GOLDBLUM RUSH
Thank you for the Jeff Goldblum/Lost World cover (#380, May 23).
Jeff is an outstanding actor, not to mention utterly gorgeous. I
squealed in delight when I saw the issue in my mailbox. Oh,
yeah, the dinosaur was cute too.
MIMI TRAMBAKOULOS
Toronto
I loved your Lost World cover with Jeff Goldblum. I found him to
be as intelligent and warm as he is on screen. Mr. Goldblum
should be receiving a salary as high as that of Arnold
Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone, not just for his genuine
quality but because he is also box office gold.
RACHEL MOORE
Marina del Rey, Calif.
THE NAME GAME
The real irony concerning An Alan Smithee Film is not that
director Arthur Hiller has taken his name off and replaced it
with Alan Smithee, as you reported in ''There's a Name for It''
(News & Notes). The irony is that the film, about a pretentious
hack director, was written by the pretentious hack writer Joe
Eszterhas. Eszterhas, who has made an art form of failing upward
with such scripts as Betrayed, Sliver, and Showgirls, is the
idiot savant of the movies. He's a savant when it comes to
making money but an idiot when it comes to writing. Soon, the
name Alan Smithee will be retired, and when a lousy film comes
along that no one wants to lay claim to, it'll be known as a Joe
Eszterhas film.
ANDY SIMMONS
New York City
PRICE FIXING
It's definitely true that entertainment prices have skyrocketed
over the past 10 to 20 years (''The Price Ain't Right''). But for
over a hundred years, there's been a tried-and-true way to read
books that few people now explore: the local public library. The
selection is outstanding, and you can't beat the price.
CURT ALLIAUME
Brooklyn
At our movie theater you'll pay $4.75 for a ticket. For that,
you get to see a movie that cost maybe $100 million to make. You
see it projected on our $1,500 screen with our $14,000
projection system. You hear it through our $15,000 sound system.
You sit in a $100 chair. When you consider the above, along with
the costs of payroll, utilities, advertising, and all the other
costs of running a theater, the consumer is coming out pretty
well.
MIKE BLAKESLEY Owner, Roxy Theatre
Forsyth, Mont.
GEES WHIZ
I loved your article on the Bee Gees. For years, I have told
people that the Brothers Gibb have written and performed some of
the best songs in popular-music history — but they laughed at me.
Now I know what it feels like to be vindicated.
MIKE SPADONI
Las Vegas
CORRECTION: According to Audience Research & Analysis the cost of living in the United States has risen approximately 170 percent in the past 20 years (''The Price Ain't Right'').
