Category Archives: Movies and film

Twinkies, Dan White, and that raisin in the sun

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

By now you have probably heard the news that Hostess, makers of Twinkies, Wonder Bread, and Ho Hos, is closing.  A bankruptcy judge has ordered last-ditch mediation between company and union, but if things have gotten so bad that both union … Continue reading →

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Lynyrd Skynyrd – 35 years later

Posted on October 21, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

I just realized that yesterday was the 35th anniversary of the plane crash that killed three members of the Lynyrd Skynyrd band, including lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, and several members of their crew. High school dances are mostly DJ-powered … Continue reading →

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Addendum to my “Hunger Games” post

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

I stand corrected.  Having merely seen the film and not read the Suzanne Collins novels, I completely based my assumptions about District 11 on what I saw in the movie.  Now I’ve done a bit more digging and discovered that … Continue reading →

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Why “The Hunger Games” should win the Academy Award for Best Production Design

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

I was finally able to watch The Hunger Games about a week ago and was extremely impressed by the film’s visual design – the locations, costumes, sets, props, makeup, etc.  Immediately I began thinking about writing a post arguing that the film … Continue reading →

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The “Little House” Books: A new collection looks back

Posted on September 22, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

A review in this morning’s “Review” section of The Wall Street Journal alerted me to the recent republication of one of my favorite childhood series, the “Little House” books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  This new collection of Wilder’s nine books is … Continue reading →

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“Westworld” (Boy, have we got a vacation for you!)

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

Over the weekend my older daughter and I watched Westworld.  Again 🙂 Although we always enjoy this film for the story itself, we also get a kick out of deconstructing its “high tech” symbolism and noting anachronisms and things so commonplace … Continue reading →

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Thoughts on “Blade Runner” thirty years later

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

I recently joined a LinkedIn group called “World Cinema Critics” to be part of a community engaged in serious film discussions.  Lately we’ve had a comment thread going on the subject of Blade Runner, a movie I hadn’t seen since its theatrical release … Continue reading →

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Rave review for Pixar’s “Brave”!

Posted on June 25, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

First, a quick disclaimer: WordPress won’t let me use italics in the headline, which is why I’ve put quotation marks around the title “Brave.”  I usually italicize titles, as called for by the style guide for my field, the MLA (Modern Language … Continue reading →

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Pixar’s (nearly) unbroken streak

Posted on June 22, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

I want Brave to be good.   My younger daughter and I have a standing date every year to see the newest Pixar movie during its first weekend in theaters.  Already today I’ve seen so-so reviews for Brave, but don’t want … Continue reading →

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Perspectives on depth perception as metaphor in film

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

I took this photo of the hallway outside my hotel room in San Antonio last week. I loved how the striped carpet and the alternating patterns of light and shadow added to the telescoping effect created by the distance perspective. … Continue reading →

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