Toronto Star critic Geoff Pevere,

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Toronto Star critic Geoff Pevere, having described himself as a "nearly extinct stone-age geezer" (funny...he doesn't sound that way in his reviews), laments how common it is to be viciously attacked these days if people don't agree with your film reviews. The internet, says Pevere, is "the ideal technology for venting intellectually unadulterated spleen...with e-mail it has never been easier to fire a vigorously hawked-up spitball and land a direct hit at someone with whom you disagree. Even better, at someone who can't see you and doesn't even need to know your name. (Being mad is never more tempting -- or fun! -- than when you can be anonymously so.) Where one once had to go through the time-consuming, mentally taxing and rage-tempering process of composing, writing and sending a letter, one can now wish a short, painful and disease-ridden life on someone in seconds. And then go make a sandwich. This used to be called sociopathic." When I get one of these responses, I (almost) never respond to the vicious language or the emotion, and I usually try to address the particular point or argument being made. 97% of the time, the reply that comes back is always civil and rational, and sometimes even with an apology about having vented so strongly in their initial message.