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.
Film Top 5: October 2018 Chicago International turns fifty-four; David Gordon Green (and Danny McBride) retool Halloween; snapping Garry Winogrand; Robert Greene confronts historical documentary; "Wanda" is a one-off for the ages.
Film Top 5: January 2019 Worldwide goodness, from Liverpool, Warsaw, Greece, Lebanon and Philadelphia.
Film Top 5: November 2018 Vigo's body of work is small, but one of the most essential in all of cinema.
Film Top 5: December 2018 Restorations rule the roost, with Siskel's smorgasboard smacking on "Detour," "Wings of Desire" and "Andrei Rublev," while the Music Box goes yo-ho-ho for thirty-five with the Christmas Singalong, "White Christmas" and "It's a Wonderful Life." And Clint Eastwood, at 88, directs himself once more as a wizened, if not wise codger daring the law.
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