Film Forum is the all-too-rare kind of place that makes movies -- the whole of movie history -- seem as exciting as they did back when I was in film school and didn’t have to worry about making my way around in the real world. With an aggressively quirky line-up, Film Forum is Manhattan’s premier and only venue for stuff like A Single Girl, Irma Vep, Dadetown, and a revolving-door treasure trove of revivals and festivals. Since I moved to New York in 1994, they’ve shown both Sherlock Jr. and Suspiria ... which makes them forever OK in my book.

Screens and theaters are small and acoustically challenged. I have trouble, for instance, cutting through some of the thicker accents in English language films that play here because the dialogue tends to turn a little sludgy on its way out from behind the screen. One of the screens is unfortunately positioned so that the front exit opens up near the bathrooms and concession stand -- so you have to block out the occasional noise of the popcorn machine as well as the endless jabber when some other film lets out. Ah, the price we pay. But hey -- if it’s any consolation, they make killer cappuccino every time. B. (Frazer)

Now, I love the Film Forum as an institution (how can I not like a film society that shows Gamera: Guardian of the Universe?), but the theaters are on the tiny side, with a weak sound system and small screens. Film Forum does have the best self-promotional trailer in the city [with music by Carter Burwell, no less! -- Mike D'Angelo]. C. (Odell)