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Posted inMovies & TV

This Month at Movie Madness, the Mercury Explores the Martin Scorsese Cinematic Universe!

This November, the greatest movie franchise in the world comes to its culmination with the release of The Irishman, a three-plus-hour, star-studded crossover event. All moviegoers love the Martin Scorsese Cinematic Universe for its colorful characters, intertwined storytelling, and recurring themes of organized crime, Catholic guilt, the Italian American experience, rock music, and really fucking […]

Posted inMovies & TV

Jazz, Cars, and Tourette’s in Edward Norton’s Movie of Jonathan Lethem’s Motherless Brooklyn

Glen Wilson Director/star Edward Norton’s decision to turn Jonathan Lethem’s postmodern neo-noir novel into a literal 1950s-set noir, with jazz music and vintage cars aplenty, is both an asset and a liability. Motherless Brooklyn is easy on the eyes, and the all-star cast conveys the sense—if not the suspense—of a twisty-turny mystery populated by crooks, […]

Posted inFood and Drink

The Portland Location of the Rock Bottom Brewpub Chain Is Closed

Google Maps Another Portland brewpub, sort of, has closed its doors, following last week’s announcement that Lompoc Brewing would be closing this week. The Portland outpost of the Denver chain brewpub Rock Bottom closed on Sunday, as first reported by Jeff Alworth on his Beervana blog and subsequently reported by the Oregonian today. There are […]

Posted inTheater & Performance

Portland Opera’s Madama Butterfly Tastefully Updates Puccini’s Problematic Masterpiece for the 21st Century

Hiromi Omura in Portland Opera’s Madama Butterfly. Cory Weaver/Portland Opera The Portland Opera kicked off its 55th season Friday night with the premiere of Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly at the Keller Auditorium. The work, first premiered in 1904, is a tricky one to recreate respectfully in 2019—it’s an Italian opera about the transactional marriage between […]

Posted inComedy

Ghost Busted: The Mercury Uses Science to Expose Portland’s Real-est and Fakiest Ghosts!

Portland is home to many so-called “haunted” businesses, residences, and public spaces. (See “Portland’s Most Haunted Places [That You Never Knew Were Super Fucking Haunted]!” on pg. 5 for more examples.) But how haunted are they really? The Mercury decided to find out by picking four of Portland’s most famously spooky places and testing their […]

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