Martin Scorsese doesn't only make films. For the last thirty years, he has also been restoring old films through his Film Foundation. The Criterion Channel is now streaming a selection of 27 films that Scorsese has restored. I haven't seen all of them. Here are nine out of the 27 that I have seen and … Continue reading Criterion & The Film Foundation
Tag: Satyajit Ray
What’s Screening: June 30 – July 6
I have friends who love vintage wine. They carefully store their bottles and, on special occasions, take them down and pop the cork. But what about vintage cinema? Physical film also rots. But there's another kind of cinematic decay. If people don't watch movies, or just watch them at home, the motion pictures we love … Continue reading What’s Screening: June 30 – July 6
What’s Screening: October 29 – November 4
I haven't listed so many old movies playing in theaters since before COVID. Of course, Halloween had a lot to do with it. But we can also see films by Tarkovsky, Ray, Mizoguchi, and Kubrick. But if you decide to stream your Halloween, take a look at my article on Funny and Scary Movies. Festivals … Continue reading What’s Screening: October 29 – November 4
Films that increase empathy
Roger Ebert once called movies "a machine that generates empathy." I'm not sure that's always true. Triumph of the Will generated a lot of emotions, but empathy wasn't one of them. And yet, the best films can help you understand those trapped in poverty, loneliness, and sickness. Ever since the invention of the close-up, motion … Continue reading Films that increase empathy
What’s Screening: January 18 – 24
Harold Lloyd climbs into the public domain, Pickett and Prueher show very bad videos, and Germany frightens us in both sound and silence. Also Satyajit Ray, Christopher Guest, Ida Lupino, and a whole lot of great movies on Bay Area movie screens this week. But no film festivals. The Week's Big Event A Safety Last, … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 18 – 24
What’s Screening: January 11 – 17
Real and fake Laurel and Hardy, dogs and cats of the deadly kind, a dying bureaucrat, a desperate cyclist, a hitchhiker with a twitchy trigger finger, musical POWs, and a boy named Apu. But no film festivals. The Week's Big Event A The Apu Trilogy, Stanford, Friday through Sunday The Stanford is starting a Satyajit … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 11 – 17
Modern Cinema festival honors Satyajit Ray
Few artists caught the sorrows and sympathies of the human condition like India's Satyajit Ray. Come October, you'll get a chance to see 15 of his feature films, along with 11 others that either inspired Ray or were inspired by him, at SFMOMA's Phyllis Wattis Theater. SFFILM and SFMOMA presents Modern Cinema/Satyajit Ray: Intimate Universes … Continue reading Modern Cinema festival honors Satyajit Ray