Letter to the Editor

Some of you may remember the Letter to the Editor I wrote to the UVSC College Times a couple of weeks ago. If not, read about it here.

Well, the College Times ran an abridged version of the letter.

Here it is as it was printed:

I just wanted to take the time to write you about Luke Hickman's review of Zodiac from the Mar. 5, 2007 edition of The College Times.

When I read movie reviews, I generally expect the reviewer to know a little about what he's talking about and if he doesn't, I would expect him to do some research to find out.

Hickman goes through a list of Fincher films declaring his first to be The Game when a simple check on IMDb would have reminded him that Fincher's feature film debut as a director after a successful career in music videos was the under-rated sci-fi/thriller Alien 3 and his second film was Se7en. THE GAME was actually his third film.

I understand that this is a college paper, but I still expect accurate information and relevant articles. This felt like Mr. Hickman was closing in on a deadline without having seen the movie and "reviewed" it based on other reviews and his own obviously limited knowledge of David Fincher.

And don't get me wrong—I liked Zodiac, just not this particular review of the film.

Bryan Young

And, some of you may also remember that Luke Hickman wrote me personally to start an open and honest dialogue about this. He also commented thusly on the blog below today (edited to remain topical):

I told this to Bryan, but I actually like feedback - if you hate me or not.
The truth is that Ebert is one of the most hated critics, yet one of the biggest. Hate me or not, that's up to you, but I'm not going to write the same crap that every other critic writes.

You can blame me of writing a review for something I never saw, but that's absurd. Anyone who knows me also knows that I see everything... and for free before its release! And, for your information, I don't read reviews of movies that I haven't already reviewed because I fear it'll tamper with my opinion and become a type of indirect plagerism.

After Bryan wrote me, I realized that I did make a mistake. Who doesn't make mistakes?

But in my defense, who cares if I failed to mention that Fincher made Aliens 3? That was an aweful flick! If I'm going to write an article on how great a director is, I'm not going to mention his biggest mistake!

If you don't like my reviews, I'm sorry. Look elsewhere. Because I've got a good fanbase here at UVSC and I'm not going anywhere for a while. And that whole "sticks and stones" crap applies here. You can try to be demeaning and angry, but, despite what some post in comments, I DO know what I'm talking about. If you disagree, you should read more of my stuff or just talk to me in person. It's not an easy job carving out your feelings and emotions about a movie for everyone to read (unless it's Number 23; I've never had an easier time writing about such a piece of crap).

Have fun. Keep watching movies and keep reading.
Luke Hickman
http://lukehickman.blogspot.com

He's a stand-up guy, he just made a small mistake. I've forgiven him and I'm interested to check out his reviews from here out. I wonder what he thinks of mine.

Although I have to say that Alien 3 really is good. It's worth another look. Seriously.