Re: Armond White’s review of Taken (Jan. 28-Feb. 3): Azrail writes “I often find your negative reviews irritating, but when you praise you really do it like no one else (and I am a critic-opinion-whore). Damn if every director doesn’t wont you on their side at least once in their career. Keep up the good work.” But a reader named Andrew pointed out what it took to praise: “Goodness: Manny Farber, Griffith, Ford, Lewton and Lang all in one review! No surprises there, of course, ol’ Armie is a name-chucker if ever there was one.There has long been no point in offering reasoned responses to Mr. White.Yes, this is surely one of those ultra-rare American films where a hero is justified in extraordinary violence in order to ‘defend the hearth’—what a bold, unconventional move. Taken’s half-decently entertaining, btw.” And to make sure we didn’t make any xenophobic remarks, one reader pointed out: “East Europeans don’t exploit American women. Americans exploit East European women. I suppose you could make a crackling, exciting movie about black men dressing up in white sheets and lynching white men. But it WOULD be a bit difficult to get past the ludicrous premise, wouldn’t it?”
You Say Hindi
Re: the feature on musician Krishna Das, “Das Affects” (Jan. 28-Feb. 4), one reader corrects us in our definition of a kirtan: “Hindu is a religion. ‘Hindi’ is a language.”
Dive Right In
Re: Josh Bernstein’s Gut Instinct column, “Full Metal Jacket,” (Jan. 28-Feb. 3): One reader points out “Gotta love that there’s still a place to get cheap PBR. Maybe we´ll see the second coming of dive bars now that folks are tired of overpaying for their social lubricant swill.”
HEd: Re: “Copping an Attitude,” Steve Strauss’ Jan. 28 8 Million Stories tale about his interaction with the cops elicited this reader response: “Great story, AND scary…didn’t realize the NYC subway system had Homeland Security (a misnomer, if ever there was one). Good luck, Steve. Link to this story was emailed to me from a cousin who got it from a friend of a friend, etc.
HED: Re: Ty Forvé’s 8 Million Stories, “Thank
God for Drug Dealers” (Jan. 21-27): “Holy crap, Ty, you have captured the douchy hipster tone perfectly, too bad every Craigslist writer has the same goddamn smug writing style. Good luck on that book deal! Go back to that “hypnotically soul-punishing cultural void” you delusional implant.
