Author:
Dear Editor
In Audrey Lamsam’s article “A critique of Hollywood,” she accuses modern Hollywood of being void of artistic merit. She describes the acting, cinematography and directing as “lacking substance” and claims that she does not want to see “a remake of a movie or a book or a comic book” and that she would like to see something “new and fresh”. Although she wants to see something new, and definitely not a movie based on a book, her only example of “masterful filmmaking” is The Godfather Part II, which is based on a book by Mario Puzo called The Godfather. She also makes the daring statement that “I can count on one hand the number of truly awe-inspiring and groundbreaking movies that Hollywood has produced in the last few years.” I might not know exactly what Lamsam means by “awe-inspiring and groundbreaking,” but I can think of some great films that have come out in the last few years, rich in acting and cinematography. No Country For Old Men, Atonement, There Will Be Blood, Children of Men, Little Children, Little Miss Sunshine and Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead have all been, in my opinion, great Hollywood movies…and that’s seven.
With the exception of Little Miss Sunshine, all of the aforementioned films were based off of, or adapted from books. Either Lamsam has an oddly large number of digits on her hand, or she just doesn’t get to the movies enough, or she doesn’t read books. If she had read every book ever written then I could understand the annoyance of seeing remakes of stories that she already is acquainted with. My best advice for Lamsam is to check out the “Original Screenplay” category of the Academy Awards and watch every film mentioned.
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