Join Porter Square Books to welcome Michael Koresky for a virtual talk about his new memoir, Films of Endearment: A Mother, a Son and the '80s Films That Defined Us! He will be joined in conversation by Boston Globe TV critic Matthew Gilbert. This event is free and open to all, hosted on Crowdcast.

"I'm not sure I have ever read a book about movies that is as tender and open-hearted as Films of Endearment."--Mark Harris, New York Times bestselling author of Mike Nichols: A Life

A poignant memoir of family, grief and resilience about a young man, his dynamic mother and the '80s movies they shared together.

Michael Koresky's most formative memories were simple ones. A movie rental. A mug of tea. And a few shared hours with his mother. Years later and now a successful film critic in New York, Koresky returned home to the Boston suburb where he grew up and set out on a journey with his mother to discover more about their shared cinematic lives, which spans Boston in the fifties to Brooklyn today. They rewatched ten films that she first introduced to him as a child, one from every year of the '80s, each featuring women leads.

Together, films as divergent as 9 to 5, Terms of Endearment, The Color Purple and Aliens form the story of an era that Koresky argues should rightly be called "The Decade of the Actress."

Films of Endearment is a reappraisal of the most important and popular female-driven films of that time, a profound meditation on loss and resilience, and a celebration of the special bond between mothers and their sons.

MICHAEL KORESKY is a film critic and filmmaker, and editorial director at New York’s Museum of the Moving Image. He has held staff editorial positions for Film at Lincoln Center and The Criterion Collection, where he continues to work as a freelance programmer. Originally from Chelmsford, Massachusetts, he has been named one of the “100 Most Influential People in Brooklyn Culture” by Brooklyn Magazine.

Michael Koresky with Matthew Gilbert, Films of Endearment