Digital incarnations notwithstanding, film is a fragile, even ephemeral thing. It is commonly observed that 90 percent of all American silent films and 50 percent of American sound films made before 1950 have already been lost forever. The great majority of those that have survived continue to suffer woeful decay and neglect. The vaults of the UCLA Film & Television Archive, with a big, dedicated staff and a 220,000-title collection that makes it second in size only to the Library of Congress, are xenon arc lamp of our burgeoning enlightenment about the need to restore and preserve our cinematic heritage so it can be shared with future generations. Throughout September, treasures plucked from that vault will be available at the Gene Siskel Film Center, and we recommend you take as much of it in as you can. more ›

Tetro, featuring Francis Ford Coppola's first completely original screenplay since 1974's Oscar-winning The Conversation, has to shoulder an awfully heavy burden. But for the first two-thirds anyway, it carries itself impeccably. more ›

A native Chicagoan, it's no wonder that Bob Balaban was bitten early on by the movie bug, since his family is the Balaban of the Balaban & Katz movie threater chain. What's more surprising is how many hats he's worn. He's a character actor royale, appearing in films by everyone from Woody Allen and Christopher Guest to Terry Zwigoff and Robert Altman. (But he's probably best known for playing the NBC exec who's obsessed with Elaine in five episodes of "Seinfeld"). He's also a children's book author and a filmmaker. more ›

Ah, Thanksgiving. Good food, friends, good food, TV, relaxation, good food and good food. It's enough to make us misty-eyed. We know that usually we appear cynical and callous, but naturally there's something about this time of the year that brings out the sentimentalist in us. The passing of Robert Altman earlier this week has increased our wistful frame of mind. We had a chance to listen to Chicago podcast Filmspotting's recent installment, which includes their Top 5 Movies that Make Us Cry. We never pass up a chance to make a list, so here's ours: more ›

We are very sad to hear news that Robert Altman, one of our favorite filmmakers, has died at age 81. His last film A Prairie Home Companion was one of his few to deal overtly with death, so we can't help thinking that it was on his mind. At last year's Oscars, the long-overdue presentation of a lifetime acheivement award to Mr. Altman filled us with pride. A true maverick who directed everything from M*A*S*H to Popeye, The Player, Nashville, Short Cuts and Gosford Park, Altman was known for making films exactly the way he damn well felt like making them. As irrational as it sounds, to this day we have a soft spot for Popeye and often still hum "He Needs Me," as sung in the film by Shelley Duvall. more ›

Snow snow snow. Everybody’s cancelling plans and freaking out about the alleged “incoming snow” scheduled to income tonight/tomorrow/etc. Use extreme caution when traveling, they say. Stay home if at all possible, they say. more ›

World premieres run amok in Chicago this week, with Sunday’s kick-off of the never-fully-produced Tennessee Williams play "One Arm" at Steppenwolf and the upcoming debut of director Robert Altman’s "A Wedding" at the Lyric Opera. more ›

Shut yo mouth! For those of you caught up in the current Blaxploitation revival � from the making-of drama Baadasssss! to the IFC documentary Baadasssss Cinema to several other films with the word "Baadasssss" in the title � you need to head down to the Gene Siskel Film Center tomorrow night. On the bill is a 90-minute collection of trailers for Blaxploitation films. The Film Center's website says,

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