Broke Gravy The Stumptown Improv Festival is back! Has it really been a whole year? It doesn’t feel so long ago that I was sitting in Artists Repertory Theatre—not a bad seat in the house—with festival sponsor King Quince, talking about his quince farm and watching improv about quince fruit. (Quinces have figured heavily into […]
Suzette Smith
Suzette Smith is the arts & culture editor of the Portland Mercury. Go ahead and tell her about all your food, art, and culture gripes: suzette@portlandmercury.com. Follow her on Twitter, Bluesky, and Letterboxd.
Posted inComedy
The Stumptown Improv Fest’s Triumphant Return
The Mercury’s Best Bets for Year Four
The Mercury’s best bets for year four.
Posted inBooks
Tongues’ New God Flow
Portland’s Anders Nilsen Debuts a New Comic, With Greek Drama, God Drama, and Strange Wars
Portland’s Anders Nilsen debuts a new comic, with Greek drama, god drama, and strange wars.
Posted inMovies & TV
Valerian Is The Fifth Element Sequel You Always Wanted
From its awe-inspiring opening montage, Luc Besson’s Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets immediately immerses its audience in a brilliant, idiosyncratic sci-fi universe—one that’s unlike anything we’ve seen for 20 years, since Besson’s last brilliant, idiosyncratic sci-fi universe, in The Fifth Element. Those of us who loved The Fifth Element will get exactly […]
Posted inBooks
Nicole Georges’ Fetch Is For Anyone Who’s Ever Really Loved A Dog
NICOLE J. GEORGES Just for the wow factor, Nicole J. Georges and I try to list all of her current projects. A well-known artist, educator, and organizer in zines and indie comics, Georges currently produces a weekly podcast, Sagittarian Matters, in which she conducts interviews and dispenses her highly regarded advice. She continues to do […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Valerian Is the Fifth Element Follow-Up You’ve Been Waiting For
Luc Besson’s Latest Is a Surreal Delight
Luc Besson’s latest is a surreal delight.
Posted inArts
Nicole Georges’ Dog Star
Fetch Is For Anyone Who’s Ever Really Loved A Dog
Fetch is for anyone who’s ever really loved a dog.
Posted inComedy
Scorpiono is Portland’s Very Own Broad City
KEVIN TINNELL I start my interview with online sketch comedy duo Alberta Poon and Cara Swift with a question about a shit pile. It appears in the first episode of their web series Scorpiono and—to me—it looks like real dog shit. “My late doggy shit in his little area and I didn’t pick it up […]
Posted inArts
Scorpiono Rising
Portland’s Very Own Broad City
The online sketch comedy show is Portland’s very own Broad City.
Posted inArts
Pop Gun War’s Magic Explosion-ism
Farel Dalrymple’s Surrealist Comic Book is Action-Packed as All Hell
Farel Dalrymple’s surrealist comic book is action-packed as all hell.
Posted inTV
Let’s Discuss Twin Peaks‘ Dougie Jones and the Enduring Power of Toxic Masculinity
Showtime We’ve been watching Twin Peaks: The Return, and Dougie Jones (Kyle MacLachlan)—the saga of Dougie Jones—falls into one of our society’s weird media tropes. As Suzette puts it: He’s one of those “men who cannot fuck up their own lives no matter how hard they try.” Today, we dig into the plight of Dougie […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Which Portland Movie Theater Has the Best Snacks?
Which Portland movie theater has the best snacks?