Mail

Flick Flak

Thank you so much for this year’s fall movie issue. One thing I was very happy about was your comprehensive stretch on Scream 3. You didn’t give away anything about the movie or spoil it for us loyal Scream viewers.
STEVE GAVIS
Glenolden, Pa.

As a longtime fan of Harrison Ford, I want to say I was thrilled to see him on the cover. I didn’t really notice the person pictured with him but instead noticed something missing. Where is the scar on his chin? It is particularly interesting considering the artist’s rendering for the Random Quote on page 16 managed to include it!
JULIE RIGANATI
Wyndmoor, Pa.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The scar is actually there; we wouldn’t have it any other way. But you’ve got to look very carefully: According to photographer Timothy White, the lighting and angle of the photo obscure it almost entirely.

Did I miss something? Your Buzz-O-Meter scale seems a little out of whack in your Fall Movie Preview. Despite the 1-to-10 scale, the results went only from 3 to 9, with five movies warranting a 3 and only The Green Mile getting a 9. No movies deserved a 1, 2, or a 10?
MICHAEL CHEEK
Silver Spring, Md.

Natalie Portman is a wonderful young actress and I understand and applaud her refusal to do the eventually toned-down sex scene in Anywhere but Here. But with all due respect, I do not understand why the same person would take issue with a sensitively handled sexual theme in one movie while apparently having no problem with extreme brutality in another. Her debut film, The Professional, features a then-13-year-old Portman aiding a considerably older hitman, going so far as to enter a government building armed to the teeth with the intent to kill the film’s villain. Portman may have a private regret or two about having made that picture. I hope so, because the prevailing message in our society that sex is worse than violence is a dubious one and needs revision.
CRAIG SIMPSON
Reynoldsburg, Ohio

‘X’-traordinary People

Straight off, I am so excited that they have finally decided to start production on the X-Men movie (”X-tra Effort”). I totally agree with Patrick Stewart being cast as Professor X. And Rebecca Romijn-Stamos as Mystique is a great idea! But Ian McKellen as Magneto and Halle Berry as Storm? Magneto is a little younger and stronger looking. (No offense, Ian.) As for Storm, I think RuPaul would have been the hands-down choice!
RAUL PEREZ
Brownsville, Tex.

This morning I woke up 45 minutes late, put my hand on a bee during lunch, got rear-ended on my way home, and found my supply of water depleted by my neighbor when I finally returned home. The only saving grace was getting my EW in the mail. The ultimate saving grace was the fabulous article on The X-Men — the first thing I turned to when perusing the issue. Bravo on a first-rate, informative article about the best thing to come to the silver screen since Batman. And holy spandex, Batman! Seeing Famke Janssen in tights will make any day better!
RANDY BOER
Denver

The MADdening Crowd

I feel you are in error in claiming that MAD magazine is obsolete (”MADly, Truly”). Sure, MAD‘s ideas and ideals are everywhere, but MAD did it first and best … it needed no perfecting by This Is Spinal Tap and Spy magazine. The satirical publication has been the leader and the cutting edge of humor for 47 years and will be for a lot longer than its pale imitations.
STEVEN CARPENTER
Columbus, Ohio

CORRECTION: In our review of Bowfinger, we mistitled Steve Martin’s 1994 movie A Simple Twist of Fate.

There were plenty of raves for our Fall Movie Preview issue (#499/500, Aug. 20/27) and a few rants, particularly from Harrison Ford fans who noticed our cover boy’s missing trademark feature (see below). Another cineast reprimanded us for spilling the beans: ”You ruined the ending!” sniped Winnipeg, Manitoba’s Chiranjit Goswami of our For Love of the Game coverage. And rabid X-Men fans sounded off on the casting of the movie — specifically 17-year-old Anna Paquin and 60-year-old Ian McKellen as married couple Rogue and Magneto: ”The age difference is a little disturbing,” writes Sarah Gaskill of Hollis, N.H., ”and Rogue is a full-bodied Southern beauty, not a skinny little shrimp.” Ouch.

WWW.EW.COM (AOL KEYWORD: EW)

Trailer Trash?
Watch clips from the fall’s new TV shows and decide for yourself.

Judged Farrelly
Compare Outside Providence and There’s Something About Mary in the message boards.