It’s the Mercury staff wish list—and we’re very greedy.
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 inBooks
John Hodgman on Weed, Death Cults, and Rich People Problems
BEX FINCH “This is not a book about marriage or family, both because I respect my loved ones’ private lives, and because I am very selfish,” John Hodgman writes at the beginning of Vacationland. “This is a book about me, at what I hope is the beginning of the second half of my life and […]
Posted inMovies & TV
I Love You, Thor: Ragnarok. I Just Love You So Much
Thor: Ragnarok begins with an imprisoned Thor dangling from a chain in the bowels of some reeking hellscape, taunting a world-destroying demon. Then “Immigrant Song” shudders and shakes the theater’s speakers, and Thor—wielding his trusty hammer Mjolnir, and really feeling the music—lays righteous waste to a skittering army of the undead. Then there’s some hyperspace […]
Posted inBooks
John Hodgman Invites You to Vacationland
Discussed: Weed, Death Cults, and Rich People Problems
Discussed: weed, death cults, and rich people problems.
Posted inMovies & TV
Thor: Ragnarok Is an Intergalactic Sugar Rush
I Love You, Thor: Ragnarok. I Just Love You So Much
I Love You, Thor: Ragnarok. I Just Love You So Much
Posted inMovies & TV
Regal Cinemas to Test Surge Pricing
Hey, Just Like Uber! Neat!
Hey, just like Uber! Neat!
Posted inMovies & TV
Here’s a Thing About Stranger Things to Read While You Wait for Stranger Things 2
Stranger Things 2 hits Netflix this weekend, so chances are good that your weekend plans, like mine, consist of: 1) Stranger Things 2 2) eating and sleeping at some point, probably Unlike the first season of Stranger Things—which quietly appeared on the streaming service, then grew into a cultural juggernaut—this season is arriving with fanfare […]
Posted inMovies & TV
The Old and the New of Stranger Things 2
♫ There’s Always Something There to Remind Me ♫
♫ There’s always something there to remind me. ♫
Posted inMovies & TV
With The Meyerowitz Stories, Noah Baumbach Heads to Netflix—and Brings Along Ben Stiller and Adam Sandler
Everybody thinks their family is unique, and everybody thinks their family is fucked up. Sure, everyone’s family might technically be unique, but zoom out far enough, and nobody’s special: All your sweet grandmothers and tow-headed children blur into everybody else’s sweet grandmothers and tow-headed children. And sure, zoom in close enough, and just about every […]
Posted inBooks
Win Tickets to See The Thing in 70mm—Plus a Copy of The Thing: Artbook!
From The Thing: Artbook, art by Adam Cockerton There are a lot of great John Carpenter movies, but at the top of the list is 1982’s The Thing. One of several films that saw Carpenter collaborating with his buddy Kurt Russell, The Thing remains one of the finest, creepiest, funnest horror movies ever made. This […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Confused Kids, Asshole Dads, and The Meyerowitz Stories
Family! It’s the Worst! Or… the Best? No, It’s the Worst.
Family! It’s the worst! Or… the best? No, it’s the worst.
Posted inMovies & TV
Review: Revisiting the Past, Remaking the Future in Blade Runner 2049
Nobody wanted Blade Runner. 1982’s box office belonged to E.T. and Rocky III. Audiences shrugged when the dark, dour Blade Runner hit theaters; even the critics who gawped at the film’s baroque visuals tore apart everything else. “Science-fiction devotees may find Blade Runner a wonderfully meticulous movie and marvel at the comprehensiveness of its vision,” […]