Author Archives: Ted Hicks

Unknown's avatar

About Ted Hicks

Iowa farm boy; have lived in NYC for 49 years; worked in motion picture labs, film/video distribution, subtitling, media-awards program; obsessive film-goer all my life.

“Force Majeure” – Women and Children First

Posted on October 17, 2014 by Ted Hicks

If you’ve ever wondered, as I often have, how you’d react in a crisis situation (you’re with your family on a ship that’s sinking, or in a store that’s being robbed at gun point, or trying to get out of … Continue reading →

Posted in Film | 2 Comments

“Tracks” – On the Road with Camels and a Dog

Posted on September 18, 2014 by Ted Hicks

In April of 1977 a young woman named Robyn Davidson set out walking from Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia on a 1,700 mile trek through Western Australia, much of it desert, to the Indian Ocean on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Film | 3 Comments

On the Radio – Monsters & Noir Podcasts!

Posted on September 3, 2014 by Ted Hicks

Podcasts are now available for the two interview shows I did earlier this year for “Talk Art Radio” on WSOU, the campus radio station at Seton Hall University in South Orange, NJ, not far from Manhattan. I wrote about doing … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Comics, Fiction, Film, Home Video, TV | Leave a comment

Barry Gifford on Film Noir – A Way with Words

Posted on September 1, 2014 by Ted Hicks

As a writer, Barry Gifford definitely gets around. Born in Chicago in 1946, Gifford’s hefty  output (over 40 titles to date) includes fiction, non-fiction, biographies, poetry, and screenplays. I first became aware of his name as the author of the 1989 … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Fiction, Film, Home Video, TV | 3 Comments

“A Most Wanted Man” & “Double Indemnity” – Top of the Line

Posted on August 12, 2014 by Ted Hicks

A Most Wanted Man – Sunday, August 3 at AMC Loews Lincoln Square. I love spy stories in films, TV shows, novels & non-fiction, but I’m sure my most immediate reason to see A Most Wanted Man was to watch Philip … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Fiction, Film, Home Video, TV | 5 Comments

Film Noir & Everything Else – Too Many Movies

Posted on July 31, 2014 by Ted Hicks

Today is my birthday. Ta da! Birthdays can be a time of reflection, so maybe I should reflect on the fact that I’ve only put up one new post so far this month, yet more evidence of my constant struggle … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Film, Home Video, TV | 2 Comments

Elaine Stritch – No Pants, Bela Lugosi, and Godzilla in a Stalled Elevator

Posted on July 21, 2014 by Ted Hicks

In a review of Woody Allen’s September (1987), People magazine referred to Elaine Stritch in that film as a “…roaring presence, like Godzilla in a stalled elevator…” I like that vivid image, which really captures something about Elaine Stritch. Her … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Home Video, Music, TV | 4 Comments

Movie Poster Art – Foreign Versions

Posted on June 30, 2014 by Ted Hicks

When searching online for posters and stills for English-language films, I often stumble upon foreign posters for those films. Many of these simply re-purpose the original poster art, but the ones that really get my attention are re-imagined in ways … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Film, Home Video, TV | 3 Comments

“Coherence” – No Exit

Posted on June 18, 2014 by Ted Hicks

Coherence, an impressive first feature from writer/director James Ward Byrkit, begins with eight long-time friends gathering for a dinner party on the night a comet is passing near the Earth. What follows is a fascinating, maddening mix of The Twilight … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Home Video | 6 Comments

Washroom Attendant to the Stars: My Technicolor Years

Posted on June 11, 2014 by Ted Hicks

When I graduated from the University of Iowa in the summer of 1973 (with an awesome “General Studies” degree), I moved to Minneapolis. Not long after arriving I managed to land a job with a motion picture lab that did … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Film, Home Video, TV | 14 Comments