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]]> Film/Film Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800 Portland Mercury The Yes Men Fix the World. (Or not. At all.) by Marjorie Skinner FOR THOSE FAMILIAR with the Yes Men (Mike Bonanno and Andy Bichlbaum), the anti-corporate pranksters who made their first formal introduction with the 2003 documentary The Yes Men, their newest hijinks in The Yes Men Fix the World need little explanation. The latest iteration documents the Yes Men's signature technique: Set up a fake website that mimics a large corporation or government branch (in this film, that includes Dow and HUD) and mistakenly get asked to speak at conferences around…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

]]> Film/Film Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800 Portland Mercury Black Dynamite also happens to be what is wrong with it. by Charles Mudede FIRST, THE PRAISE: There is nothing wrong with Scott Sanders' Black Dynamite. You will enjoy the kung fu fighting; you will laugh at the many references to the main themes of the blaxploitation tradition; its crazy ending will not disappoint you; Michael Jai White, the star of the film and one of the script's authors, has complete control of his macho (or "mac ho") character. Next, the criticism: What is right with Black Dynamite also happens to be what is…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

]]> Film/Film Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800 Portland Mercury Planet 51: In which the Rock teaches us about xenophobia. by Jane Carlen WHAT WOULD a 1950s science-fiction B-movie be like if you inverted the plot and put it in CG? It'd be Planet 51, where humans invade another planet, aliens wear cardigans, and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is white. The algae-green residents of Glipfog are living a traditional, suburban, Happy Days life—until astronaut Chuck Baker (voiced by the Rock) touches down and finds, to his surprise, an English-speaking society that includes unlikely teenage hero Lem (Justin Long), his crush Neera (Jessica Biel),…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

]]> Film/Film Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800 Portland Mercury [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

]]> Film/Film Shorts Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800 Portland Mercury [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

]]> Film/This Week on TV Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800 Portland Mercury New Moon's eye candy! by Courtney Ferguson EEEEEEEEE! It's time for The Twilight Saga: New Moon! Are you ready?! Before going into the theater, there are a few things you're going to have to shove to the back of your mind—your love of witty repartee, your knowledge of monster folklore, your hatred of CG animals, and your intelligence. New Moon goes deep, deep, deep into the uncharted forest of TEEN MELODRAMA, and if you can't handle it, you're welcome to join Team Get the Eff Outta Here.…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

]]> Film/Film Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800 Portland Mercury Precious: Who wants some Oprah-approved ghetto tourism? by Alison Hallett CO-PRODUCED BY OPRAH WINFREY and Tyler Perry, the awkwardly titled Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire is this year's feel-good-by-feeling-bad Oscar bait: a relentlessly sordid bit of ghetto tourism that invites audiences to wallow in unimaginable misery for 110 minutes, only to emerge from their cinematic journey more enlightened, more aware, more... human. (Thanks, Oprah!) Precious (Gabourey Sidibe) is a 16-year-old black girl who's borderline illiterate and lives in poverty with her physically and verbally abusive mother, Mary…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

]]> Film/Film Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800 Portland Mercury Modern Warfare 2 is exhilarating and affecting... unless you're a heartless bastard. by Earnest "Nex" Cavalli THERE'S A MISSION in Modern Warfare 2, maybe two hours into the single-player campaign, that has already achieved a great deal of infamy. I won't spoil the plot, but it involves an airport and a lot of dead bodies, and not only do you witness the event, you actively take part in the slaughter. As a result of this scene, the government of Russia has moved to ban the game, but I think this single mission demonstrates MW2's greatest accomplishment:…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

]]> Film/Geek Out Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800 Portland Mercury 2012: BOOM! CRASH! JOHN CUSACK! by Erik Henriksen "REPENT!" reads the crazy dude's handmade sign. The sign goes into further detail—there is, shockingly, something about the end being nigh, or near, or otherwise approaching more quickly than one would like—and it turns out Old Crazy Dude is onto something. For he and everyone else in 2012, the end is coming—in, like, 15 minutes—and those facing it should hurry with the confessions, 'cause a whole lotta shit is about to crumble and explode. At the very least, the doomed…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

]]> Film/Film Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800 Portland Mercury Five Minutes of Heaven. by Ezra Ace Caraeff IN 1975, A 17-YEAR-OLD Protestant, Alistair Little, put three bullets into the skull of blue-collar Catholic, Jim Griffin, as he watched television in his parents' living room. The crime was just another act of spilled blood in the senseless era of violence that overtook Northern Ireland during a period of strife known as "the troubles." A 33-year prison term and a newfound gig as a public speaker on crime and redemption later, a saddened Little (here in Five Minutes of…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

]]> Film/Film Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800 Portland Mercury Crude. by Marjorie Skinner IN 1989, when the Exxon Valdez oil spill happened in Alaska, Americans were inundated with the media attention given to the wreckage, complete with heartbreaking images of black-slicked baby seals. It's less commonly known, however, that the Ecuadorian Amazon has contamination levels estimated to be at least 30 times as severe, and that 30,000 Ecuadorians have been locked in a legal battle seeking remediation since 1992. And if you think baby seals are upsetting, wait until you see the effects…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

]]> Film/Film Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800 Portland Mercury [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

]]> Film/Film Shorts Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800 Portland Mercury [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

]]> Film/This Week on TV Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800 Portland Mercury Pirate Radio: good music. Terrible movie. by Ezra Ace Caraeff ROCK 'N' ROLL is great. But no matter how powerful, majestic, or even life changing three chords and the truth can be, rock 'n' roll cannot save Pirate Radio. In fact, this limp comedy ensemble (tagline: "1 Boat. 8 DJs. No Morals.") might be the worst thing to happen to rock music since Limp Bizkit, the RIAA, and the Bob Dylan Christmas album—combined. The film follows the madcap adventures of Radio Rock, a large, anchored vessel that broadcasts rock around…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

]]> Film/Film Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800 Portland Mercury Ong Bak 2: In which Tony Jaa goes insane! by Erik Henriksen ONG BAK was a hell of thing: Introducing the world to a particularly Thai method of ass-kicking, muay thai, and to muay thai's star student, Tony Jaa, it reinvigorated kung fu cinema. In 2003's Ong Bak—and its follow-up, 2005's The Protector—Jaa skittered up walls like Spider-Man and effortlessly whipped his elbow into people's noses; not since the first appearances of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li had there been a dude who was so much fun to watch kick…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

]]> Film/Film Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800 Portland Mercury Napoleon Dynamite." by Alison Hallett THE WORLD DID NOT ASK for "sexy Napoleon Dynamite"—but with the formulaic indie romcom Splinterheads, sexy Napoleon Dynamite is what we get. Justin (Thomas Middleditch) is our hapless twentysomething hero—he lives with his mother, has a chubby Asian sidekick, and practices karate (shirtless) in his spare time. Enter! A beautiful, free-spirited girl who promises to change his life forever. Galaxy (Rachael Taylor) is a "splinterhead," a made-up sounding term that refers to someone who works the crowd at carnival. The…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

]]> Film/Film Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800 Portland Mercury Gentlemen Broncos is riding a wave of toxic buzz that it doesn't deserve. by Erik Henriksen "SOMEBODY HAD STOLEN his yeast, and he had gone totally apeshit," reads one of the opening lines in Yeast Lords, an epic sci-fi novel by teenager Benjamin Purvis. Benjamin (Michael Angarano) is a nerdy kid who lives with his mom (Jennifer Coolidge) in a geodesic dome somewhere in semi-rural Utah; as his mom sews tacky gowns out of beach towels and burlap and eats popcorn like it's cold cereal, Benjamin retreats to his hand-written sci-fi stories about a hero named…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

]]> Film/Film Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800 Portland Mercury Dragon Age: Origins ranks as one of BioWare’s best games yet. by Earnest "Nex" Cavalli DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS is a great game. There's no denying that, unless you're some contrarian internet jerk (and here in the land of newsprint, we don't go for those kinds of shenanigans). The truth is that developer BioWare does these kinds of sword 'n' sorcery, Tolkienesque roleplaying epics better than anyone, and Origins combines an epic fantasy tale with relatively simple, entertaining gameplay. But the game's also a prime example of a gimmick going from interesting to really damn distracting…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

]]> Film/Geek Out Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800 Portland Mercury The Men Who Stare at Goats: Of Boston and George Clooney. by Erik Henriksen "MORE OF THIS is true than you would believe," reads a disclaimer at the beginning of The Men Who Stare at Goats. Maybe I'm a sucker, or maybe I've been conditioned by too many science-fiction movies, or maybe my level of faith in the US government is so miniscule that I'll believe just about anything about it, but honestly, I didn't have much trouble believing most of the ridiculous stuff in Goats, a film that details the ostensibly true story…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

]]> Film/Film Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800 Portland Mercury A Christmas Carol: Unnecessary! And creepy! by Zac Pennington IN 1970, a Japanese roboticist named Masahiro Mori suggested a theory by which to explain a particular anomaly regarding human empathic response to increasingly "humanlike" robots. Mori observed that as a robot's appearance and movements grow increasingly lifelike and human, the more a person is likely to respond to said 'bot with amplified feelings of empathy and comfort. Strangely, this relative comfort curve drops off rather dramatically beyond a certain point, however—a point at which the human response makes an…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

]]> Film/Film Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800 Portland Mercury [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

]]> Film/Film Shorts Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800 Portland Mercury [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

]]> Film/This Week on TV Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800 Portland Mercury (Untitled) calls bullshit on the arbiters of the cutting edge. by Marjorie Skinner "WHO ARE WE to judge what stands the test of time?" asks Grant (Michael Panes)—a mere bit player, a gallery assistant—in (Untitled), which both skewers and sympathizes with the world of contemporary art. It's a question that enunciates the heart of the film's contention that the world of galleries, collectors, and avant-garde artists is one in which the blind lead the blind and where even the best (or, at least, the most over-intellectualized) intentions can end up sacrificed to the…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

]]> Film/Film Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800 Portland Mercury Selfless is an indicator that, for the Pander brothers, it's time to get risky. by Marjorie Skinner IN SOME WAYS, the plot of Selfless, the new release from Portland director Jacob Pander, pales in comparison to the polished ambition of the film's crystal-clear cinematography and the dedicated performances of its cast. The premise is serviceable enough: A hotshot eco-architect, Dylan Gray (Josh Rengert), becomes the victim of identity theft at the hands of a two-dimensional villain, Wesley Stone (Matt Gallini). As his blissfully yuppified existence with his girlfriend Janine (October Moore) unravels, Gray is simultaneously caught up—in…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

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