The Story of Temple Drake. 1933. USA. Directed by Stephen Roberts

As part of The Museum of Modern Art’s multiyear institutional collaboration with the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, I was invited to curate a film series that would give filmgoers in Atlanta an opportunity to view historic and contemporary cinematic treasures from MoMA’s Department of Film collection. Read more

Each year, for four years now, The Museum of Modern Art honors a filmmaker of singular importance and influence at a benefit event in support of MoMA’s Department of Film and its exhibition and collection activities. This year we looked for a cinema artist who has been a part of MoMA’s family for long stretches of their career. Pedro Almodóvar fit this description perfectly. Read more

Passerby #3 (Rainbow). 2009. South Korea. Written and directed by Shin Su-won

One learns, I think, a fair amount about a national culture through its cinema, particularly if the culture is as homogenous as is Korea’s, with its rituals, social practices, communal aspirations, tortured history, and earthy cuisine. What is quite special to me is, unlike many other cinemas, that Korean films are made first and foremost for Koreans, because, after all, it is they and not anybody else who speak the language in which the films are made, and, unlike films manufactured by and for the Hollywood studios, they are not made with the export market foremost in mind. Read more

I just returned from a Maine cabin by a large freshwater lake, where I was frightened of the water. Sharks might maul me, or if not sharks, then perhaps a large snapping turtle out of a Roger Corman film (not that I can recall a Corman film with a killer turtle). Read more

Festival Director Dieter Kosslick. Photo: Amelie Losier. © Berlinale 2010

MoMA has described me as a Culinary Cineaste and given me Carte Blanche to select some of my favorite food films. My sincere thanks to MoMA and to Rajendra Roy for inviting me. What a pleasure and honor, because food is vital, and not just to me. Read more

Henry V. 1944. Great Britain. Directed by Laurence Olivier

These notes accompany the screenings of Laurence Olivier’s Henry V on August 10, 11, and 12 in Theater 3.

I can’t recall an image of an auteur in action that is as stirringly visceral, dynamic, and, frankly, sexy, as Laurence Olivier’s Prince Hal in tights, rousing his army at Agincourt. (Mom, I don’t want to be cowboy or a policeman. I want to grow up to be an auteur!) Read more

The Southerner. 1945. USA. Directed by Jean Renoir

Jean Renoir (1894–1979) made six films during his American exile—all of them worthy projects—but the consensus is that The Southerner is the best. Read more

Jaws. 1975. USA. Directed by Steven Spielberg. On view in Hot and Humid: Summer films from the Archives

In 2008 the Department of Film “celebrated” summer with a short series of films from MoMA’s collection set during the season in which everyone relaxes in the sun, and most people end up being caught off-guard. Read more