With his introspective drama A History of Violence currently in theaters—not to mention Halloween quickly approaching—it’s as good of a time as any to brush up on the disconcerting, smart, and hit-and-miss films of David Cronenberg. It’s nearly impossible to like all of Cronenberg’s stuff—but it’s a hell of a thing when even the guy’s […]
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
Of Soundtracks and Sap
A Detour to Cameron Crowe’s Elizabethtown
It’s not cool to like Cameron Crowe’s movies: Jerry Maguire, Vanilla Sky, Almost Famous, Say Anything. And his latest is no exception—if anything, liking Elizabethtown is even
Posted inMovies & TV
Black and White
Right and Wrong in Clooney’s Good Night
Did anyone else find that Anderson Cooper shit kind of ridiculous? I mean, it was cool that some
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Geek Out
Excelsior!
For gamers, summer blows. Saving up their releases for the holiday buying season, game publishers rarely release any good games during the warmer months. But fall is here, and fresh on the green heels of the well-received The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, two more adaptations of Marvel comic books—Ultimate Spider-Man and X-Men Legends II: Rise […]
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Sort of Illuminated
It’s Liev Schreiber vs. Jonathan Safran Foer!
I’m of the belief that film adaptations—be they Harriet the Spy or Lord of the Rings—should be judged on their own merits, not compared to their inspiring texts. That’s largely because the clichéd line voiced by literati after
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Anti-Shrek Device
The Charming Wallace & Gromit
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit dirs. Box, Park Opens Fri Oct 7 Various Theaters Unlike nearly all current animated films from America, Nick Park and Steve Box’s Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit doesn’t have a bunch of flashy CG (it has a bit, but it’s pretty low-key). And it […]
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I’m Staying Home
Bowling: Best. Sport. Ever.
Bowling is, as everyone knows, the greatest sport ever invented. With bowling doc A League of Ordinary Gentlemen opening this week (see our review on pg. 49), now’s a great time to get reacquainted with the all-too-few appearances of bowling on film. (And no, Uncle Buck‘s brief time at the lanes doesn’t count.) • The […]
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Scary Monsters/Rebel Bowlers
Succinct Reviews for the Discerning Cinephile
Like a regenerating tentacle from one of H.P. Lovecraft’s creepy-ass stories, the annual H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival is back for
Posted inBooks
Spiral-Bound, Interman, Heartbreakers Meet Boilerplate
In only its second year of existence, the Stumptown Comics Fest has already quadrupled in size. This year
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A Whole New ’Verse
The Death of Firefly and the Birth of Serenity
Not to sound hyperbolic, but it was as perfect of a TV show as I ever expect to see. Smart, strange, funny, angry, and loving. Populated with sweating, bleeding characters who had more layers than one could ever entirely discover. Backed up by a concept
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Brains, Blood, & Guts
Studying A History of Violence
A History of Violence dir. Cronenberg Opens Fri Sept 30 Various Theaters Like fellow avant-garde arthouse director David Lynch, David Cronenberg has always been better with the themes behind drama than he is with drama itself. Whether it’s 1996’s then-scandalous Crash, the confused eXistenZ, his adaptation of Burroughs’ Naked Lunch, or tracing Jeff Goldblum’s devolution […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Geek Out
Nintendo’s (Really) New Controller
When Nintendo announced that its next-gen system would be titled the Revolution, it seemed like more talk from a company hoping to gain the rhetorical edge over Sony and Microsoft. But when Nintendo actually showed their new controller, it lived up to the hype. If the controller works like Nintendo boasts, then it might very […]