----------------------------Original message---------------------------- Mikel Koven writes: "One of my pet theories, as a big dePalma fan, is that he has studies Hitchcock so closely that he can reproduce the Maestros scenes shot by shot. It is only Film Academics who see Hitch as a master and dePalma as a hack." ??? I'm quite willing to listen to arguments defending dePalma's artistry, but how does his ability to "reproduce . . . scenes shot by shot" contribute to that? I don't want to fetishize originality-for-its-own-sake, but what then distinguishes Brian? --Don Larsson, Mankato State U., MN