart, led his friends and employees (myself included) to seek the public forum of this very publication. But Jessica Centers's "American Ace," published in the July 13 issue, as well as the letters published in subsequent issues, have compounded the despair of people who have already seen enough pain and grief from their loss.
I know that anyone who worked for Russell over the years or bought a great piece of clothing or furniture from him will remember him for the great guy he was, and not for the problems that overcame him.
I cannot begin to understand what Russell was going through near the end of his life, nor what his family is going through now. I do know, however, that I did everything that was humanly possible to help my friend when I could. I, along with countless numbers of your readers, will pass 78 South Broadway and 46 Broadway with respect and reverence for Russell Gene Enloe.
Philip Snyder
Denver
