Hi Mick:The death ofJames Caan让我怀疑。如果“教父”were remade today, are there actors today to equal Brando, Pacino, Caan, Duvall, Cazale, Keaton, Castellano, etc.?

Paul Sheinfeld, Novato

Hi Paul:Absolutely. We tend to look at people from previous generations through a backward telescope, so we see them as the legendary individuals who made “The Godfather.” But Pacino, Keaton, Caan, Cazale and Duvall were young actors, with nothing of comparable stature on their resumes; and Castellano was the likable comic actor from “Lovers and Other Strangers” (1971). Only Brando was Brando. Though everybody has a share in the making of a classic, it’s more truthful to say that those people are greatbecauseof “The Godfather,” rather than that “The Godfather” is great because ofthem. Great material makes the actor.

Dear Mick LaSalle:I’m not sure that someone who lists Elton John as one of the five best albums has any right todis a Steely Dan fan. The omission of Bob Dylan’s “Blood on the Tracks” strikes me as nothing but philistine, a misunderstanding/misreading of significance and importance.

John T. Selawsky, Berkeley

Dear John Selawsky:I think you just did a slight “misunderstanding/misreading of significance and importance” with regard to that column. Nobody asked me for a list of the five best albums of all time. I was asked for a list ofmyfavorites.That’s why, though I considered “Blood on the Tracks,” I had to be honest and say that the Runaways belonged on my list and Dylan didn’t.

我不会开始知道穿上best-albums-of all-time list, because aside from Eminem, I haven’t been interested in any pop music for the last 20 years and have never had much interest in anything pre-1967.

Dear Mick:I believe we both have come up watching the many movies of Donald Sutherland. Personally, my favorites are “MASH,” “Klute,” “Kelly’s Heroes” and his turn in “Animal House.” Thoughts?

Max Williams, Davis

Dear Max:I saw “MASH” for the first time a couple of years ago — early in the pandemic — and thought it was a misogynistic disaster. I do like “Klute,” but Jane Fonda is the big event in that one. I haven’t seen “Kelly’s Heroes,” and, though I’ve seen “Animal House,” it was on VHS in the 1980s and I don’t remember Sutherland in it.

I have to admit I’ve taken him for granted over the years, but he’s a good actor. I suppose two essential movies you don’t mention are “Day of the Locust” and “Don’t Look Now.” And I particularly like him in his spooky mode, as in “JFK.”

Dear Mick:Just finished watching “The Last Movie Star” and was struck by the reality that there was more great acting in most of the short takes from Paul (Newman) and Joanne (Woodward)’s movies than you experience in all or most of today’s movies. What are the movies of Paul, Joanne or both that you consider the best?

Bill Levinson, Larkspur

Dear Bill:I must tell you the same thing I told Paul: I don’t think the reality you allude to is an actual reality. Acting in the past was no better than in the present and was probably worse.

Joanne Woodward is a good actress, but no better than a dozen others I can think of working today — and that’s just counting English-language actresses. And Paul Newman was barely good at all until “The Hustler.” After that, he was consistently reliable and sometimes delightful, and sometimes absolutely great, but hardly some standard that’s beyond reach.

I suppose the big Woodward movies are “The Three Faces of Eve” and “Rachel, Rachel.” As for Newman, I wouldn’t miss “The Sting,” “Torn Curtain,” “Cool Hand Luke,” “The Verdict” and “Road to Perdition.”

Have a question? Ask Mick LaSalle atmlasalle@sfchronicle.com. Include your name and city for publication, and a phone number for verification. Letters may be edited for clarity and length.