Jhumpa Lahiri’s best-selling novel The Namesake spans two generations and two continents in its exploration of culture, identity, and family. That’s a lot of ground to cover in a couple hours, but director Mira Nair deftly translates the tale to the big screen—The Namesake captures the immigrant experience with a complexity and nuance that is […]
Alison Hallett
Alison Hallett served nobly as the Mercury's arts editor from 2008-2014. Her proud legacy lives on.
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Veni, Vidi, Victory
Nitpicking at Victory Wine Bar
Once home to Laughing Horse Books, the corner of SE 36th and Division has recently been converted to Victory, a stylish, brown-hued wine bar—and if customers are less likely to discuss revolutionary politics here than they were at Laughing Horse, the Victory finds its own progressive place in Portland’s ongoing hipster haute-food revolution. Where once […]
Posted inBooks
The Post-Birthday World
by Lionel Shriver
Lionel Shriver’s gimmicky new novel, The Post-Birthday World, takes as its focal point the emotional life of Irina McGovern, an American ex-pat living in London with her longtime partner, Lawrence. The two have never married, but share a comfortable middle-class existence based on mutual affection and respect (though their sex life is perfunctory). One night, […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
Kidshow!
Just about anyone who grew up in Oregon will remember the Ramblin’ Rod Show, a long-running cartoon show hosted by the preternaturally dapper “Ramblin’ Rod.” The show was the place to go for Looney Tunes cartoons, plus it famously featured a “smile contest,” in which the camera would pan across a studio audience of grinning […]
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Variations on a Theme
Tasteful Gimmicks at North 45
Like most thinking people, I dislike theme restaurants. There are occasional, well-executed exceptions, but for the most part, themes usually signify nothing more than the restaurant hoping to distract you from the food. (I don’t buy the “themes are fun” argument. Eating = fun. Drinking = fun. My server wearing a jerkin = embarrassing for […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
Billum Bay
Fever Theater. How to say this. I’m not mad, I’m just… just a little disappointed. Your production of Mitlaufer was one of my favorite shows of 2006: It was ambitious, smart, and a lot of fun. So I was looking forward to Billum Bay, eager to see what you came up with next, hoping for […]
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Colliding Molecules
Supper Keeps the ripe Dream Alive
In case you’re not among the many foodies and bloggers who follow the comings and goings of Portland’s culinary elite with bated breath, here’s the abridged back story on Supper: Naomi and Michael Hebberoy dominated the Portland restaurant scene from about 2004-2006, running ripe (a catering company and invite-only supper club), clarklewis, and the Gotham […]
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If It Looks Japanese…
Sushi and Sidecars at the Yakuza Lounge
As a colleague of mine pointed out, naming a Japanese restaurant in the US “Yakuza” seems a little like opening a burger joint in Tokyo called “Crips.” When I asked Yakuza’s chef/owner Micah Camden about the name, a note of frustration crept into his voice. “Do you know anything about the Yakuza?” I had to […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
The Pillowman
While Portland Center Stage’s current production of The Pillowman has been hyped for the “disturbing” nature of its content, focusing on the more sensationalist aspects of the production would do it a disservice: Forget child mutilation and torture, Martin McDonagh’s script is easily one of the funniest, smartest, and most compelling pieces of writing I’ve […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Before the Fall
Listening in on The Lives of Others
The star of this year’s Portland International Film Fest was undeniably first-time German director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s The Lives of Others. Set in East Germany during the early 1980s, the brilliant film tells the story of Stasi officer Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe), who is charged with monitoring the activities of a prominent playwright, Georg […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
Act a Lady
Act a Lady is a convoluted but sweet look at the perils and rewards of pushing the boundaries of gender roles. When three men in a small Midwestern town decide to dress in drag for the purposes of putting on a melodrama about the French Revolution, it shakes up their ideas about gender and about […]
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A Brief History of Tiki
Thatch Revives Portland’s Tiki Tradition
In order to fully appreciate Thatch, Robert Voltz’s new lounge on NE Broadway, you need to know a little bit about the history of the tiki bar. While they’re now generally considered retro-kitsch, tiki bars were once known for skillful bartenders, well-made cocktails, and an ambiance that offered a fanciful escape from the daily grind. […]