The American Spectator

p> SCARLETT LETTERS br> Re: Wlady Pleszczynski Oscar Showtime : /p> p>Wlady must have filed his Oscar reflections very late indeed — unless he’s back on the Coast where the time difference would have made his working conditions more civilized. I’m impressed. Just like the old days, when theater critics actually wrote for the morning papers. He captured the flavor of the evening with near perfection, too. And he was quite right about Scarlett Johannson, who, like the impressive Sophia Coppola herself, seems to know more about older characters than she has a right to. I watched Lost in Translation the previous night and was struck dumb by how this scion of the famous film family, Sophia, caught the middle-aged American male’s angst so brilliantly. Of course she had Bill Murray, sadly overlooked in favor of Sean Penn, as her muse and vehicle, but how do young women like that know so much? I’ve been in that Tokyo hotel room, or one very like it. Enough said. Except this: Can’t we just make Billy Crystal the permanent host? br> — Kenneth E. Grubbs, Jr. br> Director, National Journalism Center /p> p> I was amused by your description of Susan Sarandon’s attire. As my wife and I watched her and Tim Robbins’ presentation, we both remarked about a near-Janet Jackson Moment. Clearly, the show’s director had the same thoughts, because right then the camera zoomed in on her until the bottom of the frame was about even with her collarbones. Good timing! br> —