Alison Hallett: “I’m doing a lot of local theater-ing. Learn to Be Latina at Miracle, Maple and Vine at Coho. Weekend reading: Super excited to have my hands on Joshua Ferris’ new novel To Rise Again at a Decent Hour, which is about a dentist and has already made me feel guilty about not flossing […]
Alison Hallett
Alison Hallett served nobly as the Mercury's arts editor from 2008-2014. Her proud legacy lives on.
Posted inArtsy
This Is Your Last Weekend to See Rodrigo Valenzuela at Archer Gallery
Jenna Lechner wrote a lovely piece in this week’s paper about artist Seattle artist Rodrigo Valenzuela, who’s got a show at Archer Gallery through this weekend: IT’S RARE to see art that strikes an intellectual nerve, a visual nerve, and a personal nerve, but the photographs and videos in Rodrigo Valenzuela’s fantastic show Help Wanted […]
Posted inEvents
It’s Happening Tonight!
FILM—As the world prepares for the umpteenth reiteration, Hollywood Theatre reminds everyone why Godzilla mattered in the first place with a 60th anniversary digital restoration of Ishiro Honda’s original. It’s a frightening example of an entire culture trying to cope with the fact they paid the cost for the world’s nuclear ambitions. BRHollywood Theatre, 4122 […]
Posted inEvents
It’s Happening Tonight!
COMEDY—The Holly Golightly of contemporary stand-up—if Holly Golightly had a really good joke about babies born in toilets—Natasha Leggero delivers razor-sharp social commentary with a brilliantly affected, glammed-out demeanor. AHHelium Comedy Club, 1510 SE 9th, Thurs 8 pm, Fri-Sat 7:30 & 10 pm,$20-32MUSIC—Band name aside, Warpaint typically operates in either subtle, striated watercolors or bold […]
Posted inNews
Cover Oregon’s Ad Agency Responds to John Oliver’s Critique
Last Sunday on his new HBO show, comedian John Oliver ripped into Oregon for the failure of our healthcare exchange, which cost $248 million and was scrapped last week. The CCO of the agency that made the ads, North, responded this week to the criticism: As you probably know, one of the tv spots we […]
Posted inEvents
It’s Happening Tonight!
PARTY JAMS—Is your liver too pink and healthy? Toughen up that wussed-out organ with Mean Jeans’ hard-partyin’ jams. Take a shot and move those feet, as tonight is made of hooks and bopping. Party bonus: Headliners White Fang will close out the night with an explosive soundtrack of fun. CFw/Charts; Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside, […]
Posted inBooks
Borderlands
Teen Angst Meets Mexican Drug Cartels
Teen angst meets Mexican drug cartels in Plaster City.
Posted inEvents
Tonight at Reading Frenzy: The Magazine: The Book Release Party
And now for a very self-serving announcement: Tonight at Reading Frenzy, there’s a group reading from a new Kickstarter-published book called The Magazine: The Book, which is a print collection of a great digital magazine called The Magazine. (Got all that?) The Magazine has a bunch of Portland-based contributors—including me!—and some of us will be […]
Posted inEvents
It’s Happening Tonight!
FILM—The Italians know how to make beautiful products, from shoes to cannelloni to gross-out horror movies. The Hollywood’s showing two rare 35mm prints from early ’80s Italo horror: The Gates of Hell (from director Lucio Fulci) and the nutzoid Burial Ground: Nights of Terror. Bring a strong stomach and a love of undead gut-munching. CFHollywood […]
Posted inEvents
It’s Happening Tonight!
MUSIC—The man responsible for the music that’s embedded in your DNA, the 82-year-old John Williams pays a rare visit to Portland to conduct the Oregon Symphony, featuring Bing Wang on violin and performances of some of Williams’ stunning compositions—from Star Wars, E.T., Harry Potter, Close Encounters, and more. EHArlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, […]
Posted inTV
John Oliver on Cover Oregon’s “Violently Adorable” Ads… Yeah, We Deserve This.
Cover Oregon was officially scrapped on Friday, so in the first episode of his new show Last Week Tonight John Oliver cleverly rewrote one of the ads for us. I don’t like it when people make fun of Laura Gibson—though I have to imagine being spoofed by Lisa Loeb is kind of professionally hilarious—but I […]
Posted inEvents
It’s Happening Tonight!
COMEDY—Banter is an art form, and Jordan Morris and Jesse Thorn are modern masters. If you haven’t been listening to the pair’s relentlessly vulgar, always-hilarious podcast, tonight’s live taping of Jordan, Jesse, Go! should be enough to send you scrambling to hit the “subscribe” button. Plus Stop Podcasting Yourself will be there too! DVHMission Theater, […]