Author Archives: Ted Hicks

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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.

“The Broken Circle Breakdown” – Beauty, Sadness & Bluegrass

Posted on February 9, 2014 by Ted Hicks

The Broken Circle Breakdown has been playing in New York since last November, and though initial write-ups made me very interested, mainly because of the bluegrass-in-Belgium angle, I didn’t get around to seeing it until a week ago. I went … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Home Video, Music | 3 Comments

Gunfights at the O.K. Corral

Posted on January 31, 2014 by Ted Hicks

John Ford’s My Darling Clementine (1946) just ended a one-week run at Film Forum here in New York, presented in a stunning digital restoration, clean and crisp, like the first time anyone had seen it. I’d seen the film only once, … Continue reading →

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

Back in the Saddle (almost)

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Ted Hicks

I know I’ve been quiet for an unusually long time, but two days after my last post on October 24, I was run over by an airport shuttle van while crossing the street at the intersection of 94th & Amsterdam … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Music, TV | 7 Comments

“All Is Lost” — Unique & Amazing

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Ted Hicks

I’m still fresh from the impact of seeing All Is Lost several days ago. I think it’s a really great movie, and might be the best film I’ve seen so far this year. The story is as basic as it gets: … Continue reading →

Posted in Film | 5 Comments

Friction Fiction #5 — “Missing Vietnam”

Posted on October 20, 2013 by Ted Hicks

Bobby Olay was chasing a pig in the clearing when a shot knocked his helmet from his head and he dropped to his knees with blood spurting from his temple. I saw this as I came out of the hootch … Continue reading →

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

Superman at 75

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Ted Hicks

Superman, created by two Jewish kids in Cleveland, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, first appeared in the June 1938 issue of  Action Comics #1. In the 75 years since then, this “strange visitor from another planet” has gone through many … Continue reading →

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

New York Film Festival Diary – #1

Posted on October 1, 2013 by Ted Hicks

Since moving to New York in 1977, the New York Film Festival has been the big annual film event for me. At my first festival, the 15th NYFF in ’77, I remember seeing Handle with Care (d. Jonathan Demme), The … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Home Video | 1 Comment

“Enough Said” — Sweet, Funny, & Sad

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Ted Hicks

The title of director/writer Nicole Holofcener’s 2001 feature, Lovely & Amazing, is an apt description of her new film, Enough Said, starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini. Holofcener’s films, which include Walking and Talking (1996), Friends with Money (2006), and … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Home Video, TV | 2 Comments

My “Butler” Problem

Posted on September 3, 2013 by Ted Hicks

Lee Daniels’ The  Butler – Sunday, August 18 at AMC Loews Lincoln Square. Director: Lee Daniels. Writer: Danny Strong. I had something quite different in mind when I first thought of writing about this film. Though I recognized that the film … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Home Video, TV | 2 Comments

Friction Fiction #4 — “Shucks & Puffer Come to Town”

Posted on September 2, 2013 by Ted Hicks

by Ted Hicks Drive three miles east of Highway 71 on county road 14 and you’ll come to Arcadia (pop. 187), which lies roughly in the southeast corner of northwest Iowa, in the midst of rich farmland that’s slightly rolling … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction | Leave a comment