Tag Archives: movies

J Cuts, L Cuts, and “Hot Fuzz”: A fun clip to brighten your afternoon/evening

Posted on November 13, 2025 by Katherine Wikoff

I’m searching for movie clips to demonstrate some film/video editing concepts for my Digital Storytelling class tomorrow morning (J cuts, L cuts, match cuts, etc.), and in the course of wracking my brain to find an instance where one of … Continue reading →

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‘Chaos: The Manson Murders’ Review: All You Ever Knew is Suspect – The New York Times

Posted on March 7, 2025 by Katherine Wikoff

My January 2022 post about Charles Manson and Dennis Wilson is getting LOTS of views today. And now I know why. There’s a new documentary on Netflix starting today, reviewed here in the New York Times: Errol Morris returns to … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Movies and film, Popular culture | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Will “Oppenheimer” save cinema? (Or, Going to “The Show”)

Posted on August 7, 2023 by Katherine Wikoff

Which is what we called it in my small town back in the day. We had one movie theater in town and thus one movie available to us per week. Hence, “the show.” Not “a” show, and not even “a” … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies and film, Popular culture, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

A song about sunscreen from Baz Luhrmann and some thoughts on Leo DiCaprio

Posted on March 13, 2023 by Katherine Wikoff

This “song” came on the radio when I was driving home from work the other day. Baz Luhrmann, of course, is the incredibly talented director of films like William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet (1996), Moulin Rouge! (2001), The Great Gatsby … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies and film, Popular culture | Tagged | 2 Comments

“When You’re Good to Mama” — Heard on a head-clearing coffee run to Starbucks

Posted on November 7, 2022 by Katherine Wikoff

I have so much work to do! But as I finished one project and faced the daunting prospect of beginning the next one, I forced myself out of the door because I knew it would be good for me to … Continue reading →

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“Hoosiers” – Evoking Nostalgia for America’s Midwestern Autumn

Posted on October 16, 2022 by Katherine Wikoff

Hoosiers (1986) gets Midwestern autumn exactly right, both the beauty of the landscape and the nostalgic harkening to a wholesome, mythic era that has slipped into the past. I love this film’s quiet opening, from its first image of headlights … Continue reading →

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Why this year’s Best Picture award dooms the Oscars to irrelevance

Posted on March 28, 2022 by Katherine Wikoff

The last film that students watch in my film and media studies course is whatever has won the Best Picture Oscar that year. I was a little nervous to see what won this year because some of the nominees were … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Higher education, Media studies, Movies and film, News, Popular culture, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

A chance encounter with “Tubular Bells”

Posted on March 16, 2022 by Katherine Wikoff

Heard this old song on the radio driving home today. It has literally been YEARS since I’ve heard it or even thought about it. The song, “Tubular Bells,” was released in 1973 and went on to be used as the … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, History, Media studies, Movies and film, Music, Popular culture | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

One final allusion in O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Posted on March 11, 2022 by Katherine Wikoff

I’ve never seen anyone comment on this before, but doesn’t the series of arches in the final moments of O Brother, Where Art Thou? remind you of the series of axe heads (the ring holes) that Odysseus (aka Ulysses, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies and film, Popular culture | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

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 Katherine Wikoff

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