Katy Hessel, the voice behind a popular podcast called Great Women Artists recently published an already award-winning book entitled The Story of Art Without Men. As the Financial Times reviews, “Katy Hessel’s unapologetically revisionist book campaigns against the patriarchy of the art world.” That women artists have struggled for centuries to be taken seriously is …
Author Archives: Derek Emerson
The 2022 Winter Film Series
Sometimes it all just falls together as if it was just meant to be. When our film committee was reviewing trailers and reading reviews in our selection process, there was quick agreement by everyone on our first two films, Beans and They Say Nothing Stays the Same. Then, we had about five great documentaries to …
Racism and Hollywood
I’m a fan of classic films. The writing and acting, the willingness to let a plot slowly unfold, and the patience to let characters develop separate those “old” films from much of what we see today. The independent and international films we show in our film series also usually value these traits. We live in …
“And when she was bad, she was terrific.”
“And starring Miss Barbara Stanwyck.” When I was growing up I would see this special announcement at the end of the opening credits for the television show, “The Big Valley.” I wondered why she was “Miss” and what the big deal was about having her on the show. But as my love for classic films …
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For Us, Five Feet Apart is Personal
“Though she be but little, she is fierce” Shakespeare did not know Brenna Digison, but this is a great description for the office manager in our own Hope College Events and Conferences Office. And while we don’t call on her to be fierce too often in our office, her self-confidence does lead to points on …
The Classic Musical You May Not Know
If you look at the Knickerbocker Theatre lineup for classic musicals, don’t be alarmed if one of them does not ring a bell. Sure, we’ve got Elvis in Jailhouse Rock, the big musical, Sound of Music, and even something fairly recent, Grease (“fairly recent” is defined as anything that I actually saw in the movie …
Spring 2019 Film Series
The Hope College Knickerbocker Theatre in downtown Holland will continue to bring independent and international films to the West Michigan community through its 2019 Spring Film Series opening on Monday, May 13. The series will feature “Ramen Shop” on May 13-18, “3 Faces” on May 28-June 1, “Yomeddine” on June 3-8 and “All is True” …
Selecting Films and the 2018 Fall Film Series
The question is asked often: How do you select the films for your series? And there is no easy answer. I would like to tell you that we spend hours watching 30-40 films, having passionate arguments about the artistic qualifications of each film, dissect plot and character development, and then negotiate for weeks with …
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“One Night Only” Series Features Four Iconic Brando Films
In an era where we watch stars self-destruct on too regular of a basis, the career of Marlon Brando can offer these people both lessons and hope. After bursting onto the scene in the 1950s (and our series focuses on four films released between 1952-1954), Brando’s personal life and career went off the track in …
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Sidney Poitier Films featured at the Knick
If Sidney Poitier was a wine, 1967 would be his best vintage. He was already a household name and had broken many “firsts,” but in 1967 he starred in three major films and was the top movie star of the year. To Sir, with Love; In the Heat of the Night; and Guess Who’s Coming …
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