That Time of Year

Thanks for the annual summer movie warning. I will make sure I avoid Steven Spielberg’s “A.I. Artificial Intelligence.” Let me guess: Children will save the world through love and superior intelligence from adult males bent on its destruction. I doubt if Spielberg directed “Full Metal Jacket” or “Eyes Wide Shut” that those movies would have any resemblance to the Kubrick works.

As to the rest of the summer fare, I quote Bill the Cat: “Ackkk Phhhttt!”

JOHN C. HATT

Riverside

*

In his profile of “Moulin Rouge” director Baz Luhrmann (“Strictly Luhrmann,” May 6), Michael Phillips noted the scarcity of live-action movie musicals over the past few decades. While he mentioned such “oddballs” as “Pennies From Heaven” and “One From the Heart,” he failed to include two of the most successful (if unconventional) musicals from the ‘80s: “Yentl” and “Purple Rain.”

Both films afforded breathtaking showcases for the talents of their stars, Barbra Streisand and Prince, respectively; both generated multimillion-selling soundtrack albums; and the song scores of each went on to win Academy Awards.

CHRISTOPHER NICKENS

Los Angeles

*

Curious that anyone would write a feature piece or conduct an interview about the upcoming “Moulin Rouge” without any mention of John Huston’s 1952 film of that name. It remains one of his best, featuring Eliot Elisofon’s extraordinary lighting and Oswald Morris’ cinematography as well as a memorable performance by Jose Ferrer as Toulouse-Lautrec.

KATHLEEN FITZGERALD

Encino

*

I came upon two different mentions of the upcoming digital/pixel-animated feature film “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.” At first, I thought that you weren’t going to mention the names of any of the actors who do these wonderful voice-overs, but then both items mentioned Cameron Diaz in “Shrek” --and the men involved with “Final Fantasy.”

So ... do your writers simply not know who is voicing the lead character, Aki Ross, or is there another reason you omitted the name of Ming-Na (a series regular on “ER,” or have you not heard of that show?), who also voiced a major role in “Mulan,” which made more than a few dollars for a small studio that you may or may not heard of: Disney? Not only did they seem to like her, but they have contracted her to do the sequel as well.

PAUL DINH-McCRILLIS

Los Angeles

*

In case you’re wondering why screenwriters were willing to strike in order to gain even a modicum of respect, I suggest you need only to refer to the article about Kate Beckinsale, star of “Pearl Harbor” (“An Epic Turn,” by Ellen Baskin, May 6).

Beckinsale stated several times that she signed on because of the script! She also admitted that when she agreed to do it ( because of the script! ), she didn’t even realize what doing a Jerry Bruckheimer or a Michael Bay project meant. In fact, while Bruckheimer and Bay were mentioned repeatedly, Baskin never thought it worth informing us who wrote the words that moved Bruckheimer to want to produce and Bay to want to direct “Pearl Harbor” in the first place: Randall Wallace.

Apparently even those who should know better still think, as Billy Wilder wrote in “Sunset Boulevard,” that actors make it up as they go along. They don’t. The only reason the actors say anything at all is because of the script!

DIANA KOPALD MARCUS

Westwood

* Once again your “Summer Sneaks” issue comes out devoting its first half to what is essentially gratis promotion of the latest products of the Hollywood film industry. It is irritating that one must turn laboriously to Page 46 just to locate the index to this edition.

Apparently, such trivial topics as theater and performing arts are considered unimportant compared with your breathless hype of summer teen movies.

In case you may have forgotten, may I remind you that adults still make up a significant percentage of your readers?

FRED DEAN

Los Angeles