Battlefield Baseball dir. Yamaguchi Living Hell dir. Fujii Opens Fri July 30 Clinton St. Theater The bad news? Neither Living Hell nor Battlefield Baseball–the two supposedly “shocking” films included in the Clinton Street Theater’s “Japanese Shock Week”–are, in actuality, shocking. The good news? One of them, at least, is worth watching anyway. Living Hell follows […]
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
Mercury Video Picks
TOP GAL
What has Kelly McGillis been doing since she charmed the pants off Tom Cruise in Top Gun and proved in Witness that Amish people can be naked, too? Well, in addition to starring in 15-20 forgettable films, she owns a restaurant in Key West and is currently wowing Ottawa as Mrs. Robinson in the touring […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Bourne Again
The Bourne Supremacy: New and Not Really Improved
The Bourne Supremacy dir. Greengrass Opens Fri July 23 Various Theaters A film as unmemorable as it was financially successful, 2002’s The Bourne Identity was the cinematic equivalent of pulp fiction. Following Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), an amnesiac who discovered he was once a secret agent, Identity was bland but competent, providing a couple of […]
Posted inMovies & TV
The Splendor of Val Kilmer
I wouldn’t categorize Val Kilmer as the world’s greatest working actor, but he has touched greatness, costarring with Hollywood’s superior echelon and working with world-class directors. Among his roles, Val can count God, Elvis, Batman, Jim Morrison, and John Holmes! For this immense range of acting prowess, I must salute the often puzzling, overblown career […]
Posted inBooks
Graphic Novels
Craig Thompson’s autobiographical ode to young love, Blankets, is an international phenomenon, and has done more than any graphic novel I can remember to bring “literary” comic book art (read: no spandex-clad superheroes) to the mainstream. Now, Thompson can do just about anything he wants, and to celebrate he’s released Carnet de Voyage, a chronicle […]
Posted inMovies & TV
I, Pretty Good Action Movie
The Fresh Prince Vs. Robots in I, Robot
I, Robot dir. Proyas Opens Fri July 16 Various Theaters When 20th Century Fox decided to adapt Isaac Asimov’s canonical but nearly unadaptable science fiction text I, Robot, they came up with an utterly unsurprising solution: ditch Asimov’s philosophy and scien ce, swipe his title, and insert a bankable star. Throw in some slick action […]
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Mercury Video Picks
oh so homo… Starting out working with legendary schlock masters Roger Corman and Charles Band, David DeCoteau’s filmography spans 20 years and nearly every genre, with most of his films falling somewhere between horror and soft-core porn. But lately, his films have taken a decidedly homo turn–replacing the usual screaming young women in underwear with […]
Posted inNews
La Cinema Du Drowning
Or, Movies Where People Drown
Don’t feel like experiencing drowning firsthand? Good call–especially since there are more than enough cinematic examples of drowning to go around. Copland: Sylvester Stallone saves a girl from drowning, but he loses hearing in one ear. Ordinary People: The drowning death of a family’s favorite son during a sailing accident leaves their other son in […]
Posted inNews
True Stories Of Near Drowning
How To Drown Your Child
Psychologists say that floating in water is akin to the warm embrace of the womb. Deathologists say drowning is perhaps the best way to die, that a euphoric sensation supposedly blankets one’s consciousness right before losing it. But as someone who almost drowned twice as a child, I say they’re full of shit. The first […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Naomi Watch!
Celebrity Reporter Erik “Hollywood” Henriksen Visits the Set of The Ring 2 in Astoria…and He’s Pretty Sure He Caught Naomi Watts “Checking Him Out.”
“This certainly is messed up,” the guy says. The guy in question is surveying the corner of Marine Drive and 12th Street in Astoria, Oregon–and as far as I can tell, he’s speaking to no one in particular. The streets are blocked off, and the sidewalks might as well be, with hundreds of locals and […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Mercury Video Picks
THAT AIN’T NO LADY… Who doesn’t love a man in a dress? Surprisingly enough, some are still resistant to this ultimate feat of acting. In an effort to pacify the scared public, here are three flicks to show why genderfuck is a thing of true beauty. – Die, Mommie, Die (2003)–From the fractured mind of […]
Posted inBooks
Oblivion
David Foster Wallace’s detached, scientific style walks a tightrope–it should alienate himself from both the text and the reader, yet instead, it brings a level of almost bodhisattva-like insight to his work. For all his postmodern footnoting and meta-narration, Wallace usually manages the precarious balancing act of maintaining his style while keeping the foci of […]