Dear Mick:As a film critic, wondering how you rate the most highly watched performances of actors this spring, the direct and cross-examinations of Amber Heard and Johnny Depp? Also, how do you rate them as actors in movies?

Gary Scholick, San Rafael

Dear Gary:我看着每天的德普/听到审判on the YouTube channel Legal Bytes, and as performances, he did well and she bombed. As actors in movies, I hadn’t particularly noticed Amber Heard either way, except that I liked her in “Her Smell.” But Johnny Depp is the major actor I’ve enjoyed least over the years. I hate the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies — “hate” is the precise critical term here. I don’t like him in “Sweeney Todd” or just about anything directed by Tim Burton, or anything in which he thinks he’s funny.

However, every so often, he’s exceptionally good, as in “Donnie Brasco,” “Public Enemies” and “Waiting for the Barbarians.” I find it’s best not to make a religion out of disliking someone’s work, because sooner or later they do something I enjoy.

Dear Mick (“say it ain’t so”) LaSalle:You often write about how the movies reflect what is going on in our collective consciousness. I recently read that Americans are having less sex. This is across all age groups from graduating seniors to the older generation. Is this fact in any way showing up in our movies?

TedJ. (for joy of sex)Rucker, Castro Valley

Dear Ted J. (for joy of sex) Rucker:No, that by itself is not going to show up. What you’re going to get instead are movies reflecting what we’ve all been going through, which is affecting both sexandmovies. People are depressed. They’ve been depressed since 2016. And I don’t know what has to happen to get us out of it.

Hi Mick:I’ve always thought Eminem was excellent in “8 Mile,” and I’d like to hear your thoughts on him and the movie.

Brooks Fenton, Oakley

Hi Brooks:He’s good in it, and those last 10 minutes are exhilarating. Eminem is a real artist, and the theme song for that movie, “Lose Yourself,” illustrates one of his strengths as a lyricist. Notice how, in a three-verse song, his third verse is often the best. He doesn’t run out of gas, like a lot of songwriters do. Take George Harrison’s “Something.” One of the great songs of the 20th century. Second verse is so smart: “Somewhere in her smile she knows/ That I don’t need no other lover/ Something in her style that shows me …” Then you go to the third verse: “Something in the way she knows/And all I have to do is think of her/Something in the things she shows me …” You can contort a meaning out of that, but it’s so vague compared to the second verse. Verse three does its job, but by that point, Harrison is just trying to get out of the song with his masterpiece intact.

Eminem is never just trying to get out of the song. His lyrical ability is bountiful. In the song “Monkey See Monkey Do,” for example, he does 40 double rhymes in a row.

关键的米克:I am a very big fan of Brad Pitt’s work in movies. I wonder which of his films are your favorites, and are you a big fan too?

Robert Freud Bastin, Petaluma

Critical Robert:Two movies stand out: one obvious, one lesser known. He’s brilliant in “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood,” but he’s equally good in “By the Sea,” as an alcoholic writer. I’m definitely not a big fan of Pitt’s, or even a fan, but ever since “The Assassination of Jesse James,” he’s grown on me.

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.