Will the newly proposed seats at the Castro Theatre be comfortable?

An interior view of the historic Castro Theatre. If retractable seats are installed, will they be more comfortable?

Dear Mick: I hope the Castro (Theatre)’s proposed new seating is more comfortable than the old seating. The last time I was at the Castro, I was forced to leave halfway through the movie because of the worst backache I ever experienced.

Elliott Halpern, Martinez

Dear Elliott: Good point. I care a lot less about the layout of the seats at the renovated Castro Theatre and more about how comfortable they are.

Three kinds of seats are brutal for your lower back: airline seats, car seats and movie theater seats.

Before the pandemic, I carried around a special cushion for my back everywhere I went, because it was painful to sit. But during the pandemic, my back finally had a chance to heal, because I didn’t have to go to a movie theater for an entire year!

These days, to be on the safe side, I still use the cushion for planes, cars and movie theaters. It’s called a LumbAir, a lumbar cushion that inflates or deflates to fit any seat. I have four of them.

“Dracula” (1931) stars Bela Lugosi (right), but even better, it stars Helen Chandler (left).

Greetings Mick: Do you have any favorite vampire films?

Charis Moore, Oakland

Greetings Charis: I find vampires kind of gross, but I do remember vaguely liking Kathryn Bigelow’s “Near Dark” (1987). I also appreciate the original Bela Lugosi “Dracula” (1931), because it’s so ancient — plus, I like Helen Chandler, who played Mina and was always spooky, even outside a bloodsucking context.

The Tin Man (Jack Haley), Dorothy (Judy Garland) and the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger) set off on their quest for fulfillment in “The Wizard of Oz.” No place like home? There’s no place like Oz!

Hi Mick: Like you, I am a longtime admirer of the film version of “The Wizard of Oz.” Unlike you, I’m not bothered by the threat to Toto posed by Miss Gulch’s court order. If its creators had thought anybody cared about that detail, don’t you think they would have figured out a fix?

Chuck Knapp, San Francisco

Hi Chuck: Yes, but they didn’t. And not because they thought nobody would care. The concern over Toto is the first beat of the film; someone was bound to care. Rather, I think the filmmakers were either unconsciously or deliberately subverting the ostensible message of the movie, that there’s “no place like home.”

No place like home? There are millions of places like home, and they’re all equally awful. There’s no place like Oz. That’s the real point of “The Wizard of Oz,” that home is an absolute disaster.

For example, why is Dorothy living with her aunt and uncle? And why are they so old? As I explain further in my book, “Dream State: California in the Movies,” there’s a whole subtext here about the high death rate in Dorothy’s family that really calls for serious examination.

Legendary Chronicle columnist Herb Caen, shown in 1996, had a way with commas.

Dot, dot, dot Mick: I believe you and Herb Caen were at the Chronicle together for a few years. Did you get to know him, and what did you think of his style?

Robert Freud Bastin, Petaluma

Dot, dot, dot Robert: I overlapped with Herb for 11½ years. I didn’t know him well. He was 43 years older than me, so we didn’t exactly hang out, but I knew him enough to think he was a great guy and a generous colleague.

Usually, if you’re in the top position, there will be at least somebody who’ll dislike you. But I never heard anybody say anything bad about Herb Caen.

As for his style, I didn’t read him that often during the week, because his column usually referenced a bunch of people I didn’t know. But I liked his weekend column, where he’d go on riffs about San Francisco. What really impressed me was his use of commas. He used commas where other people would use dashes, and he showed me how it was possible, with only commas directing the traffic, to write long, swooping, complex and very clear sentences. Looking back, I feel privileged to have known him to the extent that I did.

Have a question? Ask Mick LaSalle at [email protected]. Include your name and city for publication, and a phone number for verification. Letters may be edited for clarity and length.

Mick LaSalle is the film critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, where he has worked since 1985. He is the author of two books on pre-censorship Hollywood, "Complicated Women: Sex and Power in Pre-Code Hollywood" and "Dangerous Men: Pre-Code Hollywood and the Birth of the Modern Man." Both were books of the month on Turner Classic Movies and "Complicated Women" formed the basis of a TCM documentary in 2003, narrated by Jane Fonda. He has written introductions for a number of books, including Peter Cowie's "Joan Crawford: The Enduring Star" (2009). He was a panelist at the Berlin Film Festival and has served as a panelist for eight of the last ten years at the Venice Film Festival. His latest book, a study of women in French cinema, is "The Beauty of the Real: What Hollywood Can Learn from Contemporary French Actresses."

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