Scorsese gets an Oscar: Yay! Nay!

ALL is joyful now in Oscarland, as Mighty Marty finally won [“ ‘The Departed’ Shows Silence Can Be Golden,” by John Horn, Feb. 26].

Though I didn’t think “The Departed” ranked up there with some of Scorsese’s masterpieces, like “Raging Bull,” “GoodFellas” and “Gangs of New York,” it was still a great directorial effort, atoning for the many times he was unjustly passed over.

KENNETH L. ZIMMERMAN

Huntington Beach

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PRIOR to this year, Martin Scorsese had never won an Oscar for a film that he directed, and that’s fine with me. I haven’t seen a Scorsese film in years, since they usually manage to bore me and offend me at the same time.

His premise is usually that New York is crawling with nothing but violent thugs and gangs and he is going to show you what life in the big city is really like.

Apparently, there is no love, joy, education, research, beauty or hope to be found anywhere -- and if you disagree with this, then you are too shallow for his wise and worldly perspective.

JOSEPH CARDUCCI

Pittsburgh, Pa.

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WOW, Sunday’s Oscars confirmed the reason I never watch Ellen DeGeneres’ TV show: boring, cliche-ridden, mediocre [“The Spirit Was Willing,” by Paul Brownfield, Feb. 26]. I found myself so riveted by her monologue I forgot I was watching the show and started doing a load of laundry! DeGeneres actually made me pine for Whoopi Goldberg.

SHARON SALONY

Wellington, Nev.

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THE fact that Peter O’Toole did not win an Oscar is a travesty. The academy has tried not to give best actor awards for quality of accumulated work done in the past, but Sunday night they should have. This was their chance to honor one of the greatest actors of our time and they missed their mark, they forgot their lines and tripped offstage.

GEOFF ALDRIDGE

West Hartford, Conn.

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AS Leo DiCaprio gushed on stage about his appreciation of Al Gore and his efforts to raise awareness about global warming [“Green Is Gold for Gore and His Oscar Pals,” by Tina Daunt, Feb. 26], I couldn’t help but wonder just how many people in the audience who wildly applauded Gore actually drove a hybrid, took mass transit, walked or rode a bike to the Kodak Theatre and did not arrive in a gas-guzzling limo. Host Ellen DeGeneres needed to ask for a show of hands.

RON GRALNIK

Moorpark