At first I was told from book to book, person to person, that it was the male gaze. But now I'm thinking that it has something more to do with nature. Men tell stories that go up up up, then climax, with a short resolution. Females just ramble on and on about tiny details -- that goes against Hollywood conventions for a great film. Perhaps that's why we haven't made it into the biggest, most expensive medium of expression.

Of course we make it on the independent level, but most of the female independent directors are lesbians. I don't have anything against that, but they are just like men in so many ways, and I want a fully feminine female to make a nice film, I don't want to watch a thousand lesbian films just to study about women filmmakers.

Basically I'm flustered -- what is going on? Why aren't women at the top of Hollywood? They are at the top of everything else these days in small ways. If someone made it, they didn't last. It's such a huge art form, and it shapes the way so many people interpret reality, and there is no strong female voice shaping any of it as far as I can see.

-- Catherine

I was heartened to see that I wasn't the only person underwhelmed by "American Beauty." The plot and characters seemed more like a kitsch put-on I'd read in a zine than a serious comment on modern suburbia.

-- Press

I just wanted to say thank you for your recent comments about "American Beauty." I was beginning to think that I was the only person on the planet who saw this movie for the insipid garbage that it is.

Young film directors in the 1990's were desperately trying to recapture the countercultural glory of 1970's cinema. Most of them failed miserably because they are utterly blind concerning the degree to which they have already been co-opted into the Hollywood system and been bound by 20 years of political correctness. Director Sam Mendes even admits on the director's commentary of the "American Beauty" DVD that the film originally had a different ending which was not politically correct.

We have seen this trend in a large number of recent films, including last year's "Way of the Gun," about two extremely close male criminals who kidnap a pregnant woman. If the two criminals had been gay, the film would have been much more interesting thematically, but obviously someone decided that they couldn't be both gay and criminal, so instead they are just "very good friends." We can all thank the gay establishment and the folks who protested outside of theatres showing great films like "Cruising" and "Basic Instinct" for this trend of self-censorship.

-- Jack Pretzer

Since the number of available screens for quality foreign films is now cluttered with made-for-TV Miramax tripe like "Chocolat," what's the remedy for the art film in America?

Your description of "American Beauty" as crappy and condescending is dead on and in many ways reflects the attitude of Hollywood's "tastemakers" toward the audience. Has any other film in recent memory seemed more cynically calculated to appeal to academic liberals and film critics?

Cinematic exercises like "Repulsion" and other films you often cite as having grown up with have been replaced by stale fare test-marketed for consumption by a white, upper-middle-class demographic. If Harvey Weinstein and his ilk would loosen the reins a bit, audiences might be able to experience the same exhilaration I had the first time I saw "Repulsion," now almost 15 years ago as a college freshman in a film course. The experience significantly altered my worldview. How many of today's films could you say that about? How can your perception of spatial relations, sexual politics and, well, rabbits ever be the same after seeing it?

-- Clay Cassells

You are wrong about "The Sopranos." Like a great song, it grows on you after repeated watchings. If you stuck with it from the start, you would see the character development and hooks in the story line. If you just pop into any episode, you may not "get it." The series is laced with dark humor and almost mocks itself. Great television, for adults.

-- D. Lawson, Wilbraham, Mass.

I was disappointed in your put-down of that unique series "The Sopranos." How great that an Italian-American, David Chase, wrote and directed this brilliant work of popular culture! Then there are the actors who play Mr. and Mrs. Soprano. These are nuanced, real and just plain wonderful actors, who I believe are also Italian.

-- Roberta Hodes

Your reaction to "The Sopranos" is right on if it is viewed as serious drama. However, I view it as a comedy and find it hilarious. Give it another try! Of course I also thought "The Exorcist" was a comedy, so maybe it's just me.

-- David

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