A rash (and I use the term advisedly) of Western-themed bars have opened in the past few years. Unlike the stereotypical cowboy bar, these new watering holes are less about old dudes smoking Winstons, and more about Jager bombs and Coyote Ugly. After years of wondering about these oxymoronic “Western” bars, curiosity got the best […]
Alison Hallett
Alison Hallett served nobly as the Mercury's arts editor from 2008-2014. Her proud legacy lives on.
Posted inTheater & Performance
Mutt
Many Hats’ new show, Mutt, is one of the most ambitious productions I’ve seen in this town. Based loosely on writer/performer Lava Alapai’s own experiences as a bi-racial woman, Mutt aims to shake up the way Portlanders talk about race, and to engage multicultural actors and audience members in what is currently a predominantly white […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
Inspecting Carol
This probably goes without saying, but the Artists Repertory Theatre’s (ART) production of Inspecting Carol is not for everyone. It’s a holiday play, a subgenre of theater that some people would prefer to banish all together: Around the holidays, audiences are finally allowed to abandon all pretense of giving a shit about art, and get […]
Posted inUncategorized
Cocktails and Cockpits
rontom’s Living Room Chic
Inner East Burnside is hardly a ped-friendly zone, but it seems like every month there’s a new reason to trudge through the scary intersections, past the car dealerships and seedy storefronts: great dining destinations like Le Pigeon and the Farm Café, and salons like Wax On, not to mention the array of boutiques and galleries […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Madame Bovary Redux
Adultery, Angst, and Little Children
Little Children, based on Tom Perrotta’s excellent 2004 novel, is one of those rare movies that probably won’t piss off fans of the book: It’s well cast and largely faithful to the novel’s narrative, and Todd Field’s (In the Bedroom) direction captures the suburban landscape with as much perceptiveness and irony as Perrotta’s prose. The […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Consider This
Christopher Guest’s Trite, Tired Latest
Christopher Guest making a mockumentary about Hollywood is kind of like if I were to make a comedy about the restaurant I used to work at: Waitresses across America would love it, and everyone else would be hard pressed to give a shit. For Your Consideration follows the making of a film, starring Parker Posey […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
I Am My Own Wife
Big-budget shows like those of Portland Center Stage’s (PCS) are often a matter of simple mathematics. In the case of I Am My Own Wife: Pulitzer Prize-winning script, plus (arguably) Portland’s best actor, plus a dash of top-notch light and sound in a great new space, equals… a near perfect production from start to finish. […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
Leni
Insight Out’s Leni is the second production in recent months to find inspiration in the life of the controversial German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl (Riefenstahl, of course, famously directed propaganda films for Hitler, yet until her death maintained that her only objective was to make good films, and that she had no idea what the Nazis […]
Posted inUncategorized
Ye Olde Soda Shoppe
Blueplate’s Special Something
It’s always nice to find lunch options downtown that don’t involve a trailer, and new café/soda shoppe Blueplate is a welcome addition to the midday dining scene. Blueplate is a stylishly cozy little spot, a hipster take on the classic small-town diner that, wisely, doesn’t let irony anywhere near the food. Serving American classics (think […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
Theater for Our Time
Many Hats and P.Boy Keep it Real
Portland prides itself on being young, smart, and DIY, full of hip young twentysomethings making art and taking advantage of cheap rents and abundant bike lanes. This indie, progressive aesthetic marks the art, fashion, and music scenes, but it’s strange how rarely the sensibility is reflected in the theater world. The comedy scene is alive […]