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.

What I Watched Last Year: Best TV 2012

Posted on February 3, 2013 by Ted Hicks

Boardwalk Empire (HBO) I was impressed, but not overwhelmed, when I watched the first episode of this series, set in Atlantic City on the eve of Prohibition in 1920. The pilot was directed by Martin Scorsese (Executive Producer on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Home Video, TV | 4 Comments

What I Saw Last Year: Best Documentaries 2012

Posted on January 10, 2013 by Ted Hicks

Documentaries have become increasingly viable theatrically, probably since Michael Moore’s Roger and Me (1989) shook things up and pumped new life into non-fiction films. Recent years have seen documentaries playing for weeks, even months, in commercial theaters. 2012 was another … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Home Video | 1 Comment

What I Saw Last Year: Best Revivals and Discoveries 2012

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Ted Hicks

When I moved to New York in 1977 there were quite a few revival movie theaters with great repertory programming, including the Bleeker Street Cinema, Carnegie Hall Cinema, the Regency, Theatre 80 St. Marks (with its odd projection from behind the … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Home Video, TV | 2 Comments

What I Saw Last Year: Best Feature Films 2012

Posted on January 4, 2013 by Ted Hicks

The year just ended turned out to be an unusually strong one for films, both big budget studio pictures, such as Lincoln, Argo, Skyfall, and Flight, as well as smaller productions, such as Liberal Arts, Middle of Nowhere, Moonrise Kingdom … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Home Video | 5 Comments

So Much for the End of the World

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Ted Hicks

Didn’t happen! But it is the end of the year, so Happy New Year everybody! This was a strong year for films and television. I’ll be posting my picks for 2012 in a day or so. In the meantime, to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Famous Monsters and Me – Pt. 2: Books and Comics

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Ted Hicks

As I wrote in my first “Famous Monsters” post last May, “…from an early age, as early as I can remember, I was totally in love with science fiction and horror (monsters!) via all their delivery systems; i.e.  books, magazines, … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Film, Home Video, TV | 8 Comments

Just Saw Something Great – Again!

Posted on December 4, 2012 by Ted Hicks

Silver Linings Playbook – Saturday, December 1 at the Crosby Street Hotel screening room. Director/Writer: David O. Russell. Loved it! I was with this film from start to finish. At the risk of overstatement, it felt like there was never … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Film | 5 Comments

Tim Burton shorts: “Vincent” and the original “Frankenweenie”

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Ted Hicks

In 1982 Tim Burton had been working as a conceptual artist at Walt Disney Animation Studios for about two years. Samples of his work at the time already reflected a uniqueness, a fairy-tale strangeness. This was recognized by Tom Wilhite, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Home Video | 2 Comments

Seeing Movies with an Audience

Posted on November 17, 2012 by Ted Hicks

One of the great pleasures of this year’s New York Film Festival was a special showing of The Princess Bride (1987). The film has developed a strong following in the 25 years since its initial release, though I didn’t realize … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Home Video, TV | 7 Comments

What I Saw: “Wreck-It Ralph,” “The Bay,” and “Flight”

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Ted Hicks

Wreck-It Ralph– Friday, November 2 at AMC Loews Lincoln Square. Director: Rich Moore. Writers: Jennifer Lee & Phil Johnston. This terrific feature from Walt Disney Animation Studios is easily my favorite animated film so far this year. I saw it … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Home Video | 2 Comments