Strange bedfellows

Here we go again with the futile exercise of picking another glorious list of all-time “best films” on DVD [“129 ‘Best’ Films,” April 17] -- mysteriously, an odd 129 films this time. The effort falls into the trap, of course, of trying to group into one huge, eclectic, meaningless, potluck-dinner movie list the divergent stories and talents of Laurel and Hardy and Bonnie and Clyde; slapstick movies such as “His Girl Friday” and film noirs such as “Double Indemnity.” Would the same viewer watch a double feature after dinner of “Taxi Driver” and “The Wizard of Oz”?

One suspects the list is more of a memoir of movies seen during a certain coming-of-age time period than an overall objective analysis -- with some silent films and foreign films thrown in for good measure.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and the critic. But you can’t compare apples and oranges, camels and zebras, drama and humor, silent films and talkies, and make a list of choices using the blanket word “best.” Make lists, but please do separate lists by genres: comedy, musical, mystery, western, romance, horror, animated, science fiction, crime, war, fantasy, silent, foreign and so on.

There really can be no single “best” list. One person’s “best” is simply the next person’s “ho-hum,” or just “ugh.”

Sam McCarver

Dana Point