Michael Fox's 2018 Eyes

The San Francisco Bay Area is still home to a rich cinephilic culture nurtured in large part by a diverse array of cinemas, programmers and moviegoers. I'm honored to present a selection of favorite screenings experienced by local cinephiles in 2018. An index of participants can be found here. 

First-time IOHTE contributor Michael Fox is a film journalist and critic for KQED Arts and the curator and host of the Mechanics' Institute's CinemaLit screening program.

Here is my 2018 list. I promise to get out more in 2019.

Persona screen capture from Criterion DVD

1. Persona (1966) with Liv Ullmann on hand at BAMPFA: I spent a little time with the classics in 2018.

2. The Crime of Monsieur Lange (1936) at BAMPFA: Our affections for various directors naturally wax and wane as we get older, but I can't imagine ever falling out of love with Jean Renoir (especially 1930s Renoir).

3. La Dolce Vita (1960) at the Castro: Every time I see a Mastroianni film, I'm persuaded all over again that he's the greatest screen actor of all time.

4. Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971) at Alamo Drafthouse: Melvin Van Peebles was a bad mutha.

5. The Cameraman (1928) at the Mechanics' Institute: Forgive me for including one of my screenings, but few things are as fun as a room full of adults falling for a Buster Keaton film they'd never seen.

Aparajto screen capture from Criterion DVD

6. The Apu Trilogy at SFMOMA: Satyajit Ray made it look so easy—and he was just getting started.