Welcome to Erik Henriksen Tells You What to Watch This Weekend™, a weekly post in which I, Erik Henriksen, tell you what you should watch this weekend! I will continue doing this post until you have watched everything you should watch. Movie-wise, things are bit slow at the moment, since all the major studios are […]
Erik Henriksen
With honor and distinction, Erik Henriksen served as the executive editor of the Portland Mercury from 2004 to 2020. He can now be found at henriksenactual.com.
Posted inMovies & TV
Don’t Screw This Up. See Roma in a Theater.
Alfonso Cuarón’s latest might be his best.
Posted inMovies & TV
With Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma, the Netflix vs. Theater Debate Continues
Roma (Netflix) I’ve got a review for Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma coming up in our next issue, in which I join the ranks of monocle-polishing, deeply punchable critics everywhere by insisting that you just have to see it in a theater. Cuarón’s film—at this point, the runaway contender for the best picture of the year—is being […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Things That Make No Sense in This Nonsensical World: Netflix’s Live-Action Cowboy Bebop
Funimation Netflix is making a live-action Cowboy Bebop, because doing so is an act that, like cloning dinosaurs and sticking them in an amusement park, is theoretically possible, if perhaps not advisable. Series creator Shinichiro Watanabe will be a consultant, which could mean just about anything, but still—even though this idea seems obviously terrible, maybe […]
Posted inBooks
We Have Gone Entirely Too Long Without The Witches Scaring the Shit Out of Our Children
I was scared of everything as a kid (Harry from Harry and the Hendersons? Check! Ghost Librarian from Ghostbusters? Check! E.T.? GET THAT FUCKING THING AWAY FROM ME), but one of the more potent entries on the “Why Erik can’t sleep tonight” list was Roald Dahl’s The Witches, a book that suggested seemingly nice old […]
Posted inThe Holiday Food & Drink Spectacular!
I Drank All This Egg Nog So You Don’t Have to and Also Now I Want to Puke
For lo these many centuries, snowflakes have swirled like magic, lightly a-drifting atop the pines as children’s carols echo throughest the air. ’Tis the holidays, my friends, and, by law, only one drink can be drunk: EGGNOG. A beloved wint’ry concoction of milk, eggs, sugar, and saturated fat, eggnog is kind of like mayonnaise, in […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Friendly Reminder: China’s Movie Censors Are Also Censoring American Movies
Marvel As part of their fascinating “China Rules: How China Became a Superpower” series, the New York Times has an entry that’s a must-read for American filmgoers: “How China Is Rewriting Its Own Script,” in which Amy Qin and Audrey Carlsen succinctly track how Hollywood studios are bending over backward to get along with Chinese […]
Posted inMovies & TV
The Grimy, Grungy Future of Sci-Fi Western Prospect
An old-school frontier story set in a new frontier.
Posted inMovies & TV
Wildlife Review: It’s Fine!
The past year has offered a couple of big surprises from actors-turned-directors; Jonah Hill’s excellent work on Mid90s was almost as unexpected as Jon Krasinski’s phenomenal A Quiet Place. Now comes Wildlife, based on the Richard Ford novel and directed by actor Paul Dano, and it’s… well, let’s just say it’s no Mid90s or A […]
Posted inNewsblast!
Good Morning, News: The GOP Is Still Racist, Satanists Sue Sabrina, and MAIL YOUR BALLOT
Stay up to date on Portland news and politics. Looking for fun? Here are today’s best Things to Do in Portland. Getty / Joe Raedle / Staff MAIL YOUR BALLOT—”Thursday, November 1 is the last day for voters in Multnomah County to safely mail their ballot,” says Multnomah County Elections. HEY, DUMMY. THAT’S TODAY. “Ballots […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Win a Pair of Passes to the Northwest Filmmakers’ Festival!
My Summer as a Goth The Northwest Filmmakers’ Festival kicks off this Wednesday, October 31, and runs through Monday, November 5 at the NW Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium. The full schedule is here (and you might have already seen the festival’s trailer), but the fest kicks off with My Summer as a Goth, which Mercury […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Netflix Cancels American Vandal, World Mourns
Mercury HQ is full of American Vandal fans—especially of the Portland-shot second season—which means a collective whimper just echoed through our offices. American Vandal has been canceled at Netflix, Variety has learned. The half-hour mockumentary series launched its second season on the streaming service back in September. An individual with knowledge of the situation said […]