George Hickenlooper: Late director's Oscar moment sparks more online tributes

Never doubt the power of a photo. During last night's (snoozy) Oscar ceremony, a memorial segment featured a single shot of director George Hickenlooper, who died in Denver just before the Starz Denver Film Festival, which was dedicated in his honor. Shortly thereafter, online salutes to Governor John Hickenlooper's cousin...

By Michael Roberts

February 28, 2011

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Never doubt the power of a photo. During last night's (snoozy) Oscar ceremony, a memorial segment featured a single shot of director George Hickenlooper, who died in Denver just before the Starz Denver Film Festival, which was dedicated in his honor. Shortly thereafter, online salutes to Governor John Hickenlooper's cousin began popping up.

References to Hickenlooper appeared on the MTV Movies live blog, where his death was cited before Dennis Hopper's, Cinemasight.com, GoldDerby.com, and the site of movie blogger Bryan Reesman, a fan of his "massively underrated supernatural Civil War movie Ghost Brigade (aka The Killing Box)."

Still, the most unusual nod comes courtesy of Michele Knight, who bills herself as the "UK's favourite psychic." Knight notes that "I stayed up quite late last night to catch the Oscars. Partly as a wonderful friend of mine George Hickenlooper a director died last year and many of his friends and the wonderful love of his life were probably all doing the same thing."

She adds that Hickenlooper "seemed to feast on life and be constantly in creative flow. Although I did not know him for very long he brought many gifts into my life and I will never forget him especially as I now have someone I consider a life long friend who I met through him and there is no gift greater than that."

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Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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