I must admit to being rather mystified by Barrett Balvanz's Feb. 4 letter regarding my Jan. 19 review of the film "The Departed." Balvanz says the review "fails to credit the original movie 'Infernal Affairs,' " of which "The Departed" is a remake. Perhaps Balvanz is reading something else. That's the only explanation I can think of, considering that I began my review by mentioning "Infernal Affairs" in the first sentence! I do agree with Balvanz that the Hollywood tendency toward remakes is unfortunate and often redundant, and have made that point many times in the past.
giovanni fazio