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How to Study

“If It Moves, It Can Move You”: Opposites in the Cinema

Taught by Ken Kimmelman

This series shows how the art of the cinema, in its technique and meaning, and in all its diversity—from slapstick to spectacle, cinema verité to the fantastic, tragedy to comedy—is a oneness of the permanent opposites in reality. We study how such opposites as rest and motion, light and dark, continuity and discontinuity, unity and variety—opposites we are trying to make sense of in our lives—are present in the motion picture, from The Great Train Robbery of 1903 to the latest cinematic achievement. Film excerpts are shown and discussed.

One Wednesday per month, 6 – 8 PM

Winter 2026 classes via video conference are now in session.

WINTER 2026

  • Jan 28   Children Want to See the World as Friendly—The Cinema Shows This

Wonder, The Secret Garden, The Quiet Girl, Fly Away Home, Boyhood

  • Feb 25   Will Good Win Out? or, The Crime Film

The Long Goodbye, Serpico, Anatomy of a Fall, City of God,
Elite Squad 2

  • Mar 25   Love Has Opposition in the Romantic Comedy 

Barefoot in the Park, Something’s Gotta Give, The Awful Truth, The Princess Bride, Notting Hill

 

Want to audit a class?

  • Contact the registrar at 212.777.5055, Mon–Fri, 2–6 PM (ET) or submit this brief form. Be sure to make your request at least 2 days before the class.
  • Once your request has been approved, you will receive an email with a link to pay for the class.

Fees

  • Semester (3 classes): $35
  • Audit (per class): $12

Films by Ken Kimmelman

Film Presentations

Film by Ken Kimmelman

Here we present a work of art that—more than any other we know—can bring people the true composure and strength of mind and feeling everyone is thirsting for. See the stirring film of Eli Siegel’s prize-winning poem Hot Afternoons Have Been in Montana.


NOW ONLINE

Definitions, and Comment: Being a Description of the World
by Eli Siegel

These exciting definitions are philosophic, powerfully logical, and always enormously important for our lives.

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Most Viewed Posts

  • The Philosophy of Depression

  • The Rightness of Aesthetic Realism: A Periodical

  • “Alexander Calder: Art Answers the Questions of Our Lives”

  • Black & White: A Poem with Photographs

  • “Is Beauty the Making One of Opposites?”

  • “Books”—an Essay for Children

  • “A Good Husband: What Does That Mean?”

  • “Man and Nature in New York and Kansas”

  • “Hawthorne’s ‘The Man of Adamant’”

  • “The Beauty of Art & the Pain about Love”

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      • Aesthetic Realism Consultation of Nancy Huntting
      • Coldness, Warmth, & Mistakes by Jaime Torres, DPM
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      • Aesthetic Realism and Love, Introduction
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      • Aesthetic Realism and Expression, Part 1
      • Aesthetic Realism and Expression, Part 2
      • The Drama of Mind, Introduction
      • The Drama of Mind, Part 1
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      • Aesthetic Realism and Learning, Introduction
      • Aesthetic Realism and Learning, Part 1
      • Aesthetic Realism and Learning, Part 2
      • Aesthetic Realism and Learning, Part 3
      • Map to Happiness, by Eli Siegel
      • Greenwich Village Is in the World
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      • Mind and Intelligence, by Eli Siegel, Part 1
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      • Mind and Schools by Eli Siegel, Part 1
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      • So, What Is Bitterness?
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Aesthetic Realism Foundation    141 Greene Street   New York, NY 10012   212.777.4490

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To Contribute | Contact | En Español

Aesthetic Realism Foundation
141 Greene Street
New York, NY 10012
212.777.4490

Privacy Policy

Blog Comment Policy

Copyright © 1997–2026
Aesthetic Realism Foundation

MENU
  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Mission Statement
    • What Is Aesthetic Realism?
    • Eli Siegel, Founder
    • Faculty
    • Some Background
  • Calendar
  • How to Study
    Aesthetic Realism
    • Classes
    • Consultations
    • Workshops for Educators
    • Outreach
  • Events
    • Public Seminars
    • Theatrical & Musical Matinees
    • Saturday Night Presentations
    • Directions
  • Periodical
  • Library
    • Online Library
    • Films & Videos
    • Blog
    • Lectures
    • News Archive
    • Related Resources
  • Book Store
  • Visual & Dramatic Arts
    • Terrain Gallery
    • Koppelman Foundation
    • Aesthetic Realism Theatre Company
  • En Español
    • Subscribe
    • Contact
    • Directions
    • To Contribute
    • flat_facebook