Author – The Durango Herald

Fall movie lineup is full of promise

Summer 2017 is already going down in history as one of Hollywood’s worst in recent memory, notwithstanding such standouts as “Wonder Woman,” “Dunkirk” and the little-rom-com-that-could, “The...

DATE: Sep 16, 2017 | CATEGORY: Film, TV and Streaming

Lawrence radiates grit in ‘mother!’

“mother!,” Darren Aronofsky’s tour de force of allegorical misdirection, is about many things, in succession and simultaneously. What begins as a creepily insinuating chamber piece of domest...

DATE: Sep 15, 2017 | CATEGORY: Film, TV and Streaming

‘Wind River’ an effective thriller

A harsh, wintry beauty pervades “Wind River,” screenwriter Taylor Sheridan’s modestly assured directorial debut. In this sturdily effective thriller, Jeremy Renner plays Cory, a U.S. Fish an...

DATE: Aug 24, 2017 | CATEGORY: Film, TV and Streaming

‘Logan Lucky’: A down-home heist without all the rushin’

Wasn’t it just yesterday that Steven Soderbergh was announcing his retirement from filmmaking? Those of us who didn’t buy it are now vindicated with the return of American cinema’s most depe...

DATE: Aug 20, 2017 | CATEGORY: Film, TV and Streaming

‘Detroit’ daring and disturbing

In “Detroit,” director Kathryn Bigelow concentrates and refracts the 1967 riots in that eponymous city through the lens of one of its most notorious yet largely forgotten incidents, when a g...

DATE: Aug 3, 2017 | CATEGORY: Film, TV and Streaming

‘Baby Driver’ leaves a sour aftertaste

“Baby Driver” begins with a bang, a showstopper of an opening number reminiscent of the ecstatic traffic jam in “La La Land,” only this time with the cars themselves as the dancers. ...

DATE: Jul 1, 2017 | CATEGORY: Film, TV and Streaming

‘Alien: Covenant’ doesn’t reinvent the squeal

Michael Fassbender delivers a crafty, Cronenbergian double performance in “Alien: Covenant” that almost makes the movie worth its weight. Almost. A largely turgid, often thoroughl...

DATE: May 17, 2017 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

In ‘Snatched,’ Amy Schumer bungles through the jungle, laughing all the way

“Snatched,” an occasionally lazy but fitfully funny and generally pleasing comedy starring Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn, is a good news/bad news proposition. But in terms of providing an hour...

DATE: May 12, 2017 | CATEGORY: Film, TV and Streaming

‘The Circle’ isn’t half bad, but it’s only half good

“The Circle,” a technological thriller starring Emma Watson and Tom Hanks, didn’t screen for critics, usually a sign of fatally damaged goods. But the movie, an adaptation of a 2013 Dave Egg...

DATE: Apr 28, 2017 | CATEGORY: Film, TV and Streaming

Remembering Jonathan Demme

“If the story’s worth telling, I’ll tell it. And, arguably, everybody’s story is worth telling.” That was Jonathan Demme speaking during an interview 10 years ago, as he prepared ...

DATE: Apr 27, 2017 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

‘Before I Fall’: Life lessons delivered over a single day, relived over and over

Let’s get this out of the way: If “Before I Fall” were an elevator pitch, it would be a cross between “Groundhog Day” and “If I Stay.” It also shares strands of DNA with such teen-angst clas...

DATE: Mar 5, 2017 | CATEGORY: Film, TV and Streaming

‘La La Land’: Homage to the musical

“La La Land,” Damien Chazelle’s exuberant, thoughtful ode to bygone movie musicals, begins with two bravura gestures. After a retro-looking CinemaScope logo announcing the film’s big-screen ...

DATE: Feb 4, 2017 | CATEGORY: Film, TV and Streaming