Restoration Screening Room: Martin Scorsese's Film Foundation offers free showings of classic movies
Martin Scorsese has earned more than a dozen Oscar nominations and took home an Academy Award for directing Leonardo DiCaprio and Jack Nicholson in "The Departed."
He's also given back, and for more than than half a century, Scorsese has worked to restore and preserve old movies so future generations will be able to enjoy them.
His latest initiative puts a few of the best films online for free, and fans everywhere will want to know about "The Restoration Screening Room."
It's a virtual place online where one movie per month is shown for one night only.
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Marilyn Monroe has never looked better that she does in "The Seven Year Itch," and for, that we must thank Scorsese.
He saw this film at a retrospective in the 1970s and became upset when he discovered how badly the image had deteriorated.
"It was completely faded," said Margaret Bodde, executive director of the non-profit Film Foundation the director started. "All the colors were drained, and it had a magenta hue."
Since 1990, more than 900 films have been restored and preserved in all their glory.
"To get them out in the world, because if you preserve something and just tuck it away, no one is there to experience it," Bodde said. "People want to see their favorite movies preserved and available for their children and grandchildren."
The only film Marlon Brando directed, "One Eyed Jacks," is going to be shown virtually soon. "La Strada," an Italian neorealist classic, is available online for free Monday, with Scorsese supplying a taped introduction.
It is the second in the Restoration Screening Room series.
"We decided to do this once a month presentation of a restored film for 24 hours, so it's kind of appointment viewing," Bodde said. "And it's going to show the broad diversity of the types of films we restore."
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The films may be classics, but the Film Foundation is partnering with tech companies Oracle and Delphi-Quest to improve the online experience for fans.
There is even a chat feature that allows discussion of the movie.
Details of how you can log on can be found at the Restoration Screening Room website.
