8 films that feed the soul

San Francisco Chronicle​

05-05-2025

Dear Mick LaSalle: Are there any recent films that feed the soul?
Alan Takeda, San Francisco
Dear Alan Takeda: By 'feed the soul,' I'll assume you mean movies that leave you feeling expanded, enlightened and maybe changed for the better. Even most great movies don't do that, so these are films in a special category. Such films are always rare, but they never quite disappear no matter what's going on, because they tend to be personal works that exist outside of trends and tap into something timeless in the human experience.
Here are eight from the last decade: 'Julieta,' 'Truman,' 'Goodbye Christopher Robin,' 'The Quiet Girl,' 'Petite Maman,' 'Nyad,' 'My Old Ass' and 'Daddio.'
This is an eclectic list representing Spain, Britain, Ireland, France and the United States.
On the flipside, there are movies that devour the soul. In our time, these are sci-fi movies, post-apocalyptic movies and superhero movies that routinely depict American cities being trashed. They leave you feeling discombobulated and agitated, states that might pass for excitement but it's not real excitement. It's more like giddy, unfeeling dread.
Hi Mick: What movie wasn't nominated for the recent Oscars that should have been nominated?
Anne Spencer, San Francisco
Hi Anne: Nicolas Cage should have been nominated for ' Dream Scenario ' (2023), a funny social satire in which Cage, playing an under-appreciated scholar, starts showing up in people's dreams. It's a skillful comic-dramatic performance of a kind that invariably gets ignored, probably because Cage's Academy colleagues can't categorize it. Perhaps they need to undervalue it, because they know they can't do it themselves.
Dear Mick LaSalle: Thrilled that you mentioned "The Letter' with Bette Davis. Lots of people might see this film now, since you cite it. Yay! Davis is marvelous, of course.
Lucy Johns, San Francisco
Hi Lucy Johns: Uh-oh. You're so enthusiastic that I hesitate to break the news, but I wasn't referring to the Bette Davis 'The Letter' from 1940. I was referring to the Jeanne Eagels 'The Letter' from 1929. That's the talkie from the 1920s that I've watched the most often.
But don't be disappointed; think of this as a blessing in disguise: There's another version of this story that's even better than the one you know, which I agree is very good.
Eagels gives one of the most fascinating performances I've ever seen in this film — she looks like she's having a nervous breakdown live, on camera. And maybe she was. She was a heroin addict and died seven months after the movie's release.
Dear Mick: When I was a medical resident at UCSF, I would attend musical performances with Chronicle music critic, Heuwell Tircuit. I suspect you must have known Turk, as he was called by his friends. I miss him and his wit.
Robert L. Owen, San Francisco
Dear Robert: I'm sure there was a good side to Heuwell Tircuit (1931-2010), and I'm glad you got to see it. I knew him only as the rather snooty colleague that embarrassed our department in 1987 by panning a performance by the San Francisco Ballet that he hadn't even seen!
The one good part of the story is that after he was fired, the Chronicle made one of its best hires — Joshua Kosman — to replace him. A real case of the Italian proverb, 'When God closes the door, he opens up a window.'
It's reassuring to have your testimony that at least Heuwell attended some of the performances he reviewed. But even more, I appreciate the chance to tell you how critics feel about this sort of behavior. We don't think of it as a guy getting away with something. We look at it as a breach of faith with the public and a betrayal of the artform.