Calendar Letters: Oscar coverage omissions, screeners and more

The doors open wide on Oscar analysis

Regarding “The Academy Awards Coverage” [March 5]: During the Oscars, there was a tribute to veterans of U.S. wars. Clips were shown from movies that depicted heroic stories of soldiers in action. One film that didn’t get a slot was Oliver Stone’s “Born on the Fourth of July,” which received eight nominations and won two Oscars. Was it overlooked because it is an antiwar picture? Certainly, Ron Kovic (the focus of the biopic) paid a big price for his service: the loss of the use of his legs.

My generation got the shaft because we were lied to by our leaders about Vietnam. But the only lesson they took from that war was “don’t show coffins returning from the battlefield.”

“Born on the Fourth of July” didn’t glorify war. It was an effort to teach that maybe if we used our resources to clean up the poor areas in our cities instead of meddling in civil strife outside our borders, America would be even greater than it already is.

John Densmore

Los Angeles

::

Oscar voters must have fallen under the Kobe-Kardashian syndrome, as “Dear Basketball” was the least worthy of all the animated shorts nominated.

“Dear Basketball” won almost certainly due to the Kobe Bryant celebrity factor, not because it was the best of the nominees. I recall hearing that those attending the luncheon for Oscar nominees were all atwitter at the presence of Bryant and that dozens of Hollywood celebrities crowded around him for selfies.

Kevin S. Avery

Tarzana

::

While it was nice to see best picture presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway get it right the second time around (after last year’s “envelopegate”), a serious error occurred on the show, nevertheless: the omission of Howard Gottfried from the “In Memoriam” segment. Gottfried was not only the producer of the classic 1976 film “Network,” which received a best picture nomination, but he also brought “Torch Song Trilogy,” “The Hospital,” “Body Double” and “Altered States” to the screen.

If the film academy saw fit to feature a clip from “Network” with Peter Finch shouting one of the most famous lines in movie history, why didn’t it mention the man who made that movie possible in its honor roll

Bill Royce

Cathedral City

Theater critic not alone here

Regarding “They Just Didn’t Do It for Him” [March 2]: “Call Me by Your Name” was my favorite movie last year, and I liked “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” well enough. Nonetheless, theater critic Charles McNulty’s objections to them were so well reasoned and beautifully stated that I felt I’d lost a debate club standoff.

Eric Lindbom

Silver Lake

::

I was beginning to think there was something wrong with me. I’ll be forwarding McNulty’s article to friends who also thought there was something wrong with me.

Peter McIntosh

Bangkok

::

Thanks for a terrific essay, even for someone who hasn’t seen either movie. From “unfathomable parking structures” to “comic contrivances,” it was a reader’s E-ride, start to finish.

Jaye Scholl

Glendale

This musician knows the score

Regarding “Even When He Loses, We Win” [March 4]: John Williams is the genius composer of our day. I had the honor of playing electric bass on a few of his scores. To most musicians, every Williams score is breathtaking. I sat in the musicians pit year after year at the Oscars, hearing the winners announced and Williams consistently being passed over. The musicians all shrugged. It was so absurd that we could only hit our “play-on” and laugh.

We can say that it’s subjective, but my conclusion is that academy members vote for the movie, not the score. Is the brilliance and nuance described in the article over their heads? I think yes, it is. They just don’t “hear” it.

Neil Stubenhaus

Studio City

Shrine awaits, film academy

Regarding “Racing to Get a Ticket? Better Beg or Make a Deal” [March 4]: If the motion picture academy really wanted to accommodate everybody who wanted to attend the Oscars and not have to deal with the headaches, organizers would simply move the awards ceremony back to the Shrine Auditorium, where the seating capacity is almost double that of the Dolby Theatre.

Steve Shaevel

Woodland Hills

A boost from Z Channel too

Regarding “Behind the Screener” [March 1]: Good that the research showing how airings on the Z Channel, a local pay-TV outlet, helped lead to the evolution of film academy screeners. One detail was missed. Not only did “The Emerald Forest” do the free VHS rental gambit — but it also was shown on the Z Channel. Further, Oliver Stone and James Woods have long held that their nominations for “Salvador” could be directly attributed to airings on the Z Channel.

Anthony DiSalvo

Culver City

calendar.letters@latimes.com