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Class Actors

I was thrilled to see Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet on the cover of your magazine. In my opinion, they're the two most talented actors in Hollywood who don't have any Oscars to show for it. Hopefully, that will change this year! Thank you so much for giving these two wonderful people the recognition they deserve. SHANNON STEPANEK
Naperville, Ill.

Ad Verses

Before complaining about commercials at the movie theater (''Ad Nauseam,'' News & Notes), EW might want to ask why they're being shown in the first place. The problem isn't with the theaters, it's with the studios. Because studios take a large cut, theaters no longer make a profit on ticket sales alone. To stay in business, theaters have had to resort to packing their lobbies with quarter-sucking videogames, gouging us at the concession stands, and now making us sit through soft-drink ads. Besides, with rampant product placement, the moviegoing experience is hardly the pure, magical transport it might once have been. I'd rather sit through a 30-second Nike spot before a quality movie than a two-hour FedEx commercial (cough...Cast Away) dressed up as a movie. JOHN McCARTHY
Minneapolis

I have two additions to your ''6 Ways to Survive Cinema Advertising'' list: (1) When an ad begins playing, stand up and turn your back to the ad in silent protest, and (2) patronize only those theaters (like the ArcLight in Hollywood) that don't play ads at all. Sure, they charge $2 more per ticket, but that's a small price to pay in the effort to avoid the onslaught of advertising. CHRISTOPHER DYE
San Diego

For the Record

Regarding David Browne's ''Who Needs Albums?'' (News & Notes), the album as sustained art form lives on in the work of current recording artists such as Secret Machines, Bright Eyes, Steve Earle, Roger Clyne, Fiona Apple, and Nellie McKay, among others. Bad albums with good songs have always existed. What has changed is technology. As consumers gain control over how they ingest entertainment, they can prune the bad from the good. Were people in our recent past really spinning entire albums because there were so many more of them, or because it was too much damn trouble to set the needle down in the right spot on a Boston record? MATTHEW MORSE
morsematthew@hotmail.com
New York City

Sign, Please

I had to write and let you know that I was so excited to see your referral to Signing Time! in your Jan. 14 issue (News & Notes). I just ordered the entire set of the Signing Time! DVDs and my kids absolutely love them. Rachel de Azevedo Coleman, her daughter Leah, and her nephew Alex have done such a wonderful job. My kids (I have hard-of-hearing as well as hearing) started picking up the signs the first time they watched the DVDs. I can only hope that word continues to spread and everybody gets these videos. I can't say enough positive things about them. SHELI R. WILSON
wolflover@dslextreme.com
Colton, Calif.

Voicing Dissent