The Northwest Film Center’s annual Reel Music series collects new and noteworthy music-related films.
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
Doll Party Is Spreading the Gospel of Dolly Parton
Local cover band Doll Party is spreading the good word of Dolly Parton.
Posted inMusic
Here Are 31 Songs to Jumpstart Your January
Wow, it’s the first day of 2019—a shiny clean slate onto which we can project all of our hopes, dreams, and resolutions for the new year! Soundtrack your hangovers (both bodily and existential) with the Mercury‘s January playlist, a collection of songs from local artists releasing new music and touring acts headed to Portland this […]
Posted inMovies & TV
My Favorite Movie of 2018: Suspiria
As we looked back at 2018, each of the Mercury’s movie critics decided to highlight just one of our favorite movies of the year—movies that might not get as many awards or eyes as the most talked-about or financially successful films of the year, but movies that are still very much worth watching and rewatching. […]
Posted inUncategorized
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 inMovies & TV
Millions of People Are Watching Netflix’s Shit Christmas Movies. I Am One of Them.
THE CHRISTMAS CHRONICLES | NETFLIX While attending a recent conference in New York, Netflix’s Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos reported that, in the week since it debuted, the streaming giant’s new original film The Christmas Chronicles—which stars Kurt Russell as a roguish but tenderhearted Santa—has exceeded 20 million views. “If every one of those [20 […]
Posted inMovies & TV
The Second Season of the Duplass Brothers’ Room 104 Is a Mixed Bag
Room 104 / HBO The first season of Mark and Jay Duplass’ anthology series Room 104 totally blew me away. The show takes place in an archetypal American motel, with each episode focusing on the different people who’ve stayed in this particular room over the years. Genres fluctuate wildly from episode to episode, but that’s […]
Posted inPickathon
Pickathon Starlight Series, Episode 2: Hailu Mergia
Nehemiah Sliwoski Just in time for the shortest day of the year, when daylight’s scarce and the sun’s warmth is but a distant memory, we’ve got the second installment of the Mercury‘s ongoing Starlight Series, where we post a video of an artist playing that after-hours stage at last summer’s Pickathon. This month’s edition features […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Ghosts of Highway 20 Examines the Crimes of Previously Unknown Serial Killer John Ackroyd
the Oregonian The following article mentions sexual assault and murder and may be disturbing to some readers. Last week, the Oregonian debuted Ghosts of Highway 20, an engrossing five-part documentary series directed by Dave Killen that investigates the crimes of state highway mechanic John Ackroyd, a previously unknown serial killer who murdered at least four […]
Posted inNational Politics
Holiday Resistance Tips: How to Navigate Politics at the Dinner Table
ANNA BRONES Many of us living in (and being repulsed by) Trump’s America have found ourselves in quite the pickle: Knowing that bigoted rhetoric—like the kind that spews from the president daily—can have very real consequences, what do you do if your relatives have a history of making derogatory jokes, using slurs, or bemoaning “political […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Millions of People Are Watching Netflix’s Shit Christmas Movies. I Am One of Them.
The Christmas Chronicles | Netflix While attending a recent conference in New York, Netflix’s Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos reported that, in the week since it debuted, the streaming giant’s new original film The Christmas Chronicles—which stars Kurt Russell as a roguish but tenderhearted Santa—has exceeded 20 million views. “If every one of those [20 […]