Nina Wilder

Articles

RECESS | CULTURE

'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' reimagines Hollywood at the close of the '60s

By Nina Wilder and Kerry Rork | August 7, 2019

“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” the latest film from writer and director Quentin Tarantino, premiered in July. The movie follows Rick Dalton (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) as he navigates the ups and downs of a Hollywood career in 1969, as well as the looming presence of the Manson Family cult in Los Angeles. Editor Nina Wilder and Campus Arts Editor Kerry Rork chatted about their thoughts on Tarantino’s new film and the events that inspired it. Warning: spoilers below.

RECESS | CULTURE

Submit a question to Recess' new advice column, Tea Time

By Nina Wilder and Alice Dai | July 31, 2019

For our first column, we're taking questions related to the transition between summer and school, like your lingering doubts about an office affair or the anxieties driven by your return to Durham. Sounds like a problem you could use help with? Use the submission form below, and ask Alice.

RECESS | STAFF NOTE

In the darkness

By Nina Wilder | May 31, 2019

Nothing holds more importance in a cinema than a film, certainly not the patron nor his concerns or woes; quite literally, everything else surrenders to the shadows.

RECESS | CULTURE

The second season of 'Reel to Reel' is here

By Will Atkinson and Nina Wilder | May 25, 2019

After a long break, we're back with the newest episode of “Reel to Reel,” Recess’s pop culture podcast.

RECESS | CULTURE

On fatness, 'Shrill' and taking up space

By Nina Wilder | April 1, 2019

I’m fat. When I was younger, I preferred to use descriptors that minimized my body like chubby or curvy or plus-sized, but now I’m 20 years old, five-foot-ten and weigh over 250 pounds. My fatness is undeniable.

RECESS | CULTURE

Recess roundtable: Why criticism?

By Will Atkinson , Nina Wilder and Joel Kohen | February 24, 2019

Much discussion has erupted in recent weeks regarding the (purportedly) fading necessity of reviews. In an age of discontinued Netflix-star-ratings, Amazon top customer reviewers and enraged YouTubers, the long-form reviews of movies, books or music that once dominated newspapers are increasingly seen as antiquated or downright ignorant

RECESS | STAFF NOTE

A beginner's guide to campy films

By Nina Wilder | February 20, 2019

In her 1964 piece titled “Notes on ‘Camp,’” Susan Sontag outlines a genre of art (but here, I’ll focus on films) that goes by the name “camp.”

RECESS | CAMPUS

Duke Arts and NC Arts Council's documentary initiative supports traditional artists

By Nina Wilder | February 12, 2019

In the 1970s, a recent Duke graduate named George Holt — who is now director of performing arts and film programs at the NC Museum of Art — organized one of North Carolina’s first folk festivals on Duke’s campus. With the help of Holger Nygard, a former Duke professor of folklore and medieval literature who passed away in 2015, Holt expanded his scope and formed a folk festival that would eventually become the Festival for the Eno, which still takes place annually at the Eno River State Park.

RECESS | CAMPUS

With upcoming residency, Manual Cinema is bringing puppetry to campus

By Nina Wilder | January 16, 2019

This spring, the Chicago-based collective Manual Cinema is bringing an art form to campus that tends to be overlooked with regard to live performance: puppetry.

RECESS | LOCAL

‘The Talk’ brings the discussion surrounding police brutality to the stage

By Nina Wilder | January 9, 2019

In the spring of 2015, Sonny Kelly — an actor, performer, Ph.D. student at UNC-Chapel Hill, and, perhaps most importantly, a black man — was driving his seven-year-old son Sterling to school. He tuned the radio to NPR, as he did most mornings, a routine that allowed him to open up a dialogue with his son about the world’s current events and happenings.