Tripewriter for March elicited a surprising volume of interest regarding the proclamation that, of nine movies seen in 2003, eight "were all much more enjoyable and far more rewarding than Sean Penn's look-at-me-emote fest."

Perhaps the only thing more surprising than the number of responses is that about 60 percent seemed to agree with the assessment, while 20 percent disagreed and the final 1/5 was somewhere in between. Responses came from Florida, Texas, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Oregon. Here's a sampling:

• I agree with you about Mystic River, and the fact that Penn took the Oscar for his hyper-emoting just goes to show how flawed the system is.

• Good issue this month; I agree on Mystic River.

• I personally like this description, because Mystic River made me wanna barf, too: "... Sean Penn's look-at-me-emote fest."

• ... you are not allowed to not like it if mainstream middle America likes it – didn't you know?

• Sean Penn is perhaps the most consistently exceptional actor maybe beside Johnny Depp that Hollywood has to offer.

Of course, by the logic of the last writer, Pedro Martinez should already be given the 2004 Cy Young Award. And Jon Stewart declared president.