Calendar Letters: One look is enough
I read your nonreview review [“‘God Looked Away,’ and So Should You,” March 2] and I applaud you. I felt restless, cheated, used and disappointed. For us, sitting in the second-row, Pacino was often inaudible. I paid $196 per ticket, and I treated two others, How could this production command these prices? “Hamilton” it is not.
Jody Fasan
Los Angeles
My husband and I saw “God Looked Away” at a recent Saturday matinee also. You might have been sitting next to him as he dozed several times. I was so disappointed in the play and performances. We, also, were perplexed by Judith Light’s costar billing because she doesn’t appear until the second act. You didn’t mention the Asian bellhop that added nothing to the play, and I wanted to cringe when he spoke like a parody of Charlie Chan.
Lea Lowe
Costa Mesa
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I admired the entire column, especially the line, “But a stranger might have shown more kindness,” also the bit about picking up the tab.
Jill Borak
Palm Springs
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Thank you for finally answering the question that everyone was waiting for. For weeks now, I have been getting unsolicited come-ons from the Pasadena Playhouse about this “unmissable” “once-in-a-lifetime” event. When I responded to the barrage of Facebook come-ons by asking why there were no reviews, even from smaller local publications, I got evasive answers about the audience being part of the creative process, plus a demand that I communicate through private messages. Nothing in Pasadena Playhouse’s ads suggests it is anything less than a finished work of art.
Andrew Krastins
Long Beach
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My wife and I saw “God Looked Away” on Valentine’s Day. The core draw (Al Pacino doing Tennessee Williams) is irresistible. I loved watching Al perform live, in full Pacino, but, wow — such misguided forces onstage. The writer, the play, the director, the supporting cast, even the beloved miscast Judith Light.
Why didn’t Pacino just do a one-man Tennessee Williams show and put on a Blanche wig and act alongside a video projection of Brando
Eric Alan
Los Angeles
Include cars in urban planning
Regarding “It’s Deja Vu All Over Again in Growth Debate” [Feb. 26]. There is a one-item solution to the ever-constant turmoil with Los Angeles City and County development: Cars.
First plan and actually build the streets and freeways and have adequate parking requirement codes in all venues: residential, commercial, entertainment sites, etc. Then when emergency, commercial, buses and all vehicles are no longer in constant gridlock, as they are now, and developers build according to safe and sane building codes, the public will be in agreement to further build out the wonderful, very special areas of Los Angeles County and City.
The article stated: “…land-use and transportation policy is of course a separate, and excellent, question.” It should be the first question in the building of cities. Get that answered and built out first and there will not be this turmoil.
Roslyn E. Walker
Marina del Rey
Other forms of bias are ignored
While reading Lorraine Ali’s review of the ABC miniseries “When We Rise” [“On Their Shoulders,” Feb. 27], which chronicles the history of the gay rights movement, my thoughts and emotions are divided between an appreciation for the subject as it relates to the history of this country as well as the prospect of complete equality for me as a gay man and disappointment at knowing that much of my experiences as a black man within the West Coast gay community during the ‘80s and ‘90s will not be addressed.
I am hoping to see in a depiction of the history of the LBGT rights movement an acknowledgment that the oppression of the gay community did not make that community immune from participating in similar, if not worse, abuses.
Anthony Rayner
Los Angeles
Late Bill Paxton played music too
Regarding “Bill Paxton: Always in the Game” and “Bill Paxton, 1955-2017” [Feb. 27]: The articles about Bill Paxton wrote about his film and TV career but neglected to mention his music career. Bill was part of the ‘80s band Martini Ranch. They might not have been as successful as the Police, Devo or others, but they were an example of that ‘80s sound. The music video (remember those?) for their biggest hit, “Reach,” was filmed by his friend James Cameron. He also directed a little-known but truly excellent sports film, “The Greatest Game Ever Played.” We will miss you, Bill; it will never be “game over” for you in our hearts.
Steve Mirkin
North Hollywood
Architects may have answers
Regarding “Prize Honors Local Over Global” [March 2]. I read Christopher Hawthorne’s analysis of the Pritzker award to RCR Architects with dismay. The work of Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem and Ramon Vilalta, who have chosen to create an enduring architecture that remains anchored in the landscape and values of their local culture, is anything but a nod to Brexit and Trump.
If more architects used thoughtful design to help their communities resist the attritions of globalization, perhaps the current political backlash would be less intense. The decision of the Pritzker jury points to a way out of our current local-global antagonism.
Mary Ann Newman
New York
Tricky Oscar Starline stunt
To my mind it seems like Libby Hill’s column [“Oscars Stunt Reveals a Tricky Art,” March 5,] really missed the point of the Starline tour stunt. Much of the appeal of the movies is how they’re larger than life, take us into a bigger world than our everyday lives. By bringing those people who thought they were just on a tour into the actual Oscars, Jimmy was actually giving them a moment where their lives became larger than life — a celebration of why we treasure movies in general.
The one quibble is that Mr. Coe’s status as an ex-con was revealed. I’m guessing he would say it was worth it. If nothing else, he now knows how it feels for the stars when some of their own pecadilloes get outed — so in that sense too he got a real taste of the movies’ and moviemakers’ world. And isn’t that what a guy on a Starline tour wants
Greg Dahlen
Glendale
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I was at once amused and uncomfortable about the tour bus people shaking hands with the gliteratti at the Oscars and mentioned it to a friend. He said it was like out of a scene from Bunuel’s “Discreet Charm of the Bougeoisie” in which the poor people are ridiculed by the rich people.
Kurt Sipolski
Palm Desert
Quiet Beatle’s lyrical legacy
Regarding “Memories of the Quiet Beatle” [March 2]: It was referenced by Olivia Harrison that George Harrison wrote many great songs, but “My Sweet Lord” (as listed) wasn’t one of them. It was legally concluded that the song’s melody was lifted from the Chiffons’ “He’s So Fine” (written by Ronald Mack, 1963). Let’s give credit where credit is due.
Jack Wolf
Westwood
Editor’s note: Olivia Harrison was referring to the lyrics written by George, not the music, and it was the music that was the basis for the legal action.
The stars shone well after 40
Regarding “They are Well Suited for this Feud,” [March 3]: Lorraine Ali’s review of “Feud: Bette and Joan” implies that actresses couldn’t find work after 40. Joan Crawford’s three Oscar nominations (and a win for “Mildred Pierce”) came after she’d hit that milestone. She made a film every year in the ‘50s, taking a break after her last husband died in 1959.
Also, the “box office poison” moniker which she speaks of had happened 25 years earlier and was also attached to Katharine Hepburn, Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Fred Astaire, Mae West and other greats who, like Crawford, went on to establish themselves as legends.
George Gallucci
Los Angeles
