Brick Lane‘s adultery toes the hackneyed line.
Courtney Ferguson
Mercury copy chief and appreciator of the most sophisticated form of comedy: PUNS!
Posted inBooks
The Return of Fray
Hey Scoobies! It’s time to run, jump, skip… get quick to your comic book store to pick up #16 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight. It’ll be the best three bucks you’ve spent in a while. That’s right! Melaka Fray–last seen five years ago–is back. Not to give too much away, but let’s just […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Hellboy Visits American Gladiators!
Watching American Gladiators last night I was pleasantly surprised to see a cameo by Hellboy!
Posted inCats
Warming the Cat Cockles (Ewww)
Since BOTH the resident cat ladies are out of the office today (that would be Marjorie and Alison), it is up to me to carry the torch. This heartwarming video of Christian the Lion chronicles his reunion with the two dudes who raised him in London. It would be a heartless bastard indeed who didn’t […]
Posted inBooks
More Than It Hurts You
by Darin Strauss (Dutton)
The title of Darin Strauss’ third novel, More Than It Hurts You, evokes torture scenes from old mobster movies. “This hurts me…” spoken with the utmost sincerity right before a smooth-talking goon starts working over some shlub with a pair of pliers. This crackerjack novel works you over just as thoroughly. Strauss (author of Chang […]
Posted inTV
Suck It, High School Archenemy!
So my wildest dreams came true last night on ABC. The debut of I Survived a Japanese Game Show marked the culmination of two long years of high school revenge fantasies, when the girl who stole my number-one bigtime crush in sophomore year made her appearance. She landed on her face, not once, but twice […]
Posted inBooks
Dreaming Up America
by Russell Banks (Seven Stories Press)
First off, I thought Russell Banks was Canadian, so I was wondering why the prolific writer’s first nonfiction book was all about the United States. My bad—turns out he’s one of us. Dreaming Up America is nonetheless an unusual book for Banks. Based on a conversation he had with a French filmmaker, the book is […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Hummus and Dick Jokes
Peace in the Middle East via Adam Sandler
Why hasn’t anyone in the Middle East called Adam Sandler? Do they not know what a treasure trove he is? The man’s honesty, thoughtfulness, and intelligence could make minute’s work of their age-old squabble. Sandler’s newest film, You Don’t Mess with the Zohan is a think piece that would make all those years of strife […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Stuck
Mena Suvari in Cornrows
Wow. This is brutal even for a Stuart Gordon film! From the same man who brought you Re-Animator, Stuck‘s a biting piece of social commentary in the guise of a story about a hit and run, and what it takes to turn normal people into tabloid fodder. Brandi (Mena Suvari, bewilderingly rocking some fantastically ugly […]
Posted inSports
Yay! Futball!
I’m a fan of the World Cup, if not every match that leads up to it. I love the early mornings at the bar watching with a big group of soccer fans. I love an 8 a.m. Bloody Mary and a cup of coffee. So one of my favorite places to catch all the crack […]
Posted inMusic
Rhythm of the Night
The Mercury‘s Dance Party Field Test
We spill a lot of ink on these pages devoted to music, but with bands coming and going through town it’s sometimes easy to forget the resident nights of DJ-ed entertainment that actually get you through the week time and time again. And while it used to be a joke that “Portland doesn’t dance,” the […]