razihusin / iStock / Getty Images Plus / Marvel Studios Movies are such a key part of Americaโs identity because theyโre one of our most accurate mirrorsโeven if we sometimes donโt quite recognize the reflection staring back at us. But we never stop looking, and (eventually) learning. And even with the countryโs theaters now closed, […]
Bobby Roberts
Bobby Roberts is one of the Portland Mercury's calendar editors, as well as one of its film and pop-culture critics. His past career choices included joining corporate broadcast radio just in time for its death, and leaving the world of independent podcasting just before it blew up, but luckily for him there is nothing more stable in the 21st century than a career in alternative print media.
The Billion-Dollar Blockbuster Isn’t Coming Back
Movies are such a key part of Americaโs identity because theyโre one of our most accurate mirrorsโeven if we sometimes donโt quite recognize the reflection staring back at us. But we never stop looking, and (eventually) learning. And even with the countryโs theaters now closed, the movies are still showing us something valuable. Or, more […]
Over 40 Great Educational Documentaries for Quarantined Kids and Teens
Our Planet on Netflix Courtesy Netflix Your kids are locked inside and they need educating! While parents may have tried to steer children away from screens in the past, it’s time to wake up to the fact that, without proper school, documentaries, educational shows, and podcasts may be our salvation. Here are a bunch of […]
New Studio Releases Are Moving from the Big Screen to Your Living RoomโHere’s What You Can Watch!
Harley and the Birds strolling onto VOD Tues, March 24 WARNER BROS./DC ENTERTAINMENT It’s hard to remember now, but just before the 2010s startedโ when Avatar rejuvenated the box-office and the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s successes fueled Disney’s industry-saving box-office renaissanceโthere were a lot of conversations about what the future of filmgoing might look like, and […]
New Studio Releases Are Moving from the Big Screen to Your Living RoomโHere’s What You Can Watch!
It’s hard to remember now, but just before the 2010s startedโ when Avatar redefined the blockbuster, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s successes fueled Disney’s industry-saving box-office renaissanceโthere were a lot of conversations about what the future of filmgoing might look like, and many believed the “going to the theater” part of it was on its […]
From Hoop Dreams to He Got Game, Check Out the Mercury‘s March Video Picks at Movie Madness!
Feel like getting some basketball-fueled insanity into your life, but canโt commit to all the brackets, betting, and institutionalized exploitation that is March Madness? GOOD NEWS: Basketball is also a fertile ground for filmmakers! Sometimes that ground sprouts weeds like Space Jam (fucking traaaaaaaash), but if you seek solid hardwood storytelling, find these films on […]
Mercury Movie Madness: March Madness Edition!
Check out these March Madness video picks!
Locke & Key Review: Netflixโs Comics Adaptation Never Quite Clicks
Christos Kalohoridis It was when I’d caught a reflection of myself in the window of the train, wiping tears off my cheek after finishing โPop Artโโa straight-faced, heartbreaking short story about a boy and his inflatable best friendโthat I realized Iโd been a dumbass for waiting so long to read Joe Hill. People had been […]
Bad Boys for Life Isโฆ Pretty Good? What a Time to Be Alive!
Kyle Kaplan In 1995, a young visual stylistโbest known for Meat Loaf videos and a baroque milk commercialโwas approached by high-concept junk merchants Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer (Flashdance, Top Gun) and offered a shot at making feature films. He was given an almost decade-old buddy-cop script by George Gallo (Midnight Run) intended for Saturday […]
1917 Is Worth Seeing On the Biggest Screen Possible
Francฬงois Duhamel / Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures Legendary screenwriter William Goldman once said of the film industry, โNobody knows anything,โ and this is still mostly true, with one exception: If cinematographer Roger Deakins shot the movie, that movie is worth seeing on the biggest screen possible. Even if 1917 were solely the most impressive […]
Here Are the Mercury’s Favorite Movie and TV Soundtracks of 2019
Artwork for Tiana Major9 and Earthgang’s “Collide” from the Queen & Slim soundtrack. In 2019, there were far more great music projects than I can count, and an abundance of fantastic movies and TV shows as well, but some of the music compilations and original scores behind these onscreen stories are worthy of some serious […]
1917 Review: The Unblinking, Broken Beauty of WWI
A WWI movie so good itโll give you trench foot!
