3 March 1963: He is reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" in anticipation of seeing the movie, out in 1962, but just now getting to the bases, I guess. My friend Kevin asserts that there are no (or very few) movies worth watching made after 1975 or so. I disagree, but reading these old letters, I can see something of what he is talking about. "Days of Wine and Roses," "To Kill a Mockingbird," - I think he writes me later about seeing "Billy Budd." My friend Jan from St. Olaf is begging me to see any and all Ingmar Bergman movies, Fellini is hitting his stride.

I just Googled "Movies 2005". As luck would have it, the top five were also favorites of mine - but the genre is a far cry from 1962/3: Star Wars III, Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, War of the Worlds (NOT a favorite of mine - Tom Cruise, indeed!), and King Kong (Peter Jackson being a favorite of mine - since LOTR, He Can Do No Wrong!)

Moving down the list, I find "Brokeback Mountain" - but that seems to be the ONLY movie all year long that both tackled important current issues and gained a popular following . These days, fantasy is either more believeable or more comforting or both. I think it is all we have left to hold onto as a reliquary for our dreams.