Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 106

$,4 tfti. t' IH vt 'Star Wars' was overrated Regarding the Seattle letter-writer's defense of "Star Wars" (Feedback, Feb. 26): I did not find the story line of the first movie "imaginative." I quickly figured out that given the contrast and juxtapositioning, Darth Vad-er was most likely Luke Skywalker's father. And lo! I was correct. In my opinion the story lines of old "Flash Gordon" comic strips in the Sunday paper were often better thought-out than those of "Star Wars" movies.

So what if the first "Star Wars" is, as the Seattle writer points out, rated as No. 15 of the "100 Greatest Movies of All Time," according to the American Film Institute. The Institute rating was no more than a glorified popularity contest, not an objective measurement. What standards did the Film Institute's judges use? How were the judges selected? Who were they? And how could all of them be equally familiar with all the movies ever made? Since there was no reasonable attempt at fairness in the generating of the ratings, I do not feel bound to accept them on "Star Wars" or any other movies as more valid in my opinion. I find it incredible that the Film Institute rated "Frankenstein" as one of the greatest movies.

Of the movies I've seen, I consider the two most memorable, "The Hustler," because of its theme of redemption through suffering, and "Forbidden Planet," with its struggle against subconscious urges to dominate and destroy, which we all have. JOSEPH FORBES Oakland I- Listeners sold down the River I have been reading lately about the disappointment of many loyal listeners of 96.1 FM who are now left without a radio station that interests them. I was not a listener of The River, however, I can sympathize with those folks as I still mourn the loss of WXXP some 1 2 years ago. I found it quite interesting that Adrian McCoy's PG article (Feb. 24) actually fell victim to what many entertainment writers in this area fall victim to belief that quotes from radio program directors are gospel truth as to why a station's format has been changed.

If any of your writers will do actual research like a good reporter should, they will find that the last person they would want to quote is a radio program director who works for a conglomerate rather than a simple radio station. In other words, the problem still lies with the FCC, which made a huge mistake a few years back by allowing companies to own a multitude of stations within one city. When stations in Pittsburgh started falling under one owner, competition for listeners became less of a factor. Even a money-hungry giant like Chancellor Media realized that all of its Pittsburgh stations could not be ranked No. 1.

Chancellor also realizes that by strengthening one of its stations by good solid programming, it ultimately could weaken another of its Pittsburgh stations. This, it does not want. Chancellor knows its proven bread winner in Pittsburgh is WOVE and it will continually do all it can to make sure that WDVE is unharmed by any of its other stations. If anybody can't see this taking shape already, then I suggest they wake up! Look at the signs. Chancellor has acquired broadcast rights to the Penguins and the Steelers to hold on to their key 18- to 34-year-old male audience for WDVE.

Program director Michael Hayes of WDRV admits that the goal is to make 96.1 a WDVE for women. This acquiring of the Steelers broadcast rights for WDVE and format change at WDRV of course, somehow, happened about the same time. Coincidence? I think not. Chancellor also owns WXDX, what many of us consider a WDVE junior. Don't be surprised if the already weak excuse for an alternative format at WXDX is tinkered a bit when football season starts.

The non-sports fan who listens to WDVE will need somewhere to go to listen to WDVE music during Steelers season. The women, Chancellor hopes, will go to WDRV and the men to WXDX. Does that mean Metalli-ca will make a grand return to the WXDX playlist as the Steelers head to Latrobe? Of course, Chancellor has no worry about country music fans because they just happen to own one of those stations, also. The big loser in all of this is the listener, but believe me, the listener is the last concern of Chancellor and obviously of the FCC. RICK D'ALESSANDRIS Aliquippa 'Bottle' washed up in Maine Contrary to Barry Paris' review (Feb.

22) of "Message in a Bottle," the beautiful scenery, apart from the Chicago scenes, can be attributed to Portland, Maine. You don't find rocky coast and lobster.boats in JMorth Carolina. Please give Maine Its deserved credit (the movie does at the end), -V: i HARRIET KING tot. Ubanofi' Plea for common sense The review of The Common Plea restaurant in the Weekend Mag (Feb. 26) made me wince every time I read the word "capricosa." As far as I (and my Italian dictionary) know, there is no such word in Italian.

However, the Italian word for "capricious" is "capricciosa," pronounced cah-pree-chose-ah. I hope the spelling error is the mistake of the reviewer and not what appears on the Common Plea menu. Editor's note that is the way it is spelled on the menu. As for Munch's review of Kazansky's, I suspect that Munch wouldn't recognize a New-York-style deli if heshe were transported (a la Star Trek) into one and served a real corned beef sandwich on good rye bread with crisp, delicious french fries, sour and half-sour pickles, and maybe a cream soda. No New York deli worth the name would serve a walnut trout salad with asiago cheese, or cashew chicken with wild rice any more than my bubby (Yiddish for grandmother) would have served such a thing.

It seems to me (though I did not live in Pittsburgh during the time of the original incarnation, Hebrew National) that each incarnation has gotten further and further away from the New-York-deli concept. PHYLLIS S. MIZEL Squirrel Hill Movie-going won't be the same without the joint guidance of Gene Siskel, left, and Roger Ebert. Gene Siskel's death Is a major thumbs down Kurt Cobain. River Phoenix.

Teen-agers typically become depressed when people such as these die. Not me. When people such as Phil Hartman pass away, that's what gets me down. However, the loss of Gene Siskel had a more profound effect on me than any other previous celebrity death. For a budding film critic such as myself, the death of such an icon is nearly overwhelming.

He and his partner, Roger Ebert, are perhaps the two biggest reasons I developed the love for film that I have, and have decided to devote my life to it. The knowledge that Siskel was gone, and that there would be no more classic arguments between him and Ebert was quite shocking. The two men had such a passionate love for the medium, and such a remarkable chemistry. Now, one half of the duo is gone. I can't imagine one without the other.

No one will ever be able to replace Gene. With his reviews, I either violently disagreed with him, or totally agreed with him. Only sometimes did I find myself thinking, "Well, he almost hit the mark on that." But, I always respected him for his insight and humor. He could definitely pan a film when he was in the mood. (His hysterical trashing of "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer" was classic.) He and Ebert changed film criticism forever.

Mr. Siskel helped bring It into the mainstream, and helped to improve the image of film critics in general with his easygoing attitude. In addition, his opinion of the Academy Awards was right on. It is easy to lose sight of the fact that so much more than a film critic has left us. He was a devoted and loving family man.

Everyone seems to agree that he met the challenge of his terrible sickness with dignity and courage, and in truth even people who hate him cannot refute that. Truly, a giant has passed on. Farewell and godspeed Mr. Siskel. The balcony may be closed here on Earth, but'there will surely be a seat reserved for you in' heaven.

WE WANT YOUR FEEDBACK Now, we really expect to hear from you "Stars Wars" nuts. Send letters, along with your real name, neigh- borhood and daytime phone number to Feedback: E-mail: Fax: v.v Mall or Droid: Feedback, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 34 Blvd. of the Pittsburgh, PA 15222. ROBERT STRONG Homer City.