Dolly Parton wailing on her teensy, tiny, rhinestone-bedazzled saxophone Rick Diamond / Getty Images Dolly Parton is one of the best people on this planet, and today is her 72nd birthday. Over the past seven decades, Parton has brought unimaginable joy to her fellow humans, whether she’s making beautiful country music, starring in cinematic masterpieces […]
CK Dolan
Formerly a senior editor and the music editor at the Mercury, CK Dolan writes about music, movies, TV, the death industry, and pickles.
Posted inMusic
Pickathon Starlight Series, Episode 4: William Tyler and the Modern Country Band
James Glover We’re back with another video from last summer’s Pickathon as part of our ongoing Starlight Series, which spotlights artists who played the festival’s nocturnal stage. The series’ forth episode features Nashville guitarist/composer William Tyler performing his instrumental jam “I’m Gonna Live Forever (If It Kills Me)” with the Modern Country Band. The song […]
Posted inMovies & TV
In the Fade Review: Tragedy, Xenophobia, and Weaponized Grief
Diane Kruger Anchors a Gripping, Relevant Drama
Diane Kruger anchors a gripping, relevant drama.
Posted inTV
What You Should Know Before Tonight’s Weird X-Files Premiere
Each episode of The X-Files begins with a promise: “The truth is out there.” It’s been almost 25 years since FBI Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) started investigating global conspiracies, extraterrestrial life, and unknown beasts lurking in the shadows. But many truths remain undiscovered, twinkling in the distance like dying […]
Posted inMovies & TV
The X-Files’ Surreal Eleventh Season Reckons with Fake News
The Truth Is Out… Somewhere, Probably.
The truth is… somewhere, probably.
Posted inMovies & TV
The Mercury‘s Favorite Movies of 2017: Creep 2
Patrick Brice’s 2014 cult film Creep follows Josef (Mark Duplass), a serial killer who finds aspiring videographers on Craigslist and lures them to secluded cabins with the promise of well-paid work. It’s one of the best and most unsettling examples of found footage horror I’ve ever seen—despite plenty of red flags (an ax lodged in […]
Posted inSports
Remembering 2017: Learning How to Sword Fight with Swordguild Portland
PHOTOS BY JASON DESOMER [In April the honorable champions of Swordguild Portland invited me to spar with them. It was wild!—CD The first time I heard the clangor of a real-life sword fight, I visibly winced. It’s loud—somehow movies don’t do the crash of steel-on-steel proper justice. The whole body reacts: muscles tense, eyes sharpen, […]
Posted inMusic
Our Favorite Music Videos of 2017
Erik Eagon Ciara’s Top 5:A Mitch, “Days”A Mitch’s track “Days” (from his album Pro Bono) is eerie but beautiful, and that vibe is matched by its music video. Shot by local director Erik Eagon, it finds the Portland rapper stranded on the rugged Oregon Coast, spoofing Cast Away as he wanders around the waterfalls and […]
Posted inMusic
Remembering 2017: Is Your Band Sexist, or Are Womxn Just Annoying?
ALEX DESPAIN [After rage-Slacking for months about all-cis male bands with names like Black Pussy and Womb Ripper, the Stranger‘s Kim Selling and I decided to write this piece on sexist monikers. There are a lot of them!—CD] GREETINGS, cis men musicians of Earth! Sound the bonerkill airhorn, because it’s time to talk semantics and […]
Posted inTV
Remembering 2017: I Talked to David Duchovny and He Was Very Charming
JEFF DREW [In February I was granted permission to speak with David Duchovny on the phone. Those were the best 14 minutes of my year, hands down.—CD] Also expand your mind with David Duchovny Through the Ages, an authoritative timeline of David Duchovny through the ages. Long ago in New England, a young man entrenched […]
Posted inMusic
Happy December 26th, the Day Irish Children Used to Kill Birds for Money
My dad’s from a coastal town in County Waterford, Ireland, and come Christmastime, he always whips out one album: The Bells of Dublin (1991), a compilation of carols by traditional Irish band the Chieftains. It’s got all the hits—”O the Holly She Bears a Berry” (oh, you don’t know that one? Weird), “The Rebel Jesus” […]
Posted inMusic
Dance the Yuletide Blues Away with Portland Soul Legend Ural Thomas’ “Christmas Crawl”
URAL THOMAS AND THE PAIN Dancing the yuletide blues away. Courtesy of the artist This time of year inspires festive joy in some and soul-crushing anguish in others (speaking of which, check out this week’s Scrooge-tacular feature, “Critiquing Christmas”). But Portland’s own Ural Thomas and the Pain’s got the solution for whatever ails you: “Christmas […]