“Ladies, we’re gonna have some fun,” Stuntman Mike ominously warns in Grindhouse, the latest from directors Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. In this, their three-hour-long double feature that emulates the old-school B-movies that once played at cheap theaters known as grindhouses, Tarantino and Rodriguez have gone all-out to make their homage feel genuine: the film […]
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
I’m Staying Home
The Other Grindhouse
From Dusk Till Dawn dir. Rodriguez, 1996 In 1996, Quentin Tarantino teamed up with Robert Rodriguez. Separately, Rodriguez and Tarantino had redefined independent film—Rodriguez with his super-cheap, adrenaline-charged El Mariachi, Tarantino with Reservoir Dogs, his sharp neo-noir. Rodriguez had since followed Mariachi with Desperado, Tarantino was still polishing his Pulp Fiction Oscar, and the duo’s […]
Posted inMovies & TV
(Insert “Cowabunga!” Joke Here)
Why I Still Kind of Love the Ninja Turtles
At possible risk to both my personal and professional lives, let’s do this: Circa fifth grade, maybe 1991, I was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles freak. Shortly following my Batman and Dick Tracy phases, and immediately preceding Jurassic Park‘s paleontological obsessions, it was all about the Ninja Turtles: the movies, the cartoon, the trading cards, […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Signifying Nothing
The Sound, Fury, and Fame of El Topo
There’s a lot of interesting stuff about El Topo, the rare 1970 film that’s beginning a run this weekend at the Clinton St. Theater. It’s probably most famous as the favorite film of a Yoko Ono-ified John Lennon, but the more you dig, the more strange stuff surfaces: Like that its director, Alejandro Jodorowsky, is […]
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I’m Staying Home
The Illustrious Career of Sandra Bullock
With wry humor and bubbly charm, Sandra Bullock outshone nearly everything else in 1994’s Speed. Hope you enjoyed it while it lasted: Ever since, Bullock’s films have been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as “The worst movies of all time.” (Sandy’s latest, Premonition, opens this week. I have a PREMONITION it’s going […]
Posted inNews
Portland’s Sexiest Places!
We really went and shot ourselves in the foot when we asked Mercury readers to dish on the best places to have sex in Portland—turns out your favorite places are our favorite places, too! Now we all have to find new places, unless we want to be running into each other in compromising positions. Which, […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Son of Godzilla
Monster Movie The Host: Let’s Talk Politics!
Godzilla sold out. Sure, he started off strong: In 1954, the original Japanese Gojira featured a giant monster who’d been created thanks to nuclear weapons testing. Gojira, now hailed as a classic, was part “critical allegory of 1950s world affairs,” and part “movie about a dude dressed in a rubber suit smashing cardboard buildings.” (Both […]
Posted inMovies & TV
I’m Staying Home
FRANK MILLER 101
300—a film based on Frank Miller’s 1998 comic book—comes out this week. And while Miller wasn’t directly involved in 300‘s production, he has had plenty of influence in some other big Hollywood flicks… for example… RoboCop! • Sin City (2005)—Miller co-directed this re-creation of his graphic novels alongside Robert Rodriguez (and Quentin Tarantino), ensuring that […]
Posted inMovies & TV
A Dream Deferred
Chains, the Blues, and That Black Snake Moan
Okay, so Black Snake Moan? That movie with Samuel L. Jackson tying up Christina Ricci with a giant chain? Not what you’re expecting. That’s the most important thing, so I’m busting out with it now, here and at the forefront: The trailers’ll make you think Black Snake Moan is a loud, exploitative-on-more-than-a-few -levels flick, and […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Reading Kills
The Number 23: Ace Ventura vs. Literacy!
If I were a librarian, I’d be pissed. Here I am, spending all my time doing two things: Having socially unacceptable, intricately detailed fantasies involving the Dewey Decimal System, and trying to get kids to read. And after all my literacy programs and all my Lemony Snicket, that goddamn The Number 23 comes along and […]
Posted inMovies & TV
I’m Staying Home
The Apocalypse: Nearer Than We Thought
Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms dirs. Stones, Weinstein Now Available on DVD The Invincible Iron Man dirs. Archibald, Paur Now Available on DVD The phenomenally janky Ghost Rider flick was number one at the box office last weekend. This is likely one of the omens of the Apocalypse. I’m not sure what to do about […]
Posted inBooks
Drawn and Quarterly
Montreal-based publishers Drawn and Quarterly are responsible for creating some of the most sumptuous graphic novels on the market today. This week, Drawn and Quarterly sends a few bright stars to Portland for a discussion and slide show about their work. Please give a big Portland welcome to Gabrielle Bell, Anders Nilsen, and Kevin Huizenga. […]