Ask Mick LaSalle:
Did Mulligan deserve an Oscar nomination?
Dear Mick LaSalle: I think Carey Mulligan was fabulous in “Suffragette” and deserved to be nominated for best actress in a leading role. What do you think?
Susan Schrader, Chico Dear Susan Schrader: I think if she’d been nominated in place of Brie Larson (“Room”) or Jennifer Lawrence (“Joy”), I wouldn’t have thrown up. I’ll go that far with you. Hi Mick: Was there a period between the end of World War II and the beginning of the House Un-American Activities Committee witch hunts where Hollywood took on subjects that were more daring than usual? And did much of this freedom get eclipsed by 1950 due to fears over the HUAC?
Jim Forgione, Oakland Hi Jim: No. Movies were hemmed in by censorship during the immediate postwar period, and if anything, they loosened up (somewhat) as the ’50s went on. About the only thing that emerged in the postwar era that could be perceived as daring was film noir, and that didn’t so much stretch the era’s censorship guidelines as fall weirdly within them. Hello Mr. Mick: It seems to me that a modern actor who cries during his performance enhances his chances for an Oscar. Or am I all wet?
Leonard Stegmann, Half Moon Bay Hello Mr. Leonard: Crying isn’t enough, but if you cry and have stuff come out of your nose, you’ll win, so long as you don’t blow your nose or wipe it. You must look so distraught that you forgot you even have a nose. The one exception is Adele Exarchopoulos (“Blue Is the Warmest Color”), who played half of an emotional scene with what looked like a snail sitting in the middle of her face. She overdid it. Dear Mick: How do you keep track of all the movies you have seen over the years? Your replies are with personal knowledge of the many films you have reviewed.
Andrew Smith, Santa Rosa Dear Andrew: Alas, you give me too much credit, and I can prove it to you: Not long ago, I saw an insane French movie called “Secret Things.” After watching it, I got online to see if any American critics reviewed it, and I came across this opening paragraph from The San Francisco Chronicle in 2004: “Like most French films, ‘Secret Things’ begins with a scene of a beautiful woman masturbating. But ‘Secret Things’ goes beyond most French films. It soon tops this with a scene of another beautiful woman masturbating, and quickly trumps that with a scene, set in the Paris subway, in which the two heroines help each other masturbate. Ten whole minutes go by before the next masturbation scene, but it’s a good one. Later, one of the ladies seduces a man by masturbating at her desk at work.”
Now ... does that sound like a movie anyone could possibly forget? And yet I watched it a second time without recognizing or remembering any of it, and I had absolutely no recollection of having written that review. So I’m afraid that my way of inventorying all the movies I’ve seen is to forget the mediocre ones. Dear Mick LaSalle: Several years back you criticized my contention that “The Sound of Silence” worked in “Bobby,” saying it belonged to “The Graduate.” Now you’re saying that the music of Simon and Garfunkel dates “The Graduate.” What should they have done — a soundtrack from the future?
William Walker, San Francisco Dear William Walker: You seem to be relishing a contradiction that only you perceive. Yes, the music of Simon and Garfunkel dates “The Graduate,” and yes, it was a mistake in “Bobby” to lean so heavily on a song that was so thoroughly associated with an earlier film. Both things can be true, and are true, and no one has to go into a time machine to write music.
Have a question? Ask Mick LaSalle at mlasalle@sfchronicle.com. Include your name and city for publication, and a phone number for verification. Letters may be edited for clarity and length.