Dear Mr. LaSalle: You gave rave reviews to "Watchmen" and "V for Vendetta." Both movies were faithful adaptations of comic books written by Alan Moore. Do you think you may be a fan of his without even knowing it?

Mike Patton, San Francisco

Dear Mr. Patton: Don't know, but I like the idea a lot.

Dear Mick LaSalle: On "Charlie Rose," Quentin Tarantino said that he had no moral inhibitors when he writes a script. He said that morality is never a consideration for any of the characters he creates. On the other hand, George W. Trendle, creator of the Lone Ranger character, had strict moral and ethical rules for Fran Striker to follow when writing "The Lone Ranger" radio and television shows. Which of these two people do you think harms the film industry, and more important, does greater harm to Americans' sense of themselves?

Maestro Gaxiola, Albany

Dear Maestro Gaxiola: If you phrase the question that way, the answer has to be Tarantino. He does more good and more ill than George W. Trendle, because Trendle has no effect on film or society at all. However, I suspect what's prompting this question is a misunderstanding of Tarantino's remark. Yes, when Tarantino is creating a character, he doesn't impose moral limits on character behavior. At the creation stage, boxing characters into pre- designed stereotypes is always a mistake. Yet all the same, a movie with engaging bad guys and flawed heroes can turn into a highly moral, thoughtful, complex piece of work - like, for example, "Inglourious Basterds."

Dear Mr. LaSalle: How you could label "Inglourious Basterds" as "great art" is beyond my comprehension. Great art (for me) is embodied in movies like "Chinatown," "Rear Window," "Water," "The Seventh Seal," "Bound," "The Third Man," "After the Wedding," etc., as these illustrate compelling stories, interesting screenplays, plots that appear plausible, are absent of excessive violence and demonstrate the human condition.

Freeman Humphrey, Petaluma

Dear Mr. Humphrey: Because you have good taste in movies, you should probably go back and see "Inglourious Basterds" sometime. It contains a lot of the virtues you mention, except that it does contain violence, though "excessive" is in the eyes of the beholder. It's very much a human story - a human tragedy. But I have to take exception to the notion of plausibility, or the appearance of plausibility, as some kind of virtue. The only reason people use the word "plausible" when talking about narrative art is because the synonym, "believable," sounds too naive. But it's the sentiment itself that's naive. When I want to see a plausible character, I look in the mirror. I go to the movies for the implausible - to see a knight playing chess with Death ("The Seventh Seal"), or an incapacitated man confounding a would-be assailant with flashbulbs ("Rear Window"). Concern over plausibility is a wall inside the mind. Demolish it.

Dear Mick: Can you compare styles of these actors who seem to be landing the majority of the leading male roles - Sean Penn, Leonardo DiCaprio, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Nicolas Cage. Who do you think is the best actor? The most versatile? The most charismatic? Are any of them overrated?

John Reid, Menlo Park

Dear John: I like them all. Penn is probably the best actor, though they're all excellent, with the exception of Pitt, who is good enough. Depp might be the most versatile. Most charismatic? You could make a case for Depp and DiCaprio, but I'd go with Pitt on this one. Overrated? You could maybe say Pitt is overrated as an actor, but I think that over-praising his acting is just people's way of praising his movie-star magnetism, which is very worthy of praise. Honestly, I don't think any one of them is overrated. In fact, in some ways, they're all underrated, just like 99 percent of the people reading this. {sbox}

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. On SFGate To hear Ask Mick LaSalle with commentary, trivia and lots of extras, download his podcast at sfgate.com/podcasts.

Caption: In Quentin Tarantino's films, morality is a bit more shaded. - Matt Sayles / Associated Press; James Stewart in "Rear Window" - plausible? - Universal Studios; Johnny Depp is versatile and charismatic. Overrated? No. - Peter Mountain / Universal Studios