Category Archives: Movies and film

“Not so much costumes as a bit of plumbing and general automobile engineering”

Posted on May 15, 2019 by

So said John Mollo in his acceptance speech at the Oscars after winning the Academy Award for Costume Design in 1978 for his work on Star Wars. What reminded me of this marvelous quote was a vehicle I walked past … Continue reading →

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Fave Movie Moments – “Do you know why this is my favorite tree?”

Posted on March 30, 2019 by

I showed The Florida Project last week in my honors film studies class, where the honors program’s theme, “The Power of Place,” is the central unifying subject of our course. I really love this film and could not believe it … Continue reading →

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Michael Caine on life as a never-ending audition

Posted on November 15, 2018 by

While doing some background research for the academic article on movie trailers that I’m writing with a psychology professor in my department, I stumbled across a book by Michael Caine titled Acting in Film: An Actor’s Take on Movie Making … Continue reading →

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Warped Time

Posted on November 2, 2018 by

It’s fascinating to notice those weird moments when historical eras overlap. My husband, who is 10+ years older than I am, can remember seeing milk being delivered to homes in his neighborhood via horse-drawn wagons in the 1950s. Here is … Continue reading →

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Wham! “Freedom” in China

Posted on July 25, 2018 by

I heard Wham!’s “Freedom” on the radio while driving yesterday. I’ve always liked this song, but what I’ve especially always remembered about it was its official video, which details the 1980s duo’s groundbreaking trip to China. Wham! was the first Western … Continue reading →

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Homage in The Shape of Water – Monsters who like candy

Posted on May 17, 2018 by

Colonel Strickland, the cruel government agent who pulled the amphibious fish/man out of the river muck in South America, continually crunches on green (lime?) hard candy throughout The Shape of Water. Strickland isn’t cinema’s only early-’60s  antagonist with a sweet … Continue reading →

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Homage in The Shape of Water – Odessa Steps

Posted on May 16, 2018 by

The last movie we watch in my film studies class every spring is always whatever has won the Academy Award for Best Picture that year. This year we’re watching The Shape of Water. This is a really brilliant movie, and I … Continue reading →

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Mesmerizing music visualization

Posted on May 12, 2018 by

I’m reading paper drafts from students in my film studies course, and one of them is writing about baptism/assassination montage in The Godfather. I was pretty sure the music playing through that scene is Bach, but I looked it up … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Movies and film, Music | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The “Kicker”

Posted on April 11, 2018 by

I couldn’t think of a good title for this post (“Cement and Metal”???) until I circled back to the one detail that had caught my eye in the first place and made this a photo worth snapping. Because I’m teaching … Continue reading →

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The Birth of a Nation: Lighting and (mostly “non”) camera movement, racism, and Abraham Lincoln’s assassination reenacted a mere 50 years after

Posted on March 27, 2018 by

NOTE: This post is under reconstruction because a) the YouTube account that I originally took my clips from has been shut down and b) WordPress doesn’t seem to be working correctly to allow me to play clips to and from … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life, Movies and film, Political Analysis, Popular culture, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments