Movie Diary: Highlights of 2016 Through Movies

By Bennett Duckworth | January 4th, 2017

This is usually when I reflect on the previous year and wonder what’s ahead. I am so lost right now.

Star Wars Expands Its Universe

By Bennett Duckworth | December 22nd, 2016

“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” is a new type of motion picture for the nearly 40-year-old franchise, and it is appropriately...

The Brilliance of Understatement

By Bennett Duckworth | December 15th, 2016

Kenneth Lonergan’s “Manchester by the Sea” is a great accomplishment, but it’s not the kind of film most people seek out.

Marvelous ‘Moana’

By Bennett Duckworth | December 8th, 2016

Inspired by Polynesian folklore, the story is a fantasy about an isolated island whose people live a happy existence that is supposedly...

‘Allied’ Falls Flat, ‘Moonlight’ Shines

By Bennett Duckworth | November 30th, 2016

There are a strange amount of strengths and weaknesses to “Allied,” a spy/romance thriller set during World War II.

Mildly Fantastic Beasts

By Bennett Duckworth | November 27th, 2016

At the risk of offending Harry Potter fans, my interest in author J.K. Rowling’s world is limited.

‘Arrival’ Delivers

By Bennett Duckworth | November 17th, 2016

In a long history of films dealing with aliens appearing to the people of Earth, something rather unique happens during the beginning...

‘Doctor Strange’ Strangely Satisfying

By Bennett Duckworth | November 10th, 2016

Producer Kevin Feige and Disney continue to run Marvel with the confidence and showmanship of a modern circus.

An Idle ‘Inferno’

By Bennett Duckworth | November 3rd, 2016

I didn’t feel like my time was terribly wasted.

Anticipating the Closing of 2016

By Bennett Duckworth | October 13th, 2016

At the end of the year, studios release what they believe to be their most valuable properties, ranging from true works of...

A ‘Peculiar’ and Passé Tale

By Bennett Duckworth | October 6th, 2016

I’m running out of patience for young adult fiction series being put on the big screen as tentative franchise-launchers, especially when their...

A Banal ‘Blair Witch’

By Bennett Duckworth | September 22nd, 2016

In 1999 “The Blair Witch Project” popularized the “found footage” horror film.

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Bennett Duckworth