Avoid Ancaster College. Master drops in theaters and on Prime Video this Friday. Courtesy of Master/Amazon Prime Of all the movies that showed at this year’s Sundance Film Festival back in January, writer-director Mariama Diallo’s debut feature Master is one of the most enigmatic and elusive. It’s a strong work that reveals the harm inflicted […]
Movies & TV
Posted inMovies & TV
Northwest Film Center Takes On a New Name, Vision, and Very Mysterious Future
Amy Dotson brought the CUT team onstage to share name announcement moment. Andrea Lonas Photography / Courtesy of the Portland Art Museum The Portland Art Museum (PAM)’s Northwest Film Center begins a new chapter this week, as it takes on a new name and progresses towards the realization of a vision several years in the […]
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Never Follow a Portland Meet-Cute to a Cottage Grove Location and Other Dating Lessons We Learned From Fresh
Courtesy of the Sundance Institute A cinematic meal that may not be for all appetites, Fresh is an unsettling and effective debut feature from director Mimi Cave that will strike a chord with many—and not just the traditionally aggrieved straight-dating women of Portland. The film centers on Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones), a single 20-something traversing the […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
What’s Coming up Soon from Our List of 30 Arts Events to Check Out in Portland This Spring?
Courtesy of mitski Spring has sprung, and with it comes an exciting batch of events that will get you cultured and out to enjoy the weather. From the return of the smash hit musical Hamilton to the AAPI-centered film Crouching Comic and from TEDxPortland to Tyler, The Creator, we’ve rounded up 30 of the most […]
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Film Review: The Batman Is SoOOooO Moody (and That’s Not a Bad Thing)
Catty cynicism? Meet sad boi energy. COURTESY OF WARNER BROS. PICTURES ™ & © DC COMICS When we meet Batman in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, people already get his whole deal. Rather than starting at the beginning of billionaire Bruce Wayne’s journey to nocturnal vigilante, the film—out TODAY, FRIDAY, MARCH 4—plops us two years after […]
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Crouching Comic: A Funny, Insightful Local Film From an All-Asian Cast and Crew
Alberta Poon (left) gives direction to Katie Nguyen (right) in Crouching Comic. CHRISTINE DONG On the last day of Alberta Poon and Katie Nguyen’s shoot, for their short film Crouching Comic, the sky began to rain ash. “I don’t know if it was Mother Nature being like, ‘We don’t want this film, we don’t want […]
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Silence on the Set: Claims of Harassment and Assault Within Portland’s Film Community
Ebin Lee [Editor’s Note: The following article includes discussions of sexual harassment and assault. Because of the sensitive nature of their experiences and fears of retaliation, sources for this story have requested anonymity. With their permission, we’ve replaced sources’ names with pseudonyms. All pseudonyms have been marked with an asterisk on first reference.] While it’s […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Silence on the Set: Claims of Harassment and Assault Within Portland’s Film Community
Multiple women have spoken to the Mercury about being allegedly harassed by actor Christian Kane while working on Portland-area productions. Another said she was assaulted by actor Timothy Hutton following a production.
[Editor’s Note: The following article includes discussions of sexual harassment and assault. Because of the sensitive nature of their experiences and fears of retaliation, sources for this story have requested anonymity. With their permission, we’ve replaced sources’ names with pseudonyms. All pseudonyms have been marked with an asterisk on first reference.] While it’s been almost […]
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Studio 666 Is a Midlife Crisis Disguised as a Horror Movie
So bad, it’s scary. COURTESY OF OPEN ROAD FILMS If there is one thing the new horror-comedy Studio 666 reveals, it is this: just because you have fun making a movie doesn’t mean people will have fun watching it. Starring musician Dave Grohl along with his band the Foo Fighters, all of whom play themselves, […]
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Film Review: Cyrano Is a Musical, but Why? Nobody Nose
COURTESY METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER The most astounding thing about Cyrano is not that this film, based on a French comedy from the 1890s, begins with Peter Dinklage performing a sword-fighting rap battle. It’s that this is, in fact, how the original play began. The original play introduces Cyrano as a large-nosed, charismatic, obnoxious, lovable, bombastic poet who […]
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Film Review: The Worst Person in the World Is So Much More than an Anti-romantic Comedy
Renate Reinsve as Julie seems to be experiencing a “Nicole Kidman after signing divorce papers” moment. Courtesy of Neon Warning of incoming exuberance: I want to gush about this movie. I want to write that THIS IS CINEMA that ignites your very soul! I loved it. And I’m not the only one; it’s already picked […]
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The Star of Death on the Nile Is Kenneth Branagh’s Mustache
Death on the Nile: The mystery is in the mustache. 20th Century Studios The first ten minutes of Death on the Nile are an artistic black-and-white origin story for Hercule Poirot’s mustache. Later, we see that he sleeps wearing a custom-made face mask in the shape of said mustache. “Enough already about the mustache,” I […]