Variety: L.A. film critics love 'Letters'

Variety.com - Award Central 2007 �-�L.A. critics love 'Letters': "'Letters From Iwo Jima,' Clint Eastwood's account of the fierce World War II battle from the Japanese point of view, was chosen best picture of 2006 by the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. after spirited voting that saw awards spread among an unusual number and variety of contenders.

'Letters' prevailed despite that fact it was also eligible in the foreign-language film category (the film is in Japanese) and competed against Eastwood's own 'Flags of Our Fathers,' which opened in October and examined the experiences of several American participants in the Iwo Jima fighting and subsequent fund-raising drive. Distrib Warner Bros. decided only at the last minute to move 'Letters' up from an early 2007 release to its current Dec. 20 bow (pic debuted Saturday in Japan)."