1 Taipei Story (Siskel, May) Lovingly restored edition of the 1985 second feature of gone-too-soon Taiwanese master Edward Yang (“Yi Yi”), starring Hou Hsiao-hsien (who co-wrote and co-financed) as a washed-up baseball player who can’t reconcile himself to working for his family or with fidelity to his pop-star girlfriend.
2 Two By Tarkovsky: “Stalker” & “Solaris” (Music Box, May 26-29) 4K digital restorations of two of the most esteemed of the Russian master’s seven features. The great, ambiguous, irradiated allegory “Stalker” should be a dank delight, dusted off for the big screen.
3 Eight Features by Lina Wertmüller (Siskel, May) Swept away by an unusual destiny on taste across decades in our usual art-house: restored versions of the superheated work of the prodigiously controversial Italian melodramatist.
4 The Lovers (Opens May 12) The latest by deadpan-comic writer-director Azazel Jacobs (“Momma’s Man,” “GoodTimesKid,” “Doll & Em”) brings Debra Winger back to the screen in tandem with ace actor Tracy Letts as a long-married couple who bring fire back to their bed by cheating on their other lovers with each other.
5 A Quiet Passion (Music Box, opens May 19) Gifted Liverpudlian auteur Terence Davies’ eighth feature imagines a life of Emily Dickinson, with Cynthia Nixon at her finest as the painted poet. Artful frame and gesture and sound and light adorn each ache.
Ray Pride is Newcity’s Senior Editor and Film Critic. He is a contributing editor of Filmmaker magazine.
Ray’s history of Chicago Ghost Signs is planned for publication next year. Previews of the project are on Twitter and on Instagram. More photography on Instagram.
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