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    <title>Arts and Entertainment</title>
    <category>Arts and Entertainment</category>
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    <description>Latest local news from The Durango Herald.</description>
    <lastBuildDate>Mon, 24 Aug 2026 04:28:52 -0600</lastBuildDate>
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        <link>https://tcr.durangoherald.com/hayden-panettiere-who-starred-in-heroes-and-nashville-dies-at-36/</link>
        <title>Hayden Panettiere, who starred in ‘Heroes’ and ‘Nashville,’ dies at 36</title>
        <description>Hayden Panettiere arrives at the 21st annual Critics&apos; Choice Awards at the Barker Hangar on Jan. 17, 2016, in Santa Monica, California. Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File Hayden Panettiere, a onetime child star who soared to fame in the TV shows “Heroes”...</description>
        <pubDate>Tue, 18 Aug 2026 15:17:57 -0600</pubDate>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[Hayden Panettiere arrives at the 21st annual Critics' Choice Awards at the Barker Hangar on Jan. 17, 2016, in Santa Monica, California. Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File Hayden Panettiere, a onetime child star who soared to fame in the TV shows “Heroes” and “Nashville” while enduring struggles with alcohol addiction and depression, has died. She was 36.Police said Panettiere was found unresponsive in an apartment in Greenville, South Carolina, shortly before 2 p.m. Sunday. Lifesaving measures were performed but she was pronounced dead at the scene.No cause of death has been determined and Panettiere's death remains under investigation. An autopsy found no signs of trauma and police said officers saw no signs of foul play.The television and film performer, who would have turned 37 on Friday, had been open about her private battles and wrote at length about them in the memoir, “This Is Me,” which came out in May. She described lifelong scars from her early fame, and acknowledged being addicted to alcohol and enduring postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter, Kaya, with Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko in 2014.“It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden,” her father, Skip Panettiere, said in a statement provided to ABC. “She was an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her – and to the millions who watched her onscreen.”A publicist for Panettiere did not provide any additional details in response to inquiries from The Associated Press.Panettiere started out as a child actorPanettiere was one of two children born to Skip Panettiere, a former New York City fire captain, and Lesley Vogel, a former soap opera star who had been the prime force behind her early career before the two became estranged. Panettiere began acting in commercials and soap operas, including as the ever-troubled Lizzie Spaulding on “Guiding Light.” In “This Is Me,” she wrote that the traumas her character endured, from being kidnapped to killing her mother's boyfriend, led her to associate “catastrophe with adoration.”“Grown-ups gave me positive attention when – as an actor – I failed, got sick, screamed and cried, killed, grieved, and suffered,” she wrote. “Is it any wonder why I've faced so many real struggles in my life? I've often wondered whether – unintentionally – I've brought on my traumas because I'm wired to think they're good for me.”She had much warmer memories of her role as a cheerleader with supernatural powers in “Heroes,” which propelled her to fame in 2006. The series revolved around the mantra: “Save the cheerleader, save the world.”“I think 'Heroes' is really hot because it's just a really great combination of everything that people love – they love reality, they love sci-fi and things like 'X-Men' where they get to dream of something bigger,” Panettiere told the AP in 2008. “And at the core of it are these human stories that people can relate to, very rugged. And it's just grabbed everyone in every age group.”She went on to win three Teen Choice Awards for that role and was nominated for a Grammy for a children's spoken word album, “A Bug's Life: Read-Along,” also voicing a role in the Disney animated movie.Actors Hayden Panettiere, right, and Charles Esten participate in a BUILD Speaker Series to discuss the television series “Nashville” in New York on Jan. 5, 2017, in New York. Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, FilePanettiere later played a brash country upstart opposite Connie Britton on “Nashville,” which aired on ABC for four seasons before being canceled and revived on CMT. She did her own singing in the show, which scored some hits on country charts, spawned U.S. tours and earned Panettiere two supporting actress Golden Globe nominations. Eleven songs that Panettiere recorded for “Nashville” appeared on Billboard's Hot Country Songs charts during the show's run, including two featuring Britton.She checked herself into rehabPanettiere's daughter, now 11, began living with Klitschko full-time in Ukraine when she was 2. At the time, the actor was struggling with mental health and addiction.“I think there's been this very common misconception that I just gave up my child,” she said in an interview with podcaster Jay Shetty in May. “That could not be farther from the truth.”She said she was in a “horrible cycle for years of battling depression and anxiety and alcoholism and substance abuse” while “just trying to find my way back, my way out of the darkness.”She entered rehab in 2015, while filming “Nashville.”“I was the one who put myself in the first treatment center. I was drowning,” she said in a 2023 interview with Women's Health magazine.Panettiere had endured numerous family struggles, and tragedy. Her parents' marriage was strained, and eventually ended. Her younger brother, Jansen Panettiere, who was also an actor, died of a heart condition in 2023, at age 28. Years earlier, Hayden had made the painful decision to part professionally with her mother, who throughout her childhood had “defined and driven her” and watched her “struggle, learn, grow, fall apart, and triumph.”“She and I spent so much time together, so deeply enmeshed in each other's lives, that we started grating on each other,” Panettiere wrote in her memoir. “I hated when Mom whispered about other actors during auditions, positive that they could hear her compare them to me. I hated when Mom went to industry parties and got tipsy on the merlot she loved.”In recent years, she had been in a tumultuous relationship with actor Brian Hickerson.On Shetty's podcast, Panettiere recalled how she exploded into the public eye through “Heroes,” including the first time she was tracked by the paparazzi. She described her response as “sheer terror.” In her memoir, she would remember unwanted encounters with fellow celebrities – from an Oscar-winning actor-director exposing himself to her to being forced into bed with a “famous thirtysomething British singer-songwriter.”She had spoken positively about her experience filming “Remember the Titans,” saying she felt similar to the character she played – Sheryl Yoast, the opinionated, football-loving daughter of Will Patton's Coach Bill Yoast. Panettiere also appeared in two of the “Scream” movies, and starred as the title character in the 2009 film “I Love You Beth Cooper.”In her memoir, Panettiere described herself as an “optimist to the core” who refused to be defined by tragedy.“One thing I know from my 36 years in the public eye is this: Life is a process that evolves day by day, year by year and – like it or not – you are engaged in a cycle of growth until the moment you take your last breath,” she wrote.___Associated Press writer Dave Collins and National Writer Hillel Italie contributed reporting.]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://tcr.durangoherald.com/andrew-garfield-finds-wonder-in-everyday-life-in-the-magic-faraway-tree/</link>
        <title>Andrew Garfield finds wonder in everyday life in ‘The Magic Faraway Tree’</title>
        <description>Movie out Friday</description>
        <pubDate>Mon, 17 Aug 2026 15:24:04 -0600</pubDate>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[Claire Foy, left, and Andrew Garfield attend “The Magic Faraway Tree” special screening at Regal Union Square on Wednesday, July 29, in New York. CJ Rivera/Invision/AP, FileMovie out FridayAndrew Garfield wants audiences to look up from their phones and remember that there is still plenty of magic in the world around them.That idea drew the two-time Oscar nominee to “The Magic Faraway Tree,” a family adventure about Tim, a stay-at-home father whose family is forced to reconsider life after his wife, Polly, quits her job. They move to the countryside, where their children discover the magical Faraway Tree and its ever-changing worlds, sending the family into a series of fantastical adventures. The film, based on Enid Blyton's children's books, arrives in U.S. theaters on Friday.For Garfield, the story's themes of nature, imagination and community feel especially timely as technology increasingly shapes everyday life. “I think people are craving connection and community and a kind of reconnection to the earth and to each other,” he said.Garfield said he became passionate about the project after reading Simon Farnaby's screenplay. “I really just adore his sense of whimsy and heartfeltness and magic and joy,” he said. “I felt very, very passionate about it.”Tim's journey reflects the film's larger ideas about finding wonder outside the routine and distractions of modern life. For Garfield, that sense of wonder extends beyond fantasy. “I think it's all around us,” he said. “There are so many things to be in awe of on this planet.” The film, he said, is ultimately about recognizing that “there's magic in the ordinary” as well as in the extraordinary.Garfield, whose credits include playing Spider-Man, says he is drawn to roles with an element of play, community and the natural world. He focuses on “anything that keeps me awake to the remembering of the connection that we have to each other, the connection we have to nature, how we are all interconnected,” he said.Garfield grew up reading Enid Blyton's “The Famous Five” with his brother but did not read “The Faraway Tree” series as a child. His mother introduced him to another beloved literary adventurer: Bilbo Baggins, the hero of J.R.R. Tolkien's “The Hobbit.”“Any underdog story, really, those are the ones that get me,” Garfield said.Another childhood escape was the video store. Garfield remembers being fascinated by the rows of VHS tapes and the possibilities behind their covers. The habit has survived in a new form in adulthood: spending an evening browsing streaming services without picking anything, enjoying the feeling of looking “into the windows of all these imaginary worlds.”That may help explain why Garfield welcomes the resurgence of VHS and other analog technology among younger audiences.“I dig that,” he said. “The regression to analog is looking good to me.”]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://tcr.durangoherald.com/coyote-vs-acme-was-canned-by-warner-bros/</link>
        <title>‘Coyote vs. Acme’ was canned by Warner Bros</title>
        <description>But 3 years later, that&apos;s not all folks</description>
        <pubDate>Mon, 17 Aug 2026 11:28:34 -0600</pubDate>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[This image released by Ketchup Entertainment shows Lana Condor, left, and Will Forte, right, with the character Wile E. Coyote, voiced by Eric Bauza, in a scene from “Coyote vs Acme.” Ketchup Entertainment via APBut 3 years later, that's not all folksNEW YORK – Before it was dubbed “the funeral screening,” it was just when Will Forte was going to see the movie.“Coyote vs. Acme” was finished. Director Dave Green, inspired by “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” had completed the editing on the Looney Tunes blend of cartoon and live action. The whole project, which takes an Ian Frazier “Shouts and Murmurs” column from The New Yorker as its source material, was an audacious comic gambit that seemed to be paying off.Hopes were high. Audience test scores were good. But days before Forte, who stars as Wile E. Coyote's attorney, could see “Coyote vs. Acme,” Warner Bros. canceled it. Not just the screening – the movie. The studio hadn't delayed it or sent it to streaming. They were canning it altogether.“I just thought: 'Well, they're canceling the movie. It's gotta be bad,'” Forte recalls.Forte and his wife, suspecting the movie must have turned out poorly, joined the cast and crew to say goodbye to the film no one else was going to see.“That was when the real emotions started,” Forte says. “It was everything I wished the movie could have been and more. It was so special, which made it so frustrating and so devastating. The confusion was amped up, then frustration, then just searing anger.“Then it made even less sense,” he adds. “We all looked around, like, 'What's happening here?'”The abrupt termination of “Coyote vs. Acme” sent shockwaves through Hollywood. Everyone in the movie business is accustomed to sudden, painful twists of fate. But the wholesale elimination of a finished film faster than you can say “Meep! Meep!” was something new.David Zaslav, chief executive of Warner Bros., was intent on pivoting away from the straight-to-HBO Max projects of his predecessor. The expected marketing spend – roughly $30-40 million – for releasing “Coyote vs. Acme” wasn't worth it to the studio. It was better, the studio said, to take a tax write-off on the $70 million production. Along with two other releases – “Batgirl” and “Scoob! Holiday Haunt” – “Coyote vs. Acme” was put in mothballs.But nearly three years after that “funeral screening,” the movie is, like its ever-undaunted protagonist, back from the dead. After an outcry, Warner Bros. put “Coyote vs. Acme” up for sale. Ketchup Entertainment, an independent distributor that last year released the Looney Tunes movie “The Day the Earth Blew Up,” picked it up for about $50 million. On Aug. 28, “Coyote vs. Acme” will finally see the light of day.It's been a dizzying turn of events for everyone involved. Eric Bauza, who voices Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny and others in the film, didn't really believe it until he saw “Obsession” at his local cinema.“Upon exiting the theater, there in a little marquee box was the poster for 'Coyote vs. Acme,'” Bauza says. “It hit me: This is going to be seen by people.”In a recent interview, Green was still in disbelief.“I must be dreaming,” said Green. “It's a total surprise I'm sitting here talking to you today.”Director Dave Green, center, poses for a portrait with Will Forte, left, and Eric Bauza to promote the film “Coyote vs. Acme” on Tuesday, June 9, in Los Angeles. Chris Pizzello/AP PhotoWile E. Coyote has his day in courtThe filmmakers and their new distributor have leaned into the project's tortured history, promoting it as “the film ACME didn't want you to see.” More than that, “Coyote vs. Acme” now has a newfound meta quality. The premise of the film is that Coyote, after suffering years of defective products, takes Acme to court. Like the drama surrounding the film, it's an underdog victimized by a big corporation.“I couldn't help but look at the movie in a completely new way because there are meta crossovers between the story and what the movie had come to represent,” Green says. “It almost felt like we had written the movie after the news had broken.”When “Coyote vs. Acme” was canceled, its fate became a rallying cry. Filmmakers like Christopher Miller, Phil Lord, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert championed it as too good to disappear. Even politicians, like Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas, urged the Justice Department to investigate Warner Bros.'s decision.Bauza, a veteran voice actor, pushed the hashtag #ReleaseCoyoteVsACME on social media. His most dramatic effort, though, was at the Annie Awards in 2024. There, he drew hearty applause for making that case from the podium – in the voice of Daffy Duck.“He's the go-to cartoon character above anyone else when it comes to begging and pleading,” Bauza says. “It seemed appropriate.”So many people came out fighting for the film that Green never felt alone throughout the ordeal.“I would open my phone one day and see someone dressed in a Wile E. Coyote costume outside of the studio protesting with a sign in the rain – these kinds of things you couldn't believe,” says Green.‘The pipeline has changed’At the same time, the entire episode suggested a dark new chapter in the movie business that has left many involved with “Coyote vs. Acme” shaky. This wasn't a young filmmaker getting turned down on their first film. It was two years of work on one of Warner Bros.' most iconic franchises – a movie even produced by DC Studios chief James Gunn.“I don't know what their judgment was,” says Bauza. “Did they even know or were they just looking at numbers? It's tough looking in from the outside, thinking: 'If that's how the Looney Tunes are being treated, what about my story?'”“The pipeline has changed,” he adds. “How we get to the finish line is different.”“Coyote vs. Acme” was greenlit when studios were trying to find their way through the pandemic and theaters were struggling to stay afloat. But Green's film now arrives at a much different point in time. Theatrical is thriving thanks in large part to the visions of filmmakers, from Christopher Nolan to Curry Barker.For Green, that “Coyote vs. Acme” is finally having its day in the court of public opinion is a sign of Hollywood returning to its foundations.“The film business, as much as it might not feel that way, is led and dictated by artists and filmmakers and actors and writers wanting to create,” says Green. “There will be nothing able to take that want away from creators. As long as we keep creating, there will be a movie business.”Forte is still struggling to find a happy ending. The movie's initial cancellation felt, he says, “cruel and heartless.”“The downside is: Trust no one,” says Forte. “And the positive is: Don't give up hope. And that's the one I think I will keep.”]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://tcr.durangoherald.com/skip-ewing-lives-one-moment-after-another-breathing-the-same-air-as-his-audiences/</link>
        <title>Skip Ewing lives ‘one moment after another,’ breathing the same air as his audiences</title>
        <description>Hit country song writer brings top-notch band to San Juan County Fair on Friday</description>
        <pubDate>Tue, 11 Aug 2026 10:25:33 -0600</pubDate>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[Hit country song writer brings top-notch band to San Juan County Fair on FridaySkip Ewing, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 14, at the Open Air Pavilion, McGee Park, at the 2026 San Juan County Fair. (Photo courtesy Heather Conley)Skip Ewing, the hit country songwriter behind “Rebecca Lynn,” says he performs by living entirely in the present – “one moment after another” – a mindset he’ll bring to McGee Park on Aug. 14 when he takes the stage with band mates he calls “incredible musicians.”Speaking from his log cabin in northwest Wyoming, Ewing reflected on a lifelong musical journey that began with a guitar at age 4, wound through Nashville and decades of award‑winning songwriting, and now centers on connecting with audiences in real time.He likens songwriting to painting – capturing ideas on his iPhone, shaping melodies on his Martin D‑42 and letting the human element guide the art. Ewing’s Farmington show will feature Dobro player Josh Matheny, fiddler Lilly Mae and percussionist Noel Bisesti, offering what he describes as a singular experience: “We’re breathing the same air, and that moment’s not going to happen again.”Ewing, with his four-piece band, performs at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 14, at McGee Park’s Open Air Pavilion/Food Midway.“I've never known a time that I didn't play guitar,” Ewing said, adding he had a few lessons but mostly was instinctual and self-taught.After moving many times before graduating high school, Ewing headed to Nashville and “never looked back.”Born in 1964 in Redlands, California, he went to South Carolina, to Colorado and back to California.Ewing said his given name appears on paper but he’s never used it for anything. “Not for school, not ever. So it's foreign. It wouldn’t seem like me at all,” he added that where exactly “Skip” came from he was not sure.Ewing, who enjoys his secluded ranch in Wyoming, said he and his wife, Linda, love having horses and thousands of acres of forest at their backdoor.“We live in … I think some of the most beautiful country in the world,” Ewing said.His love of horses traces back to his grandfather who raised thoroughbred race horses in California. Ewing didn’t learn how to ride them, but he did learn some basics of caring for horses.Skip Ewing, who is scheduled to perform Aug. 14, at 7:30 p.m., at the Open Air Pavilion, McGee Park, at the 2026 San Juan County Fair, lives in a remote area of northwest Wyoming. (Photo courtesy Heather Conley)Early days with guitar, creativityEven though he never got steady guitar lessons, Ewing said he just played and stayed up late at night playing softly to stay out of trouble.“And so I made a lot of stuff up. I mean, I just tried to tried to play what I heard on the radio,” he said, adding that he “never really thought, ‘hey, I’m going to be a songwriter, or hey, I’m going to be an instrumentalist, or hey, I’m going to be a singer.’ I just did it.”Ewing said some of his early stuff was probably “terrible,” but he was definitely “creative and expressive.”“I felt like, you know, I had something I wanted to share and experience, and it just took root and grew my whole life, man,” Ewing said.With only a couple of lessons when he was very young, Ewing took a few more at a local guitar store later on.“You know, we moved a lot, and there really wasn't money to do that kind of stuff,” he said, adding his family “really wasn't in that kind of space.”“So I did what I could when I could, and I sought guidance and knowledge … and did whatever I could to try to figure it out,” Ewing said.The range of musical experiences in Ewing’s background is broad, including classical, piano, five-string banjo, bluegrass songs, traveling doing musical theater --- even magic groups, and jazz vocals.His musical appreciation and influences are diverse, ranging from Merle Haggard to Sting … from Yo-Yo Ma to Genesis.The summer after graduating high school, Ewing was offered a job singing in a country ensemble in Nashville, beginning a musical journey filled with many awards and accolades.Ewing said his journey from Nashville to where he is now is a “whole string of nows to me. It's one now after another.”Ewing has written 11 No. 1 country hits and over 250 album cuts for industry superstars, including:Kenny Chesney – “You Had Me from Hello” (No. 1 hit) & “Me and You” (No. 2 hit) Keith Urban – “I Would If I Could” (Originally a demo co-written with Dean Dillon, later famously recorded as a 2025 duet by Lainey Wilson and ERNEST)Other famous Other Famous No. 1 hits by Ewing “Love, Me” by Collin Raye” (No. 1 hit)“If I Didn't Have You” by Randy Travis“I Believe” by Diamond Rio”“Someone Else's Star” by Bryan White “Rebecca Lynn” Ewing's solo chart-topping hits “Burnin' a Hole in My Heart” (His highest-charting solo single at No. 3) “It's You Again” (Top 5 hit)2000 BMI Country Songwriter of the Year award, a CMA Triple Play Award, and the 1997 NSAI Song of the Year award for “Something That We Do”Skip Ewing, will perform Aug. 14, at 7:30 p.m., at the Open Air Pavilion, McGee Park, at the 2026 San Juan County Fair, said connecting with his audiences is primary. (Photo courtesy Heather Conley) Songwriting is like painting for EwingFor Ewing there was no single inspiration for a first song --- only a melody or strumming a few guitar chords and being creative.“I’m sure by the time I got a little older, I was trying to write songs to, you know, make the girls think I was cool, that kind of thing,” he said, adding “I think of songwriting like painting.”“A sheet of paper is a blank canvas with all the elements, including the light which illuminates the style of music and its lyrical content,” Ewing said, adding “maybe you sketch a little bit, maybe you throw paint at the canvas.”His daughter Rebecca Lynn inspired the hit song of the same name Ewing wrote for Bryan White.Nowadays, he works electronically using his iPhone to capture the lyrics, using memos to record little pieces. He doesn’t demo it, but if he can illustrate it, play it on his guitar and it holds up – he good with that.For Ewing, it’s never just a song. It’s everything coming together to “express artistically in a way that identifies” him.The human element is key to his songwriting, Ewing said. His art is his voice and his prized guitar, a Martin D-42, which he just received from Martin Guitars.Ewing’s song, “Play On,” mentions Martin guitars and is currently streaming on the major internet platforms.Connecting with the audience in the greatest way, Ewing said, is knowing “we're breathing the same air, and that moment's not going to happen again. That moment is for Farmington and the people who are there.”Visit Skip’s website, skipewing.com to sample his music, including “Me & God and a Fishing Pole.”dalbright@tricityrecordnm.com]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://tcr.durangoherald.com/the-lovin-spoonful-to-bring-their-hit-catalog-to-farmington/</link>
        <title>The Lovin’ Spoonful to bring their hit catalog to Farmington</title>
        <description>Rock &amp; Roll Hall of Famers set to perform at the Farmington Civic Center</description>
        <pubDate>Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:11:23 -0600</pubDate>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[The Lovin’ Spoonful will perform at the Farmington Civic Center on Friday, Aug. 14. Courtesy City of FarmingtonRock & Roll Hall of Famers set to perform at the Farmington Civic CenterGet ready to step back into the golden age of American pop-rock. The iconic Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band, The Lovin’ Spoonful, is heading to the Farmington Civic Center for a one-night-only performance next Friday, Aug. 14, at 7:30 p.m.Formed in New York’s bohemian Greenwich Village in 1965, The Lovin’ Spoonful quickly became America’s answer to the British invasion. They exploded onto the music scene with an unprecedented hot streak, sending their first seven consecutive singles soaring straight into the Billboard Top 10.Today, founding member Steve Boone continues the group’s rich musical legacy alongside dynamic band mates Jeff Alan Ross, Bill Cinque, Rob Bonfiglio and Mike Auturi. Together, they deliver a high-energy performance celebrating the timeless, good-time tunes that defined a generation.Audiences can look forward to singing-along to unforgettable classic hits like “Do You Believe in Magic,” “Daydream,” and “Summer in the City.”Whether someone lived through the '60s folk-rock explosion or is discovering these feel-good classics for the first time, this performance promises an incredible evening of nostalgic, feel-good music right in the heart of Farmington.Tickets are on sale now. Reserved seating can be purchased online at farmingtonshows.com or in person at the Farmington Civic Center Box Office.Event & Ticket DetailsWhat: The Lovin’ Spoonful Live in ConcertWhen: Friday, Aug. 14, 7:30 p.m.Where: Farmington Civic Center, 200 W. Arrington St., Farmington, NMAdmission: $16 – $28]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://tcr.durangoherald.com/spider-man-brand-new-day-nets-second-best-north-american-opening-ever-with-355-million-2/</link>
        <title>‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ nets second best North American opening ever with $355 million</title>
        <description>This image released by Sony Pictures shows Tom Holland in a scene from “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” Sony Pictures via AP “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” made box office history in its first weekend in theaters. The Sony-released superhero movie became...</description>
        <pubDate>Mon, 03 Aug 2026 11:14:55 -0600</pubDate>
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        <media:thumbnail url="https://imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com/?uuid=03781697-6796-5963-B996-36A2E42F38F3&#038;function=thumbnail&#038;type=preview&#038;source=false&#038;width=600&#038;height=400" />
        <content:encoded><![CDATA[This image released by Sony Pictures shows Tom Holland in a scene from “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” Sony Pictures via AP “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” made box office history in its first weekend in theaters. The Sony-released superhero movie became the second-biggest North American opening ever with an astonishing $355 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. It was just a few million shy of “Avengers: Endgame,” which debuted to $357 million in 2019.The film also made $572 million from over 73,500 screens internationally, with China contributing $121 million alone, adding up to a $927 million worldwide debut that is second only to “Endgame” ($1.2 billion).Tom Holland's run as the comic book webslinger has been a mighty one. “No Way Home,” his third standalone Spider-Man movie, made over $1.9 billion worldwide to become the eighth-highest earning movie of all time, not accounting for inflation. It was also the first movie since the beginning of the pandemic to cross the $1 billion mark.But the triumph of “Brand New Day” also comes on the heels of another major movie featuring Holland and Zendaya: Christopher Nolan's “The Odyssey,” which slid to second place in its third weekend in theaters with $51 million. Their combined might helped propel the biggest weekend of all time for North American movie theaters, with an estimated $430 million in total ticket sales, according to Rentrak.“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” started strong, with a record $168 million opening day from 4,487 theaters in the U.S. and Canada, besting “Avenger: Endgame's” $157 million Friday. The studio predicted it would lead to a $325 million opening weekend, which would still have beaten the second-place record. It takes the place of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” which opened to $260 million in December 2021. In the realm of best opening weekends in North America, they're followed by “Avengers: Infinity War” ($257 million in 2018) and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” ($247 million in 2015).Expectations were always high for “Brand New Day,” which was directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and cost a reported $225 million to produce, not including marketing expenses. But there were worries it wouldn't attract the same level of mass audience enthusiasm as its predecessor which integrated past Peter Parker actors Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield into the mix. In reality, interest was higher than ever. “Brand New Day” also received strong reviews from critics and audiences. It currently has a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes; Audiences gave it an “A” CinemaScore and a five-star rating on PostTrak.This image released by Sony Pictures shows Zendaya, left, and Tom Holland in a scene from “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” Sony Pictures via APTicket buyers were predominately male (about 61%) and many were on the younger side, with slightly more than half the audience under the age of 25, according to PostTrak exit polls. The biggest group was between the ages of 18 and 24, which made up 36% of the audience; 27% were between the ages of 25 and 34. The box office analytics company EntTelligence estimates that about 24.1 million people attended “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” this weekend.It's also the biggest ever opening for Sony Pictures.Tom Rothman, the Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, praised “the incomparable Tom Holland” in a statement. Rothman famously pushed back the production of the movie to allow Holland to act in “The Odyssey” as well.Cries about the death of the superhero movie have been looming since “Endgame” with more than a few high-profile flops in the years since, including several from the once-impenetrable Marvel Studios. Still, when they work, they really work, most notably with “No Way Home” and “Deadpool & Wolverine,” which made over $1.3 billion.Marvel Studios president and 'Spider-Man' producer Kevin Feige said in a statement, “This debut reflects the enduring power of Marvel's characters, and the connection they continue to have with fans around the world – and, as audiences saw, it sets up exciting things to come.”Producer Amy Pascal added that it “reinforces that moviegoers are hungry for stories that are both spectacular and deeply human.”This year has also seen a resurgence of moviegoing from younger audiences, who have made hits out of movies like “Obsession,” “Backrooms” and “The Drama,” which also starred Zendaya.They're also helping blockbusters soar, and in a business that is partly propelled by momentum, “Spider-Man” had the benefit of coming after “The Odyssey,” which fell only 43% in its third weekend. “The Odyssey” has now earned $395.5 million domestically, bringing its global total to $911.4 million. The film will soon open in South Korea (Aug. 5), China (Aug. 14) and Japan (Sept. 11). Its studio, Universal, also became the first this year to surpass $4 billion globally thanks in part to “Michael,” which it distributed internationally, and “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.”A slew of animated PG-rated holdovers rounded out the top five: “Toy Story 5" was in third place with $6.3 million, followed by “Minions & Monsters” in fourth and “Moana,” in fifth. And there were bright spots further down the chart as well. In sixth place with $2 million, “Hadestown: The Musical” surpassed “Hamilton” to become the highest grossing live theater capture release ever with a running total of $18.2 million.Paul Dergarabedian, the head of marketplace trends for Rentrak, said the “Spider-Man” effect could help the summer movie season surpass the $4 billion mark for the first time since the Barbenheimer summer of 2023, and the third-ever billion dollar August.“This is perhaps the most important summer moviegoing season in the history of the business,” Dergarabedian said. August, he added, “could set up a home stretch of the box office year like no other and one that could push us over that $10 billion mark.”Top 10 movies by domestic box officeWith final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak:1. “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” $355 million.2. “The Odyssey,” $51 million.3. “Toy Story 5,” $6.3 million.4. “Minions & Monsters,” $5.8 million.5. “Moana,” $5.3 million.6. “Hadestown: The Musical,” $2 million.7. “The Invite,” $1.2 million.8. “I Want Your Sex,” $600,000.9. “Young Washington,” $477,727.10. “Obsession,” $470,000.]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://tcr.durangoherald.com/comic-con-2026-the-spaceballs-sequel-hype-begins/</link>
        <title>Comic-Con 2026: The ‘Spaceballs’ sequel hype begins</title>
        <description>Marvel is also returning to Hall H</description>
        <pubDate>Thu, 23 Jul 2026 12:01:13 -0600</pubDate>
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        <media:thumbnail url="https://imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com/?uuid=454E1D31-24F9-5FBA-AB20-1FBA44936924&#038;function=cropresize&#038;type=preview&#038;source=false&#038;q=75&#038;width=1200&#038;x=0.0575&#038;y=1.0E-5&#038;crop_w=0.88625&#038;crop_h=0.99999" />
        <content:encoded><![CDATA[Daniel Huerta, from Simi Valley, California, poses for a photo dressed as “Red Guardian” during preview night for Comic-Con International on Wednesday in San Diego. Richard Shotwell/Invision/APMarvel is also returning to Hall HSAN DIEGO – The Avengers appear set to return to Hall H as Marvel Studios uses Comic-Con International to build hype for the December release of “Avengers: Doomsday” – and chart a path forward as audience interest in superhero films has waned.That panel on Saturday is the most-anticipated hour of the nation's biggest pop culture convention, which opened in San Diego on Wednesday evening. Early bird shoppers can snag exclusive collectibles like a $25 “KPop Demon Hunters”-themed Hot Wheels Porsche 911 and $60 “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” customizable Funko figure set.More than 120,000 people are expected at the four-day expo, which began in 1970 with a gathering of several hundred sci-fi and comics fans and an in-person appearance from Marvel icon Jack Kirby.Matt Armstrong, of San Diego, dressed as the character Luigi from the Mario Kart video game series, greets attendees during preview night for Comic-Con International on Wednesday in San Diego. Chris Pizzello/AP PhotoWhat to expect at Comic-Con 2026Comic-Con has grown to include cosplay contests, autograph booths, obstacle courses, concerts and panels covering everything from video games – new titles feature Wolverine and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – to movie poster art and fencing. (Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden and “Ghosts” actor Asher Grodman will discuss “Hollywood's Love Affair With Fencing” on Thursday.)DC Studios, which like Marvel sat out last year's Comic-Con because the publicity campaign timing wasn't right, will showcase its HBO “Lanterns” series with a “training headquarters” activation in San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter and a Friday panel featuring stars Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler.That presentation, like Marvel's, will be in the convention center's 6,500-person premier showcase: Hall H. Livestreams aren't allowed inside but online reaction from fans in attendance can swiftly lift – or doom – a film or TV show's prospects.Another prestige TV highlight: Actors from “Widow's Bay” are expected to pay a visit to the bayside convention center on Saturday as Apple TV celebrates the comedy-horror series' 19 Emmy nominations.Comedy fans won't need to comb the desert to find updates on “Spaceballs: The New One,” the focus of a Friday panel. The film set for release next year features Rick Moranis, Bill Pullman and 100-year-old Mel Brooks reprising their roles from Brooks' 1987 parody.]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://tcr.durangoherald.com/behind-christopher-nolans-6-country-epic-undertaking-to-bring-the-odyssey-to-the-big-screen/</link>
        <title>Behind Christopher Nolan’s 6-country epic undertaking to bring ‘The Odyssey’ to the big screen</title>
        <description>This image released by Universal Pictures shows Matt Damon as Odysseus, center, in a scene from “The Odyssey.” Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures via AP NEW YORK – Christopher Nolan has never been afraid to dream a little bigger. It’s almost...</description>
        <pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2026 14:48:58 -0600</pubDate>
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        <media:thumbnail url="https://imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com/?uuid=D8BB829B-F254-50FD-9908-3D9705F711A4&#038;function=cropresize&#038;type=preview&#038;source=false&#038;q=75&#038;width=1200&#038;x=0.20125&#038;y=1.0E-5&#038;crop_w=0.59875&#038;crop_h=0.99999" />
        <content:encoded><![CDATA[This image released by Universal Pictures shows Matt Damon as Odysseus, center, in a scene from “The Odyssey.” Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures via AP NEW YORK – Christopher Nolan has never been afraid to dream a little bigger. It's almost a calling. With every film, he's pushed himself and the medium further – playing with form, storytelling, visuals and audience expectations to create lasting cinematic spectacles. A student of Hollywood history, the Oscar-winner is always looking to fill gaps in cinematic culture and show audiences something they haven't seen before: “The Odyssey,” he realized, was a massive one.All Nolan films are epics in their own ways. But for “The Odyssey,” he knew he had to do something fitting of the Homeric poem and its foundational place in Western culture, something worthy of the biggest screens and the resources it would require. The goal was to make something accessible and realistic, which meant going to far flung locations, using real ships on real seas, and taking audiences into the cave with the Cyclops, inside the Trojan Horse and to the bleak expanse of Hades. Opening in theaters worldwide on Friday, it's also the first feature to be shot entirely on IMAX film.“We all know the title, we all know what it means, we know what it promises and hopefully for the audience coming to see the film, they'll feel we made good on that promise because that's the fun of 'The Odyssey,'” Nolan said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. “It's the ultimate adventure story.”“This is going to be really hard”The journey would require a deep dive into Greek mythology, Bronze Age scholarship and many translations, a monthslong scouting expedition and a 91-day shoot spanning six months and six countries during which the cast and crew endured all manner of challenging weather, landscapes and the treachery of the open seas.“The Odyssey” was an epic undertaking – the hardest film anyone involved had ever made. Matt Damon, who stars as Odysseus, said that Nolan warned him as much before they started filming.This image released by Universal Pictures shows Matt Damon as Odysseus, left, and Zendaya as Athena, in a scene from “The Odyssey.” Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures via AP“He told me it was going to be hard, which I kind of, I blew off at first. I'm like, 'Yeah, yeah, it's going to hard. And he said 'no, no, this is going to be really hard,'” Damon said. “He did not disappoint.”That was by design.“I mean, it's 'The Odyssey,'” Nolan said. “This should be a difficult film to make, and it was.”Unlike Odysseus's extended journey home, the production was also efficient: They finished nine days early.Making ‘The Odyssey’ relatable, and rejecting Hollywood tropesWhen Hollywood movies take on the ancient world, they often fall back on familiar tropes – using accents, elevated language, 19th century orchestral scores and neoclassical touchstones to convey antiquity. Nolan wanted to do something different and found inspiration in the text of the poem, in which he observed an earthy sensibility that stood in contrast to the grandeur of the story.“You want to question people's assumptions about how things should be portrayed in movies and what those are based on,” Nolan said. “There's a challenge to that and a risk to that.”That meant making some bold choices, including colloquial language, American accents, and blending elements from various stories, including “The Iliad,” “The Aeneid” and “Agamemnon,” to give the audience more clarity. His Trojan Horse, which he's been thinking about since he was briefly attached to direct “Troy” over 20 years ago, does not have wheels.For the score, he challenged composer Ludwig Göransson to use bronze gongs, aulos and the lyre to create a new kind of soundscape, and to come up with a four-note theme where the last would be the pluck of a bow.And paramount to this story of homecoming and coming-of-age, his characters needed to be relatable.“The movie has so much scale,” said Tom Holland, who plays Odysseus's son Telemachus. “There are times where it feels like you're on this kind of action-adventure roller coaster, but he doesn't sacrifice any of the heart and the intimacy between our characters.”Among the large ensemble cast are many famous names: Anne Hathaway is Odysseus's wife Penelope, Zendaya is the goddess Athena, Charlize Theron is the nymph Calypso and Lupita Nyong'o is Helen, and her twin sister.Robert Pattinson, Nolan said, is “unleashing his inner Alan Rickman” as the villainous suitor Antinous.“He's continually saying to Telemachus, 'I'm going to be your stepdad, I'll be your daddy,'” Nolan said. “It was such a fascinatingly creepy and amusing basis for villainy.”Leading the charge was Damon, an actor Nolan knew he liked working with after “Interstellar” and “Oppenheimer. ”“You need somebody who will take the audience on this journey,” Nolan said. “With Matt, he's able to combine that iconic sort of superhero thing with a very, very emotionally accessible and comprehensible person.”This image released by Universal Pictures shows, from left, Mia Goth as Melantho, and Anne Hathaway as Penelope, in a scene from “The Odyssey.” (Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures via AP)Melinda Sue GordonFinding the real; Grounding the fantasticalThe film begins with the words “a time of apparent magic,” a promise of what's to come in this mythical world of gods, monsters, superstitions and natural phenomena. The pursuit of the real led them all over the world. Troy was constructed in Morocco, the cave of the Cyclops was found in foothills of Greece, Iceland's black sands, shot in the midnight sun, are used for Hades and the island of Favignana, near Sicily, played Ithaca, where much of the cast and crew hiked 45-minutes every day before work to reach a 15th-century castle, 1,030 feet above sea level.On the seas, they used a real ship, the Draken, a reconstruction of a 1,000-year-old Viking ship that production modified slightly to make it look more of the Mycenaean era. The actors learned to row. The ship's crew played extras.But Nolan's love of in-camera effects doesn't mean he rejects other kinds. “Tenet,” “Interstellar” and “Inception” all won Oscars for visual effects, after all. And in “The Odyssey” there are things that can't be found in the natural world, from the six-headed Scylla to the Cyclops, the design of which was inspired by the Francisco Goya painting “Saturn Devouring His Son.” Bill Irwin, who brought the robots to life in “Interstellar,” delivered the performance.“We knew we were going to need every trick in the book, from animatronics to puppetry to computer graphics,” Nolan said. “But I knew I needed a performer … He doesn't treat the Cyclops as just a monster.”What it adds up to is something that, miraculously for a 3,000-year-old tale, feels fresh.“Chris has created something that's totally new,” said Hathaway. “That's a remarkable achievement.”Odyssey-feverNolan productions always inspire a certain amount of hysteria, but excitement for “The Odyssey” reached a fever pitch. Initial screenings for the 70 mm IMAX showings – his favorite format – sold out in under an hour a year in advance. When all showtimes went on sale last month, ticketing sites crashed. High profile locations like the AMC Lincoln Square in New York and AMC CityWalk in Los Angeles are virtually sold out for weeks, and scalpers on eBay are attempting to sell tickets for more than $500. But the 70 mm IMAX screens account for only about 32 theaters out of thousands in North America – there are other ways to see the film, including 70 mm, digital IMAX and other large format presentations.For Nolan, the audience is the north star; Entertaining is a responsibility he takes seriously. In fact, he said, a film isn't really done until it reaches the audience: They're the ones who finish the piece.“The audience tells you what it is,” Nolan said. “And that means that for us, this is an exciting moment, but a very frightening moment, because it's real. There's nothing to hide behind. We made this film for a theatrical audience, and it goes out in the world as that. And we'll see what the world makes of it.”]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://tcr.durangoherald.com/broadway-revivals-and-liberation-win-big-at-the-tony-awards/</link>
        <title>Broadway revivals and ‘Liberation’ win big at the Tony Awards</title>
        <description>Pink hosts the ceremony for the first time, replacing Neil Patrick Harris</description>
        <pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 13:50:11 -0600</pubDate>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[Ann Harada, from second left, Brad Oscar, Ana Gasteyer, Maulik Pancholy and the cast of “Schmigadoon!” perform during the 79th Tony Awards on Sunday at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Charles Sykes/Invision/APPink hosts the ceremony for the first time, replacing Neil Patrick HarrisNEW YORK – “Schmigadoon!,” an adaptation of an Apple TV series that gently mocks big, brassy Broadway shows, won the best new musical Tony Award on a night when actor John Lithgow and playwright Bess Wohl made history.The musical parodies golden-age Broadway classics like “The Music Man” and “Oklahoma!” centered on a modern-day couple finding themselves in a “Brigadoon”-like fantasyland where the wholesome townspeople keep breaking into song. The win is a redemption for creator Cinco Paul, whose TV series was canceled after two seasons. He won Tonys for the score and the book Sunday.“Sometimes singing, dancing, jokes and a happy ending are all you need,” said producer Lorne Michaels, the creator of “Saturday Night Live,” after the win.The win for “Schmigadoon!” also completes what some unofficially call a “studio EGOT,” giving the producing company credits for winning awards at all four major ceremonies. Apple already has Emmys for comedies “Ted Lasso” and “The Studio,” the Oscar for best picture for “CODA” and a Grammy via Chris Stapleton's contribution to the “F1" soundtrack.John Lithgow accepts the award for best performance by a leading actor in a play for “Giant” during the 79th Tony Awards on Sunday at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Charles Sykes/Invision/APWho took home the Tony AwardsThe prize for the best new play went to Wohl's “Liberation,” about a consciousness-raising women's group in 1970s Ohio, which earlier this year also won the Pulitzer Prize for drama.Wohl's play collects stories from second-wave feminists from all walks of life as they tackle misogyny, racism and traditional gender roles. Wohl is only the fourth woman to win a best play Tony, joining Wendy Wasserstein, Yasmina Reza and Frances Goodrich.“I want to honor women everywhere who have the courage to use their voice,” said Wohl, who thanked her mom, daughters and female producers. “And to all the girls out there: May you speak your truth, and may the world be wise enough to listen.”“Liberation” joins a list of 18 plays that have won the Pulitzer Prize for drama and the Tony Award in the same year.The Tony for best play revival went to “Death of a Salesman,” Arthur Miller's masterpiece that looks at the unraveling of the American Dream. It won the 1949 Tony for best new play and best revival crowns in 1984, 1999 and 2012.It earned a leading six Tonys: “Roseanne” star Laurie Metcalf won her third Tony for playing Willy Loman's wife opposite Nathan Lane in the revival, which also won for lighting, scenic design and sound design. Joe Mantello won best director for a play.Megan Thee Stallion, center, performs during the 79th Tony Awards on Sunday at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Charles Sykes/Invision/AP'Ragtime,' 'Giant,' and other stand-out plays“Ragtime” – a big, soaring musical that depicts an America being remade by immigration, racial violence, industrial wealth and political unrest – won the best musical revival.Caissie Levy, who was Broadway's first Elsa in “Frozen,” won her first Tony for playing the matriarch of a wealthy suburban family in “Ragtime.” She thanks all the babysitters who let her become both a mother and a Broadway performer.Moments later, Joshua Henry, a four-time nominee, won his first Tony as Coalhouse Walker Jr. in “Ragtime.” “Even in the face of pain and tragedy, he found a way to be heard,” Henry said of his character. “Every artist in this room, every artist at home, fight – fight to be heardLithgow won his third Tony for best lead actor in a play for “Giant” playing children's writer Roald Dahl in Mark Rosenblatt's production set in 1983, when the author is facing intense backlash for his antisemitic comments. At 80, he is the oldest man ever to win a competitive acting Tony.“Two Tony bookends with 53 years between them,” he said. “In those years, I have worked with hundreds of just fantastic theater artists. I've had dozens and dozens of ecstatic moments on the stage, but I have to tell you right now, this moment has got to be one of the best.”Shoshana Bean, who won best featured actress in a musical for playing a single mom in “The Lost Boys,” echoed the themes of “Liberation” in her speech.“This is for the mamas. This is for the single mamas. This is for my single mama. You are the wild heroes. This is for the incredible army of women that surround and uplift me,” she said.“Cats: The Jellicle Ball,” which reimagines the 1980s classic feline musical as a celebration of queer ballroom culture, won for best direction of a musical by Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch.“We honor the Black and brown trans women and gay men who were ballroom's pioneers, as well as today's icons, and our cast of astonishing triple-threats, including people from their 20s to their 80s, and every decade in between,” Levingston said.Lesley Manville, an Oscar nominee for “Phantom Thread,” won best lead actress in a play, making her Broadway debut in a modern retelling of Sophocles' classic tragedy “Oedipus.”Neil Patrick Harris, left, and Host Pink perform during the 79th Tony Awards on Sunday at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Charles Sykes/Invision/APPink's performance as the hostPink, the Tony's host, started the show spinning and then dangling uncomfortably from a harness over the stage, dressed like Peter Pan. Former host Neil Patrick Harris stepped in to suggest the first-time host just be herself.“You're Pink, Pink. You can do anything,” he told her.After lifting Harris off the stage with her legs, Pink relented to his suggestion, added a top hat and belted out “Lady Marmalade” with contributions from dozens of performers including Lea Michele and Megan Thee Stallion – and some 170 performers.In her opening remarks, Pink, who has not yet gotten a Broadway credit, called herself theater's second-biggest fan after her teenage daughter, Willow. “I'm not here just to steal peoples' wigs, although I will be doing that. I'm here to celebrate the hardest-working people in show business,” she said.“Schmigadoon!” and “Death of a Salesman” each went into the main telecast with a lead of three Tonys after a pre-show on Pluto TV hosted by Laura Benanti and Tituss Burgess that announced the more technical awards. Qween Jean became the first openly trans Tony winner ever for making the costumes for “Cats: The Jellicle Ball.”Plenty of medleys and dance sequencesAfter the big opening number, Pink was generally a genial, exuberant figure, popping up in new outfits for a few self-deprecating bits, but then roaring to life when leading a very convincing “All That Jazz” as “Chicago” celebrated its 30th anniversary, with the pop singer nailing the Bob Fosse-inspired choreography.The In Memoriam section was led by Leslie Odom Jr. singing a powerful “Without You” from “Rent,” honoring such lost figures as actors Robert Duvall, Robert Redford and Diane Keaton, as well as playwright Tom Stoppard. Rachel Zegler then stunned with a version of “What I Did For Love” from “A Chorus Line,” which last year celebrated its 50th anniversary.Other performances included the original lead cast members of “The Book of Mormon” – Josh Gad, Andrew Rannells, Rory O'Malley and Nikki M. James – reuniting to celebrate its 15th anniversary.___For more coverage of the 2026 Tony Awards, visit https://apnews.com/hub/tony-awards.]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://tcr.durangoherald.com/museum-of-navajo-art-culture-welcomes-acclaimed-traveling-exhibition-the-global-language-of-headw/</link>
        <title>Museum of Navajo Art &amp; Culture welcomes acclaimed traveling exhibition: The Global Language of Headwear</title>
        <description>Exhibition on display until September</description>
        <pubDate>Thu, 28 May 2026 10:25:01 -0600</pubDate>
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        <media:thumbnail url="https://imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com/?uuid=AB44B4E3-05A5-497F-A226-5AD333D25274&#038;function=cropresize&#038;type=preview&#038;source=false&#038;q=75&#038;width=1200&#038;x=0.0575&#038;y=1.0E-5&#038;crop_w=0.88625&#038;crop_h=0.99999" />
        <content:encoded><![CDATA[Exhibition on display until SeptemberThe Museum of Navajo Art & Culture in Farmington is pleased to announce that The Global Language of Headwear: Cultural Identity, Rites of Passage, and Spirituality exhibition is currently on view at the museum's downtown gallery through September.The Global Language of Headwear: Cultural Identity, Rites of Passage, and Spirituality presents 89 hats and headdresses carefully selected from a private collection of more than 1,300 extraordinary pieces of international headwear.This exhibition features hats from 42 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and North and South America, and is a tribute to the stunning diversity of the world’s cultures. With a few exceptions, the pieces are from the mid-to-late 20th century, and many are still worn today in parts of the world for revelry, ritual, and the rhythms of everyday life. More than utilitarian objects of material culture, each hat is a unique work of art – not merely because of the skill required to make it, but also as a singular expression of creativity and cultural meaning.The Museum of Navajo Art & Culture is located at 301 W. Main St. Courtesy City of FarmingtonThe profusion of shapes, styles, and materials, as well as the ingenious use of embellishments to decorate the hats, are limited only by imagination. Hats and headdresses communicate timeless ideas – not only of beauty, but also of what it means to be human.“We are absolutely thrilled to refresh the Museum of Navajo Art & Culture's gallery with this spectacular traveling exhibit,” said Nathan Augustine, Museum Director. “It is a fantastic addition to our downtown cultural offerings, providing a vibrant, global perspective that we know will captivate and inspire local residents and visitors alike.”The Museum of Navajo Art & Culture is located in historic downtown Farmington at 301 W. Main St., and is open Wednesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Admission to the museum and the exhibition is free.For more information, visit the Museum of Navajo Art & Culture or farmingtonmusuem.org.About the CuratorStacey Miller is an independent curator of ethnographic headwear. She has spent over 30 years collecting and researching the cultural significance of hats and headdresses. Since 2000, she has delivered educational programs, lectured, hosted special events, and curated numerous exhibitions based on her collection.Miller purchased her first hat in 1979 after joining a group of Spaniards driving from Madrid to India on a 4-month overland adventure. Learning more about other cultures – their customs, values, and traditions – with each new acquisition, Miller realized that hats and headdresses can have a profound significance beyond their decorative qualities. Not only do they instill an awareness and appreciation of diverse cultures, but they can act as a bridge between peoples, reinforcing personal, spiritual, and social values that we as humans all share.Today, Miller’s collection has grown to more than 1,300 hats and headdresses from almost every corner of the world. Her long-term vision is to establish a museum of world cultures as a way to promote cross-cultural interest and understanding.The Global Language of Headwear: Cultural Identity, Rites of Passage, and Spirituality was jointly organized by Miller and International Arts & Artists, Washington, DC.]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://tcr.durangoherald.com/box-office-mandalorian-and-grogu-tops-charts/</link>
        <title>Box Office: ‘Mandalorian and Grogu’ tops charts</title>
        <description>‘Obsession’ grows in second weekend</description>
        <pubDate>Tue, 26 May 2026 10:21:51 -0600</pubDate>
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        <media:thumbnail url="https://imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com/?uuid=85A96F0D-4C7D-5740-8E27-7B33C2F256DC&#038;function=thumbnail&#038;type=preview&#038;source=false&#038;width=600&#038;height=400" />
        <content:encoded><![CDATA[This image released by Disney shows The Mandalorian, portrayed by Pedro Pascal, right, and Grogu in a scene from Lucasfilm's “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu.” Lucasfilm Ltd. – Disney via AP‘Obsession’ grows in second weekendAfter nearly seven years away from the big screen, a new Star Wars movie drew healthy but not record-breaking crowds to global theaters this weekend. According to studio estimates on Sunday, “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” made $82 million in ticket sales from 4,300 theaters in the U.S. and Canada. By the end of Monday's Memorial Day holiday, it was expected to have earned $102 million domestically and $165 million globally.It exceeded opening weekend expectations for the movie, a continuation of Disney+ spinoff series “The Mandalorian,” but it's also on the low end of Disney-era Star Wars releases, closer to “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” which made $103 million over the four-day Memorial Day frame in 2018. While “Solo” was considered a disaster, the metrics around “The Mandalorian and Grogu” are a little different.The production budget for “Solo” was in the $300 million range, while “The Mandalorian and Grogu” was made for significantly less – a reported $165 million, not accounting for marketing and promotion costs. It makes the journey to profitability more likely, especially when factoring in positive audience scores. Although critics were mixed to negative on the movie (it currently carries a 63% on Rotten Tomatoes), ticket buyers overall gave it an A- CinemaScore. Boys under the age of 13 are especially high on the movie: They gave it an A CinemaScore and a perfect five on PostTrak. Parents also gave it a five out of five.The Jon Favreau-directed movie stars Pedro Pascal as the titular bounty hunter and puts him and his tiny green companion on a mission to save Jabba's son Rotta the Hutt, who is voiced by Jeremy Allen White.“Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” could also be graded on a bit of a curve because of the streaming component, both that it started as a series, and that it will eventually end up as a value add on Disney+, which was only about a month old when the last Star Wars movie, “The Rise of Skywalker,” debuted in December 2019.This image released by Disney shows Rotta the Hutt, voiced by Jeremy Allen White, in a scene from Lucasfilm's “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu.” Lucasfilm Ltd. – Disney via APStar Wars as a brand is in a time of transition under its new leadership team of Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan; Earlier this year it was announced that Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, who produced “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,” was stepping down after 13 years. The question for the industry is whether audience interest in Star Wars on the big screen might have cooled slightly, and if next year's “Star Wars: Starfighter,” starring Ryan Gosling, will provide a definitive answer. Until then, the hope is that strong audience and exit scores will propel word-of-mouth generated enthusiasm in the coming weeks.“The moviegoers rule,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the head of marketplace trends for Comscore. “I think given the audience reaction and the scores that are coming from parents and kids, this is going to be in it for the long haul.”Word-of-mouth certainly helped Curry Barker's relationship horror movie “Obsession” defy the standard box office trajectory and do better business in its second weekend. The Focus Features had an astonishing 30% uptick in ticket sales, earning $22.4 million from 2,655 theaters.“That's really unheard of,” Dergarabedian said. “And it is a testament to how this social media buzz from younger viewers is fueling the FOMO factor.”The studio, which acquired the microbudget movie for some $15 million, is projecting that it will have made $28.2 million by the end of Monday, bringing its running total to $58.5 million. It snagged the second-place spot, while “Michael” landed in third place with $20 million for the three-day weekend. The Michael Jackson biopic has now earned $782.4 million.“Obsession” also did better than the new horror movie “Passenger,” a Paramount Pictures release with Melissa Leo, which grossed an estimated $8.7 million from 2,534 locations. It's expected to earn $10.5 million over its first four days. The movie received poor reviews from both critics (44% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences (B- Cinema Score).Boots Riley's colorful shoplifting caper meets surreal social satire “I Love Boosters” also opened this weekend to $3.7 million. The Neon release stars Keke Palmer and Demi Moore.The mix of movies this year didn't hold a candle to last year's record Memorial Day weekend, which was led by Disney's live-action “Lilo & Stitch” and “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.” The overall four-day frame this year will net out around $211 million, down about 36% from last year's $330 million. It's also far from the disastrous 2024 Memorial Day weekend box office, a 30-year low, when “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” opened.Top 10 movies by domestic box officeWith final domestic figures being released Tuesday, this list factors in estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:1. “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,” $82 million.2. “Obsession,” $22.4 million.3. “Michael,” $20 million.4. “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” $12.6 million.5. “The Sheep Detectives,” $9 million.6. “Passenger,” $8.7 million.7. “Mortal Kombat II,” $6.2 million.8. “I Love Boosters,” $3.7 million.9. “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” $3.2 million.10. “Project Hail Mary,” $2.7 million.]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://tcr.durangoherald.com/dolly-parton-cancels-las-vegas-residency-due-to-health-issues/</link>
        <title>Dolly Parton cancels Las Vegas residency due to health issues</title>
        <description>‘Everything I have is treatable’</description>
        <pubDate>Thu, 07 May 2026 11:14:15 -0600</pubDate>
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        <media:thumbnail url="https://imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com/?uuid=D5F420C2-E572-5CB4-B396-A2AA472F5E3F&#038;function=thumbnail&#038;type=preview&#038;source=false&#038;width=600&#038;height=400" />
        <content:encoded><![CDATA[Dolly Parton performs in Overland Park, Kansas, on Aug. 14, 2023. Charlie Riedel/AP File Photo‘Everything I have is treatable’NEW YORK – Dolly Parton has canceled her previously postponed Las Vegas residency due to health challenges that leave her feeling “swimmy headed” – but has assured fans her ailments are treatable.“The good news is I'm responding really well to meds and treatments and I'm improving every day,” the 80-year-old country superstar said in a short video posted to her official Instagram account. “Now the bad news is, it's going to take me a little while before I'm up to stage-performance level because some of the meds and treatments make me a lit bit swimmy headed, as my grandma used to say.”“And of course, I can't be dizzy carrying around banjos, guitars, and such on five-inch heels – and you know that I'm going to be wearing them,” she joked. “Not to mention, all those heavy rhinestone outfits, the big hair, my big … uh, personality. Lord, those – that would make anybody swimmy headed!”She didn't share too many details about her health but clarified that she's always “had problems with my kidney stones,” and that her immune system and digestive system “got all out of whack over the past couple three years and they're working real hard on rebuilding and strengthening those.”She also clarified that her doctors have assured her “that everything I have is treatable, so I'm going with that.”She said that she is still working on opening her museum and hotel in Nashville as well as her forthcoming Broadway musical, “Dolly: A True Original Musical,” opening in New York later this year.Parton’s previous health challengesIn September, Parton announced her first Las Vegas residency in 32 years was going to be postponed due to “health challenges.” She was scheduled to perform six shows at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace for “Dolly: Live in Las Vegas” in December, overlapping with the National Finals Rodeo. Her dates were moved to this September, before being canceled on Monday.“Don't worry about me quittin' the business because God hasn't said anything about stopping yet,” she said at the time of the postponement. “But I believe he is telling me to slow down right now so I can be ready for more big adventures with all of you.”Last September, Parton also was unable to attend the announcement of a new ride at her Tennessee theme park Dollywood due to health issues. “I had a kidney stone that was causing me a lot of problems, turned out it'd given me an infection, and the doctor said, 'You don't need to be traveling right this minute, so you need a few days to get better,'” Parton said in a video announcement at the time.The following month, Parton posted a video to social media joking that she “ain't dead yet,” following public speculation about her health.“There are just a lot of rumors flying around. But I figured if you heard it from me, you'd know that I was OK,” she said in a two-minute video posted on Instagram. “I'm not ready to die yet. I don't think God is through with me. And I ain't done working.”Parton performs on occasion but hasn't toured since her “Pure & Simple Tour” ended in 2016.A representative directed The Associated Press' back to Parton's video message when asked for comment.]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://tcr.durangoherald.com/the-sheep-detectives-is-the-starry-family-friendly-whodunit-you-didnt-know-you-needed/</link>
        <title>‘The Sheep Detectives’ is the starry, family-friendly whodunit you didn’t know you needed</title>
        <description>Movie hits theaters Friday</description>
        <pubDate>Thu, 07 May 2026 11:01:01 -0600</pubDate>
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        <media:thumbnail url="https://imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com/?uuid=F2D5606B-233F-56F3-8970-A748A8D2F73D&#038;function=cropresize&#038;type=preview&#038;source=false&#038;q=75&#038;width=1200&#038;x=0.05625&#038;y=1.0E-5&#038;crop_w=0.88875&#038;crop_h=0.99999" />
        <content:encoded><![CDATA[This image released by Amazon MGM Studios shows sheep character Lily, voiced Julia-Louis Dreyfus, left, with Hugh Jackman as George Hardy, in a scene from “The Sheep Detectives.” Amazon MGM Studios via APMovie hits theaters FridayTalking animal movies do not, on the whole, have the best reputation. Yes, there is “Babe,” but “Babe” is the exception. Most are pretty bad, whether it's the uncanny effects, the shoddy storytelling or some horrifying combination of the two.Audiences have earned the right to be skeptical when something like “The Sheep Detectives” comes along – everyone involved was too. And yet this family-friendly “Knives Out” with a murder mystery at the center, a starry ensemble including Hugh Jackman, Emma Thompson and Nicholas Braun, as well as the voices of Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Regina Hall and Patrick Stewart as yes, talking sheep, has caught more than a few off guard for its quirky humor, its sincerity and its unexpected depth.Chris O'Dowd, who voices Mopple, “the most patient sheep,” noted: “You don't get a lot of projects that are from the director of 'Minions' and the writer of 'Chernobyl.' It's an unusual combination.”In the film, in theaters Friday, Jackman plays George, a kind, but isolated shepherd in the English countryside who reads his animals murder mysteries at night. Unbeknownst to him, not only do they understand the words, they debate the stories among themselves. So when George dies under mysterious circumstances, the flock take what they've learned to try to help the dimwitted local police officer (Braun) solve the case, language barriers and all.“What we know from watching this movie now with audiences over and over and over is that people are repeatedly delighted and surprised at how much more there is going on here than just silly sheep doing something silly,” screenwriter Craig Mazin said. “There are some really beautiful moments and themes and things that parents can talk about with their kids … and, most importantly, it is legitimately a movie that is meant for everyone.”This image released by Amazon MGM Studios shows characters Mopple, voiced by Chris O'Dowd, left, and Lily, voiced Julia-Louis Dreyfus in a scene from “The Sheep Detectives.” Amazon MGM Studios via APAiming high with 'The Sheep Detectives'The story of how “The Sheep Detectives” got made goes back almost 20 years, when veteran producer Lindsay Doran (“Sense and Sensibility”) told Mazin about Leonie Swann's novel “Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story.” He was expecting something cute, goofy and silly, but found himself enchanted by how smart, moving and philosophical it was.It would take nearly a decade to secure the rights, and almost another to get the thing made, and made well thanks to studio executive Courtenay Valenti who, Mazin said, rescued it from rotting on a pile of scripts. Along the way they would find themselves emboldened by the caliber of talent who wanted to be part of it as well.“Everybody involved was all on the same page of aiming as high as we could and sticking to our guns when it came to quality,” Mazin said. “Phil Lord and Chris Miller came on as producers as well, and their entire career has been about taking things that other people might not make good and making them good.”Molly Gordon, whose character becomes a primary suspect when she mysteriously shows up in town the night of the murder, had the same reservations as many.“The script was sent to my agent, and he emailed me, like, 'This is really profound' and I was like 'How could this be profound?' Like, I just, like, the sheep movie?” Gordon said. “And then within 10 minutes of reading it, I was like, this is one of the best scripts I've ever read.”The real audience testMazin's own kids grew up while “The Sheep Detectives” was getting made. But he still invited his 21-year-old daughter to watch it with him and his wife a few months back. She's proud of her dad for his career, but, he said, also wouldn't hesitate to call something of his “mid.”“When the film ended, they were both just sort of a sobbing, happy mess,” he said. “My daughter, who doesn't cut me any slack at all, AT ALL … Was like, 'That is such a good movie.' I thought, 'OK' … if your kids are older, it still works.”The movie is coming into a fairly healthy theatrical marketplace, where PG-rated movies are often outperforming PG-13 movies and where non-franchise movies with the right buzz have been finding their audience, including another Amazon MGM release, “Project Hail Mary.” Mazin, a veteran screenwriter who also co-hosts the popular “Scriptnotes” podcast, doesn't often hype his own projects like this. Usually he thinks they should speak for themselves.“Nobody needs the guy who wrote something to say, no, it's really good. This is the first time in my career that I'm like, but actually, no guys. I love this,” he said. “Seeing this movie is a purely positive experience.”And it needs a little bit of hype. “The Sheep Detectives” is currently tracking for a muted box office debut, in the $10 million to $15 million range. But it's also a movie that has been underestimated at nearly every step.“Low expectations are, you know, sometimes a gift,” Mazin laughed.___Associated Press Writer Lizzie Knight contributed from London.]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://tcr.durangoherald.com/indigenous-centered-dark-winds-adds-depth-to-the-crime-tv-genre/</link>
        <title>Indigenous-centered “Dark Winds” adds depth to the crime TV genre</title>
        <description>This thrilling series, set in the Southwest, centers Navajo stories with stirring action and well-developed narratives</description>
        <pubDate>Fri, 01 May 2026 10:14:14 -0600</pubDate>
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        <media:thumbnail url="https://imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com/?uuid=D0F824E3-9D0D-5EFB-A4ED-9A3CF5212EBE&#038;function=cropresize&#038;type=preview&#038;source=false&#038;q=75&#038;width=1200&#038;x=0.11&#038;y=1.0E-5&#038;crop_w=0.88625&#038;crop_h=0.99999" />
        <content:encoded><![CDATA[“Dark Winds” depicts the lives of Navajo police officers. AMC via IMDb.This thrilling series, set in the Southwest, centers Navajo stories with stirring action and well-developed narrativesWarning: Spoilers aheadFor much of the history of TV, small-town life meant Andy Griffith’s monolithic Mayberry – quaint, white and calm. But AMC’s “Dark Winds,” which recently aired its fourth season, provides a breath of fresh, dry, desert air. Set in the 1970s, “Dark Winds” is a character-driven crime drama that depicts the lives of Navajo police officers, the criminals they pursue, and the people they help.Based on the Leaphorn, Chee, and Manuelito novels written by Tony Hillerman and continued after his death in 2008 by his daughter, Anne Hillerman, “Dark Winds” has a first-class pedigree. The show’s executive producers include George R.R. Martin and the late Robert Redford, who know a thing or two about on-screen entertainment. (Redford and Martin had a wry cameo in a 2025 episode of the current TV series.) Redford was a long-time champion of the Hillerman novels, producing film versions going back to 1991, with “The Dark Wind,” starring Lou Diamond Phillips as Jim Chee and Fred Ward as Leaphorn.From the wonderfully ominous opening credits – and the title – viewers might expect “Dark Winds” to be, well, dark. There are moments of both literal and emotional darkness, including night scenes and times of human turmoil and tragedy. But the series is usually sunbaked and starkly beautiful in its depiction of the American Southwest.There are explosive, action-packed scenes – notably the opening moments of the first episode, when robbers steal from an armored truck and escape by helicopter – but many more quiet moments that focus on personal relationships and intense character interaction.These reflective moments are what make Lakota actor Zahn McClarnon such a wonderful choice to play Sheriff Joe Leaphorn, the show’s main protagonist. McClarnon, who is also an executive producer of “Dark Winds,” was perhaps best known to TV audiences for playing a tribal police chief on “Longmire,” the adaptation of Craig Johnson’s crime novels, for five seasons.But McClarnon doesn’t play Leaphorn as the grim-and-gritty investigator and avenger that’s popular in crime fiction, TV, and movies right now. Instead, he’s often wry and funny, bringing humor to how he oversees his small police force and bringing tenderness to his relationship with his wife, Emma (Deanna Allison).McClarnon’s cool and knowledgeable demeanor is also a nice contrast to the characters of Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon) and Bernadette Manuelito (Jessica Matten). As the series opens, Manuelito is the more experienced officer and investigator, navigating her role as a 1970s woman and cop. Manuelito is smart and incredibly resourceful, but not superhuman. Gordon as Chee is the outsider who joins the tribal department but has a secret (spoiler for a four-year-old series): he’s an FBI agent undercover as a member of the department. He works for FBI supervisor Leland Whitover (played by Noah Emmerich, cast to type after his years as a fed on the excellent series “The Americans”).The fourth season of “Dark Winds” just concluded, and a fifth season is in the works. AMC via IMDb.Across its four seasons, the show intensifies, providing some resolutions to storylines while other dramatic plot lines develop. As the tension heightens, the characters grow, especially the protagonist Leaphorn, who becomes increasingly vulnerable and afraid. That’s something a lot of series don’t allow to happen to their protagonists.“Dark Winds” is a show you watch for both the plot and the characters, who have strong bonds. Manuelito notes at some point that Leaphorn is like a father to her. Manuelito and Chee struggle with the attraction they feel and the steps they take to deny it – until they no longer do.While any satisfying series finds ways to keep its characters together, a great one dares to pull them apart first. For example, Chee leaves to be a private investigator in the second season, and Manuelitto leaves to join the Border Patrol in the third, creating new dynamics and tensions among the characters.“Dark Winds” builds Native beliefs and mysticism into the story, affecting how the characters move through the plot. The characters are enmeshed in the traditional and spiritual practices of their community. Especially effective is an early scene in which a Navajo witch menaces Manuelito and leaves her shaken. Later in the series, Chee struggles with being overshadowed by a death spirit. This exploration of Diné (Navajo) culture and spirituality adds an additional layer to the thrilling crime series, setting it apart from similar shows of this genre.“Dark Winds” is harsh but never seems unjustifiably bitter. It’s pointed, for sure: The first season ends with “This Land is Your Land” playing over the end credits. The characters experience the realities of continued oppression faced by Indigenous people, and it never condescends or compromises. Fans will be glad to know the series has been renewed for a fifth season.“Dark Winds” is currently streaming on AMC+ and Netflix.This story was originally published by The Daily Yonder and is republished here with permission.]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://tcr.durangoherald.com/summer-movie-preview-nolan-spider-man-and-toy-story-light-up-the-cinemas-2/</link>
        <title>Summer Movie Preview: Nolan, Spider-Man and ‘Toy Story’ light up the cinemas</title>
        <description>The summer season gets underway this weekend</description>
        <pubDate>Wed, 29 Apr 2026 14:46:59 -0600</pubDate>
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        <media:thumbnail url="https://imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com/?uuid=75376708-11F4-5A4A-8537-656D433B0C09&#038;function=thumbnail&#038;type=preview&#038;source=false&#038;width=600&#038;height=400" />
        <content:encoded><![CDATA[This image released by Universal Pictures shows, from left, Jimmy Gonzales ia Cepheus, Matt Damon as Odysseus and Himesh Patel as Eurylochus in a scene from “The Odyssey.” Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures via APThe summer season gets underway this weekendThe movies always feel bigger in the summer. The budgets. The ambition. The names. The stakes. This summer, Hollywood has many of the regulars on the lineup: “Spider-Man,” “Minions,” “Star Wars” and “Toy Story.” But the most eagerly anticipated is not a superhero, toy, or franchise: It's a 3,000-year-old epic poem.For filmmaker Christopher Nolan, “The Odyssey,” out July 17, isn't just a story. It's the story: A foundational piece that deserved to be done on the biggest possible scale, with all the resources modern Hollywood had to offer.“There's a massive amount of pressure,” Nolan told The Associated Press. “Anyone taking on 'The Odyssey' is taking on the hopes and dreams of people for epic movies everywhere and that comes with a huge responsibility.”It's a familiar feeling, though. He did three Batman films after all.“What I learned from that experience is that what people want from a movie about a beloved story, a beloved set of characters, is they want a strong and sincere interpretation,” Nolan said. “They want to know that a filmmaker has gone to the mat for it. I really tried to make the best film possible.”Three summers ago, “Oppenheimer” made nearly a billion dollars. “The Odyssey” has battles, gods, creatures and an army of movie stars – Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya and Tom Holland included. It's also the first movie shot entirely on IMAX film. Tickets for some IMAX 70 mm showings sold out in under an hour a full year in advance.“The Odyssey” will be shorter than “Oppenheimer”; Three hours is the longest they've been able to get onto an IMAX film projector, after all.“It's an epic film, as the subject matter demands,” Nolan said. “But it is shorter.”This image released by Universal Pictures shows, from left, characters Ed, Henry and Goomi in a scene from Illumination’s “Minions & Monsters.” Universal Pictures via APSummer movie season’s fashionable kickoffHollywood may not save all its blockbusters for the hottest months anymore, but the 18 week corridor running from the first weekend in May through Labor Day remains the industry's most important, accounting for around 40% of the year's box office. And it's only surpassed $4 billion once since the pandemic, in 2023.Marvel movies often kick off the season, but last year filmmaker David Frankel got a call from Disney: “Avengers: Doomsday” wasn't going to be ready by the first weekend in May; Could “The Devil Wears Prada 2" step up?May 1 is just days before the Met Gala and it would give the movie a long runway to play, he figured. It would also require a bit of a sprint – they finished the film just weeks ago. But the enthusiasm was motivating, from fans snapping photos of Hathaway and Meryl Streep on the New York streets, to support from Anna Wintour.Love for “Prada” isn't the only thing that's changed in 20 years; Magazines have also become an endangered species.“How does Miranda Priestly deal with this changing world and what's her future?” Frankel said. “The same with Andy Sachs: If all your ambition has been funneled in this one direction, what happens when you have to pivot and how do you adapt?”The $4 billion questionThe movie industry is also adjusting to a new paradigm. Box office is down over 20% from pre-COVID levels. The rise in streaming, the pandemic and shifting theatrical windows altered people's moviegoing habits, perhaps permanently. And there may be one less major studio if Paramount acquires Warner Bros.But, as James Cameron said, “hope springs eternal.“We still have a very robust theatrical industry at a time when it was kind of almost pronounced dead,” Cameron said.The gap is not widening. Studios are committing to longer exclusive theatrical windows. Original movies and premium formats are drawing crowds. And the market continues to expand globally.Cameron is behind one of those only-in-a-theater experiences with the 3D Billie Eilish concert film (May 8). Using new technology, they used 17 camera systems to capture four nights of her Manchester shows last year.“Seeing it in 3D is astonishing,” Cameron said. “You really feel an intimacy with her and yet you feel the scale of the spectacle.”This image released by Sony Pictures shows Spider-Man and Boomerang in a scene from “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” Sony Pictures via APA summer for heavyweightsNolan isn't Universal's only giant of cinema on its summer roster: Steven Spielberg is also returning to one of his most beloved genres with “Disclosure Day” (June 12). There are superhero movies as well, with “Supergirl” (June 26), which DC Studios co-head Peter Safran said is “is something cool and original and we haven't seen before,” and “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” (July 31). The last Spidey film, which made over $1.9 billion, ended with Holland's Peter Parker erasing himself from everyone's memory.“This is a blockbuster action movie with all the humor and emotion we love about Spider-Man,” director Destin Daniel Cretton said. “But at its heart, it's a story about learning how to reconnect with the ones you love.”A lot of power recently has shifted to PG-rated offerings. This summer has “Toy Story 5" (June 19), “Minions & Monsters” (July 1) and a live action “Moana” (July 10), which could all very well hit a billion dollars each.One non-franchise family friendly film is “The Sheep Detectives” (May 8), in which the animals (Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston) investigate the death of their beloved owner (Hugh Jackman). Writer Craig Mazin understands the hurdle: There have been a lot of stupid talking animal movies. But this one is different, he said, it's not just silly sheep doing silly things.“There are some really beautiful moments and themes and things that parents can talk about with their kids,” Mazin said. “And most importantly, it is legitimately a movie that is meant for everyone.”Then there's “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” (May 22), which is rated PG-13 but has an impossibly cute alien going for it. It's also one of several made for IMAX.“People have got great TVs at home,” said director Jon Favreau. “You've got to give them a reason to go out.”The scary moviesMovie studios also continue to lean into horror and this summer has both franchises, like “Evil Dead Burn”(July 10) and “Insidious: Out of the Further” (Aug. 21) and unnerving indies, including the “conversion therapy” horror “Leviticus,” “Rose of Nevada” (both June 19), “Backrooms” (May 29) and a new Jane Schoenbrun, “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” (Aug. 7).And then there is “Scary Movie 6" (June 5), which sees the return of Regina Hall and Anna Faris, as well as Marlon and Shawn Wayans, who haven't been involved in the franchise they helped create since the 2001 sequel. And there were so many movies ripe for parody, like “M3GAN,” “Get Out,” “Weapons,” the just-released “Michael,” and “Sinners,” which Marlon Wayans was most excited about.“Mockery is the greatest form of flattery,” Wayans said. “Sending up their movie was definitely tipping our hat to them.”The festival darlings and other gemsAudiences want more than brands and blockbusters though. This year moviegoers have already proven they'll turn out when the buzz is right, whether it's for a big crowd pleaser like “Project Hail Mary” or for something more challenging like “The Drama.”One that has the potential to break through is Olivia Wilde's “The Invite” (June 26), a chamber dramedy about two very different couples (Wilde, Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton) over one wine-filled night that sparked a bidding war at the Sundance Film Festival. Wilde was heartened that most studios were offering theatrical releases, and ultimately chose A24. They've even made a 35 mm print.“The whole project for me is really tipping my hat to Mike Nichols,” Wilde said. “We thought of the audiences that have always loved those films.”There are plenty of indies and originals to choose from throughout the summer, including Daniel Roher's “Tuner,” about a piano prodigy turned safecracker, Boots Riley's colorful shoplifting movie “I Love Boosters,” (both May 22) a John Carney musical with Paul Rudd (“Power Ballad,” June 5) and David Wain's wholesomely raunchy comedy “Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass” (July 10).As Wilde said, there's room for both originals and franchises.“The audience really likes to recognize risk,” she said. “There's something exciting about that.”]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://tcr.durangoherald.com/michael-moonwalks-to-97-million-opening-shattering-record-for-music-biopics-2/</link>
        <title>‘Michael’ moonwalks to $97 million opening, shattering record for music biopics</title>
        <description>This image released by Lionsgate shows Jaafar Jackson as Michael Jackson in a scene from “Michael.” Glen Wilson/Lionsgate via AP NEW YORK – “Michael,” the big-budget Michael Jackson spectacle, shrugged off bad reviews and a troubled production to launch with...</description>
        <pubDate>Mon, 27 Apr 2026 11:21:09 -0600</pubDate>
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        <media:thumbnail url="https://imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com/?uuid=9CFB2CCF-4AD2-57D8-8D2E-3B93D8EBA671&#038;function=thumbnail&#038;type=preview&#038;source=false&#038;width=600&#038;height=400" />
        <content:encoded><![CDATA[This image released by Lionsgate shows Jaafar Jackson as Michael Jackson in a scene from “Michael.” Glen Wilson/Lionsgate via AP NEW YORK – “Michael,” the big-budget Michael Jackson spectacle, shrugged off bad reviews and a troubled production to launch with $97 million in U.S. and Canada theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday, shattering a record debut for music biopics.A highly authorized portrayal of the King of Pop, co-produced by the Jackson estate, Lionsgate’s “Michael” far surpassed previous biopic top performers like “Straight Outta Compton” (a $60.2 million debut in 2015) and “Bohemian Rhapsody” ($51 million in 2018).International sales were also strong. “Michael” collected $120.4 million overseas, to give it a $217.4 million global opening – a new high for a music biopic. Universal picked up distribution in most international markets.A few weeks back, estimates for “Michael” were closer to $50 million. Going into the weekend, the studio estimated closer to $70 million. But it wildly overperformed.“From the beginning, all of the signals were that something like this was possible,” said Adam Fogelson, Lionsgate chairman. “We were seeing massive engagement with every conceivable audience segment that you could identify.”This image released by Lionsgate shows Jaafar Jackson as Michael Jackson in a scene from “Michael.” Lionsgate via APEven in the lucrative market of music biopics, “Michael” was an audacious bet by Lionsgate on an extraordinarily popular but controversial figure. The reputation of Jackson, who died in 2009 at the age of 50, has been repeatedly tarnished by allegations of sexual abuse of children. Jackson and his estate have maintained his innocence, though the pop star acknowledged sharing a bedroom with other people's children. He was acquitted in his sole criminal trial in 2005.Some Jackson family members opposed the film. Janet Jackson was uninvolved and doesn't appear in it. Jackson's daughter, Paris, called it “fantasy land.” But three years after “Leaving Neverland,” the 2009 documentary about Jackson's alleged sexual abuse of children, “Bohemian Rhapsody” producer Graham King announced plans for the biopic. Jackson's nephew, Jaafar Jackson, was cast to star.“Michael” had an unusually rocky production. After shooting was completed, producers realized they had made a costly mistake. The third act focused on the accusations of Jordan Chandler, then 13 years old, whom Jackson paid $23 million to in a 1994 settlement. The terms of that settlement barred the Jackson estate from ever mentioning Chandler in a movie.A huge chunk of the film had to be cut. Reshoots for as much as $50 million were done at the estate's expense. Director Antoine Fuqua and screenwriter John Logan reworked the movie to conclude in 1988, before any accusations were made.“I would take issue with the idea that we as a studio or as filmmakers were running around in a panic,” said Fogelson. “It was definitely a unique and challenging circumstance to figure out how to work through. But it created an opportunity to tell more story than any one film could possibly contain.”Yet as bad as things once looked for “Michael,” the movie turned into a huge hit. The film's total production cost came close to $200 million. To defray costs, Lionsgate sold international distribution rights to Universal. A sequel is in development. A third film after that, Fogelson said, is “not inconceivable.”“The audience spoke loud and clear,” Fogelson said. “The portion of Michael's life that this story tells couldn't have gotten into those allegations because the allegations themselves hadn't happened in the period this movie existed. I think the audience is judging it on those terms. We'll see what happens as we move into the possibility of subsequent films.”Critics slammed the film for glossing over some of the less convenient aspects of Jackson's life. It scored a paltry 38% on Rotten Tomatoes. But audiences were far more enthusiastic. “Michael” earned an “A-” CinemaScore.“It's only human nature to enjoy yourself at the movie theater,” said Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends for Comscore. “The movie was perfectly positioned ahead of the start of the summer movie season which launches later this week with the 'The Devil Wears Prada 2' that is also poised to outpace even the most generous opening weekend projections.”The opening for “Michael” added to a strong spring for Hollywood boosted by box-office hits like Amazon MGM's “Project Hail Mary” and Universal's “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.” After three weeks atop the box office, the “Mario” sequel slid to second place, with $21.2 million. In four weeks, it's collected $386.5 million domestically and $445 million internationally.Meanwhile, “Project Hail Mary” surged past $600 million worldwide in its sixth weekend of release. The film's total haul for Amazon MGM stands at $305.3 million domestic and $613.3 million globally.Top 10 movies by domestic box officeWith final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:1. “Michael,” $97 million.2. “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” $21.2 million.3. “Project Hail Mary,” $13.2 million.4. “Lee Cronin's The Mummy,” $5.6 million.5. “The Drama,” $2.6 million.6. “Hoppers,” $1.9 million.7. “You, Me & Tuscany,” $1.5 million.8. “Over Your Dead Body,” $1.4 million.9. “Mother Mary,” $1.2 million.10. “American Youngboy,” $1.2 million.]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://tcr.durangoherald.com/book-bans-and-attempted-bans-remain-at-record-highs/</link>
        <title>Book bans and attempted bans remain at record highs</title>
        <description>‘Sold’ tops the list of most challenged books</description>
        <pubDate>Mon, 20 Apr 2026 13:27:00 -0600</pubDate>
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        <media:thumbnail url="https://imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com/?uuid=B57C299F-1666-50AF-A482-8A134FA792C8&#038;function=cropresize&#038;type=preview&#038;source=false&#038;q=75&#038;width=1200&#038;x=0.05625&#038;y=1.0E-5&#038;crop_w=0.88875&#038;crop_h=0.99999" />
        <content:encoded><![CDATA[Amanda Darrow, director of youth, family and education programs at the Utah Pride Center, poses with books that have been the subject of complaints from parents, including “Gender Queer” by Meir Kobabe, on Dec. 16, 2021, in Salt Lake City. Rick Bowmer/AP File Photo‘Sold’ tops the list of most challenged booksNEW YORK – Book bans and attempted bans remain at record highs, according to the American Library Association. And efforts to have titles removed have never been more coordinated or politicized.The ALA on Monday issued its annual list of the books most challenged at the country's libraries, part of the association's State of America's Libraries Report. Patricia McCormick's “Sold,” a 2006 novel about sex trafficking in India, topped the list for 2025. Others targeted include Stephen Chbosky's high school novel “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” Maia Kobabe's graphic memoir “Gender Queer” and Sarah J. Maas' romantasy favorite “Empire of Storms.”The ALA usually features 10 books, but this year has 11, with four tied for eighth place: Anthony Burgess' dystopian classic “A Clockwork Orange,” Ellen Hopkins' sibling drama “Identical,” John Green's boarding school narrative “Looking for Alaska” and Jennifer L. Armentrout's paranormal romance “Storm and Fury.”Objections include LGBTQ+ themes (“Gender Queer,” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”), sexual violence (“Sold” and “A Clockwork Orange”) and use of alcohol and cigarettes (“Looking for Alaska”). Overall, the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom recorded challenges to 4,235 different works, topped only by 4,240 in 2023 since the association began keeping track more than 30 years ago.The association defines a challenge as “an attempt to have a library resource removed, or access to it restricted, based on the objections of a person or group.” Monday's list arrives during National Library Week, which runs through Saturday.A Banned Books Week display is at the Mott Haven branch of the New York Public Library in the Bronx borough of New York City on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. Ted Shaffrey/AP File Photo“Libraries exist to make space for every story and every lived experience,” ALA President Sam Helmick said in a statement. “As we celebrate National Library Week, we reaffirm that libraries are places for knowledge, for access, and for all.”The ALA compiles its survey through media accounts and submissions from libraries. The actual numbers are likely much higher because many incidents are never reported, the association acknowledges.For decades, challenges to a given book came from a parent or another member of a local community. But in recent years, the ALA has found, the trend has shifted sharply to government officials and such conservative activists as Moms for Liberty, who advocate “parental choice” in deciding what schools and libraries should make available.Florida, Texas and Utah are among the many states that have called for books to be banned or passed restrictive legislation. In Iowa, an appellate court ruled earlier this month that the state can enforce a law that limits teachers from talking about LGBTQ+ topics with students in kindergarten through the sixth grade and bans some books.Last year, more than 90% of challenges arose from activists and government officials, according to the ALA, compared to 72% in 2024.“In 2025, book bans were not sparked by concerned parents, and they were not the result of local grassroots efforts,” Sarah Lamdan, executive director of ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom, said in a statement. “They were part of a well-funded, politically-driven campaign.”Lamdan told The Associated Press that activists circulate lists of targeted books nationwide. Echoing a report last year from PEN America that tallied multiple bannings of “Sold,” “A Clockwork Orange” and other books, the ALA found that actual removals – more than 5,600 – well exceeded the number of books challenged.“I think this reflects the reality that these lists are getting disseminated widely,” Lamdan said. “You can see video footage from various library board meetings where the same books are singled out over and over again.”The ALA's list of the most challenged books of 20251. “Sold” by Patricia McCormick2. “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky3. “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe4. “Empire of Storms” by Sarah J. Maas5. (tie) “Last Night at the Telegraph Club” by Malinda Lo5. (tie) “Tricks” by Ellen Hopkins7. “A Court of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah J. Maas8. (tie) “A Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess8. (tie) “Identical” by Ellen Hopkins8. (tie) “Looking for Alaska” by John Green8. (tie) “Storm and Fury” by Jennifer L. Armentrout]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://tcr.durangoherald.com/ai-rendered-val-kilmer-debuts-in-as-deep-as-the-grave-trailer-2/</link>
        <title>AI-rendered Val Kilmer debuts in ‘As Deep as the Grave’ trailer</title>
        <description>Kilmer had signed on to the movie years ago, but pulled out due to his health</description>
        <pubDate>Thu, 16 Apr 2026 09:59:39 -0600</pubDate>
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        <media:thumbnail url="https://imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com/?uuid=1B8227D4-6697-54CB-9A1F-0831A932A4BA&#038;function=cropresize&#038;type=preview&#038;source=false&#038;q=75&#038;width=1200&#038;x=0.04375&#038;y=1.0E-5&#038;crop_w=0.84&#038;crop_h=0.99999" />
        <content:encoded><![CDATA[People watch a trailer for the upcoming film ‘As Deep as the Grave’ featuring a character played by a generative AI version of Val Kilmer at CinemaCon on Wednesday at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Chris Pizzello/AP PhotoKilmer had signed on to the movie years ago, but pulled out due to his healthLAS VEGAS – The filmmakers behind “As Deep as the Grave,” the indie film that is using an artificial intelligence-rendered version of Val Kilmer in a prominent role, debuted a first look at the recreated actor Wednesday at CinemaCon in Las Vegas.“Don't fear the dead and don't fear me,” Kilmer's character, Father Fintan, a Catholic priest and Native American spiritualist, says at the end of the trailer.The actor died last year at 65, of pneumonia. The use of generative AI to recreate Kilmer for the historical drama based on archaeologists Ann and Earl Morris became a hot button topic when the filmmakers announced it last month. The trailer shows Kilmer's character at various ages.Writer-director Coerte Voorhees, along with his brother John, spoke on a panel Wednesday about the controversial decision to use technology to create a performance from a deceased actor and explained why they feel they've done it ethically by working with Kilmer's children and the actors union. Coerte Voorhees stopped short of calling it a Val Kilmer performance, however.Coerte Voorhees, second from left, writer/director of the upcoming film “As Deep as the Grave,” discusses the film with John Tsosie of Navajo Nation, second from right, and producer John Voorhees, far right, and moderator Brent Lang at CinemaCon 2026 on Wednesday at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Chris Pizzello/AP Photo“Val Kilmer influenced this performance,” Coerte Voorhees said.Producer John Voorhees said the use of AI actors based on real people is risky territory for anyone to venture into but emphasized that they followed guidelines from the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists union that he boiled down to “consent, compensation and collaboration.” Kilmer's estate, including his daughter Mercedes, gave permission for his digital replication, is being compensated for it and provided archival footage to help the process.They also compared Kilmer's AI-rendered performance to any actor portraying a historical figure on screen, as Kilmer once did with Jim Morrison in “The Doors.” Kilmer also utilized AI while he was alive. When he lost his natural speaking voice following a throat cancer diagnosis and two tracheotomies, he turned to an AI software company to digitally recreate his voice. Kilmer's voice was also digitally altered to help his final screen performance in “Top Gun: Maverick.”Kilmer had signed on to “As Deep as the Grave” years ago; Much of the film was structured around his character, they said. When Kilmer had to pull out at the last minute due to health issues they decided to proceed shooting without the character instead of recasting the role. The production had numerous stops and starts as one of the first to begin shooting in New Mexico in the fall of 2020 amid the pandemic. They realized later that the story really did need Father Fintan, and decided to broach the topic with Kilmer's children, Mercedes and Jack.“We were so glad they were so excited and so supportive of the idea,” Coerte Voorhees said. “We didn't want to do it unless everybody thought this was going to work properly.”He said that Kilmer is on screen in the movie for one hour and 17 minutes; The final runtime was not revealed but he said it's long. The filmmakers plan to release it sometime this year.Val Kilmer poses for a portrait, Jan. 9, 2014, in Nashville, Tennessee. Mark Humphrey/AP File Photo]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://tcr.durangoherald.com/farmington-civic-center-announces-spring-lineup/</link>
        <title>Farmington Civic Center announces spring lineup</title>
        <description>Spring schedule features an interactive dinosaur exhibit, a country music singer and an Elton John tribute</description>
        <pubDate>Fri, 10 Apr 2026 10:58:06 -0600</pubDate>
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        <media:thumbnail url="https://imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com/?uuid=8E5456C4-C05D-5DF0-A00F-349037ACB456&#038;function=thumbnail&#038;type=preview&#038;source=false&#038;width=600&#038;height=400" />
        <content:encoded><![CDATA[Spring schedule features an interactive dinosaur exhibit, a country music singer and an Elton John tributeDinosaur World LIVE, an interactive show, features life-size dinosaur puppets. (Courtesy City of Farmington)The Farmington Civic Center announced its spring entertainment lineup, featuring an interactive dinosaur exhibit, a country music singer and an Elton John tribute act.The lineup runs from April through early May and offers a mix of family-friendly programming and live music.“We are thrilled to host such a high-caliber of talent this season while keeping our ticket prices affordable for local families,” said Production Manager Jordan Grant. “Whether you’re looking for an educational afternoon with the kids or an inspiring night of music, the Civic Center is committed to being Farmington’s premier destination for safe, engaging and world-class performances.”The season opens with Dinosaur World LIVE at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 12. Tickets range from $10 to $18. The interactive show features life-size dinosaur puppets, including Tyrannosaurus rex, Triceratops and Giraffatitan, followed by a meet-and-greet that allows attendees to interact with the cast and puppets.If you goWHAT: Dinosaur World LIVEWHEN: Sunday, April 12 at 2 p.m.WHERE: Farmington Civic Center, 200 W. Arrington St.INFORMATION: (505) 599-1148If you goWHAT: Britnee KelloggWHEN: Friday, April 24 at 7:30 p.m.WHERE: Farmington Civic Center, 200 W. Arrington St.INFORMATION: (505) 599-1148If you goWHAT: The Rocket Man ShowWHEN: Saturday, May 2 at 7:30 p.m.WHERE: Farmington Civic Center, 200 W. Arrington St.INFORMATION: (505) 599-1148Country artist Britnee Kellogg performs at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 24. Tickets cost $16 to $28. Kellogg has built a following through streaming platforms and social media and released a full-length album in 2024.The series concludes with The Rocket Man Show, an Elton John tribute performance by Rus Anderson, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 2. Tickets range from $16 to $28. The show features music from across Elton John’s career, along with costume and stage elements inspired by his performances.Tickets for all events are available online at farmingtonshows.com or at the Farmington Civic Center box office, 200 W. Arrington St. For more information, call (505) 599-1148.]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://tcr.durangoherald.com/hulus-handmaids-tale-spinoff-the-testaments-is-about-girlhood-in-gilead/</link>
        <title>Hulu’s ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ spinoff ‘The Testaments’ is about girlhood in Gilead</title>
        <description>This image released by Disney shows Lucy Halliday, center, with Chase Infiniti in a scene from “The Testaments.” Russ Martin/Disney via AP Throughout the six-season run of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” dread hung over the series like a perpetual rain cloud....</description>
        <pubDate>Tue, 07 Apr 2026 11:00:47 -0600</pubDate>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[This image released by Disney shows Lucy Halliday, center, with Chase Infiniti in a scene from “The Testaments.” Russ Martin/Disney via AP Throughout the six-season run of “The Handmaid's Tale,” dread hung over the series like a perpetual rain cloud. It made sense because the U.S. had turned into a totalitarian society called Gilead where women were stripped of their rights. In “The Testaments,” debuting Wednesday on Hulu, Gilead is still Gilead – but there are glimmers of hope as a through-line.Like its predecessor, “The Testaments” is based on a novel by Margaret Atwood of the same name. It takes place five years after the events of “The Handmaid's Tale,” and follows privileged girls in Gilead who are on the cusp of adulthood. Viewers are reintroduced to Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) from the original, who now runs a school training girls to be proper young ladies who are ready for marriage and most importantly, babies. There is a class where the girls are tested in how they pour tea.Lydia has become a bit softer since we last saw her. “At the end of 'The Handmaid's Tale,' she's in a deep state of remorse and begging for forgiveness when her life, as she knew it, collapses,” said Dowd of her character. “She's come into this world a gentler human being. She's still Lydia, but I think she's had time to let go of the wall that was built around her.”New story, new heroesWe meet Agnes, played by Chase Infiniti (“One Battle After Another”) and her friends Shunammite and Becka played by Rowan Blanchard and Mattea Conforti. Lucy Halliday portrays Daisy, a new student who is instructed to shadow Agnes at school.“I see them as two cats who've been put in a room together and are sniffing each other out,” said Halliday. “I think they are aware that there is an inherent similarity overlapping with them both, but they will refuse to admit it because they don't want to be like the other person.”Because Agnes and Becka have each started to menstruate, it's immediately declared mating season and the girls must marry. This is when cracks begin to show in the Gilead status quo as Becka is uninterested in finding a husband. Agnes is swept up in the romantic idea of it all – until she's introduced to potential mates who are generally older with powerful positions in Gilead's government. She realizes marriage would be a power move for her family and that love isn't required.Bruce Miller created both “The Handmaid's Tale” and “The Testaments” and says each tells stories about the oppression of women.“In 'Handmaid's,' they take a child away from its mother and then say to the mother, 'You're going to be docile,'” said Miller. By contrast, he said, “The Testaments” “takes a bunch of teenage girls and tells them what they are going to be and also remove their adolescence from their lives.”This image released by Disney shows a scene from “The Testaments.” Steve Wilkie/Disney via APA gentler tone, but aiming to create new inspiration for girls and womenThis new focus on young women in Gilead, who've only known Gilead “is an easier show on the system to watch, I believe,” said Dowd. “It doesn't mean it doesn't have its intensity. It does. But we're dealing with a whole group of different characters. We're focusing on the young women and how they interact with one another, and they can't help but resist and grow.”“These teenagers' lives have a certain level of lightness to them,” added Miller. “That's the interesting thing, their lives have all this lightness that Gilead lets them have and then crushes it into some horribleness and breaks that lightness up.”Because of “The Handmaid's Tale,” women have been inspired to dress in red cloaks and white bonnets as a symbol of resistance against oppression, most recently at last month's “No Kings“ rallies. The cast of “The Testaments” hopes this new chapter also moves people to act.“There are a lot of topics and a lot of things that happen in 'The Handmaid's Tale' that are unfortunately still happening to this day,” said Infiniti. “If people can watch our show and if any way they feel emboldened to get off the couch and go out there and fight for their communities, fight for their neighbors unapologetically and with love and respect – I think that that would be the ultimate gift for any of us.”Blanchard, who has been an advocate for women's rights and other causes since she was a teenager, says she can empathize with the teen characters in the story.“There's nothing more powerless than being a teenage girl. There's so much happening in such a short amount of time. So many emotions, you know? So much like self-realization is happening, so much self-actualizing, and these girls are having to form their identities in a very specific way.”Encouragement from MossWhen the weight of stepping into Gilead seemed daunting, Halliday said she and her co-stars could turn to Elisabeth Moss – who starred in “The Handmaid's Tale” and is an executive producer of “The Testaments” – for reassurance.“She's an encyclopedia of information. She was open with us, and she was there for us if we ever had a question or needed guidance on something. But more than anything, what she gave us was the reassurance that we were doing OK and the space to step into these characters and to step into this world and to kind of trust in ourselves.”]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://tcr.durangoherald.com/best-bets-key-events-in-farmington-bloomfield-and-aztec-36/</link>
        <title>Best bets: Key events in Farmington, Bloomfield and Aztec</title>
        <description>Featured events in the Tri-City area of Farmington, Bloomfield and Aztec</description>
        <pubDate>Tue, 15 Aug 2023 12:54:00 -0600</pubDate>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[Featured events in the Tri-City area of Farmington, Bloomfield and Aztec“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” runs through Aug. 20 at Farmington Civic Center. (Courtesy photo)Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor DreamcoatFour Corners Musical Theatre Company’s production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” kicked off last week and will offer another set of performances this weekend before wrapping on Sunday.Performances take place at 7:30 p.m. Thursday to Saturday, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday at Farmington Civic Center, 200 W. Arrington St.The story is a colorful retelling of the story of Joseph, his coat of many colors, and his amazing ability to interpret dreams.From the legendary musical theatre duo Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, this musical features a catchy score performed by Four Corners Musical Theatre Company's professional core along with a youth ensemble of over 40 local performers.Tickets are $14 to $18 and may be purchased at the box office or online at fmtn.org/shows.The Cars and Canvases Show will host classic cars and artists, with proceeds benefiting Tres Rios Habitat for Humanity. (File photo)ccaCars and CanvasesTres Rios Habitat for Humanity’s annual Cars and Canvases Show will take place from 3 to 8 p.m. in downtown Farmington on Main Street.All proceeds help Tres Rios Habitat for Humanity build safe and affordable homes for low-income families in San Juan County.Enjoy arts and crafts booths where artisans and makers will present their works of art and designs. Peruse the cars and motorcycle show as well. Car owners are encouraged ​to ​preregister.Attendees will also be able to enjoy live music and view the street art/sidewalk chalk contest. Artists will draw on sidewalks at Orchard Park and art will be available for public viewing during the Cars and Canvases show. The contest is open to all ages.Car entry is $20 for one and $35 for two. The vendor fee is $25.For more information, contact Cindi Hawes at (505) 258-9273.Alex Williams will perform at Lauter Haus on Saturday. (Courtesy photo)Alex Williams concertCountry musician Alex Williams will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday at Lauter Haus Brewing Co., 1806 E 20th.Williams is a part of a neo-traditionalist country music that surfaced in the wake of Jamey Johnson's success in the early 2010s. His newest album, “Waging Peace,” released in October of 2022 with Lightning Rod Records.Doors open at 7 p.m. This is a 21 and older event. Tickets are $10 and may be purchased online at holdmyticket.com.For a full listing of events, check out the Tri-Cities Event Calendar.]]></content:encoded>
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