LA Weekly

East Is East (of Downtown)

Regarding the item by Lina Lecaro titled “How We Roll” [Nightranger, Dec. 14–20], I urge you to correct all current and future misrepresentations of the “Eastside.” Echo Park is not the “Eastside,” Silver Lake is not the “Eastside” — even Little Tokyo is not the “Eastside.” Boyle Heights is the Eastside. Call Echo Park and Silver Lake what they are: West Central L.A.

Pithy Poetry, Preposterous Prose

Ella Taylor’s capsule review on Lars and the Real Girlwas like great poetry: not a syllable wasted, pithier than Cicero, with judgment sounder than Solon himself! I have been a fan, but am now an acolyte! (P.S., I walked out on Lars after ten minutes, knowing from those lingering shots on Gosling’s glass-totally-empty mug that the film would last a virtual lifetime!)

Concerning Scott Foundas’ review of The Diving Bell and the Butter­­fly [Nov. 30–Dec. 6], his perspective on this emotionally imaginative film made me ill! To mention Transformers in his “review” is akin to mentioning Plan 9 From Outer Space in a Wuthering Heights review. I, along with everyone in the theater, was moved by this great film. Oh, by the way, the first Iron Butterfly record was as pivotal as Moby Grape or Jefferson Airplane in defining West Coast progressive rock. It is an insult to them to have their name featured in this excuse in intellectualizing emotion and passion — something Scott should look into! I cried after seeing Diving Bell AND Transformers— for very different reasons! I can’t remember reading such crap from an L.A. paper since Robert Hilburn.

Notes on a Gifted Old Man

Thank you for your coverage of the controversy regarding the former home of Charles Bukowski. He is one of my favorite writers and he had a gift for capturing the Los Angeles experience with humanity and realism.