Maggie Gyllenhaal's New Frankenstein-Inspired Film Doesn’t Always Make Sense, but It’s a Helluva Movie!

Say yes to the mess: The Bride is gory and glorious.

Second Run Portland: Films for Literary Types

This month, a bevy of options beyond Wuthering Heights.

Bruce Campbell on Death, Dying, and the Evil Dead

The legend talks about DIYing his new movie Ernie & Emma.

Emerald Fennell Has Made the Least Fucked-up Version of Wuthering Heights

This film seems destined for a long and vibrant afterlife of teenage slumber parties.

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie the Mercury Review 

The latest entry in Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol’s high-spirited satire of their own lives is a funny big budget time travel misadventure.

Second Run Portland: In Picnic at Hanging Rock, Valentine’s Day Turns Mysterious 

This month, nine films on love, desire, and human psychology.

Gimme Shelter: Jason Statham’s Latest Thriller Warms Up a Typically Cold January

Director Ric Roman Waugh thinks this is the perfect time of year to have grizzled action stars confront their mortality.

Gus Van Sant's New Film Returns to His True Crime Roots

In Dead Man's Wire nothing goes according to plan, including Van Sant's return to his true crime roots.

Swimming Through Trauma in The Chronology of Water

Kristen Stewart’s first feature film interprets Lidia Yuknavitch’s 2011 memoir through fragmentation and aquatic metaphor.

Second Run Portland: Rich People Behaving Badly

Peter Greenaway’s gourmet art film and Frederick Wiseman’s snowy documentary show vastly different approaches to class critique.

Bi Gan’s Resurrection Revives 100 Years of Movie-Making for One Long Dream

Dream logic takes over in the Chinese writer-director’s latest technical marvel.

The Mercury’s 10 Favorite Movies of 2025

The best movies of 2025 are at war with the machine, data centers, and helplessness. What a relief.

The Big Holiday Episode of The Big Box Set

How a DIY studio in NE Portland is capturing the spirit of public-access television. 

With Marty Supreme Josh Safdie Gives Us Another Movie by and for Insecure Men

 It will almost certainly win a lot of prizes.

A Very Festive Second Run Portland

City cinemas come bearing 13 repertory films you should see this month.

Portland and Guillermo del Toro Are Symbiotically Bound

At a Tomorrow Theater screening, the director discussed the rise of AI, the future of stop-motion animation, and who he identifies with in Frankenstein.

Eternity Is the Straightest Rom-Com That Ever Straighted

A24’s ode to serial monogamy dismisses a perfectly rational two-husband solution.

Kelly Reichardt’s Small Politics

The Mastermind’s Josh O’Connor is an art thief who can’t outrun the world he’s avoiding.

Edgar Wright’s The Running Man Doesn’t Really Go Anywhere

The idea of a righteously angry movie about the shitty state of 2025 had a lot of potential; it was squandered by a too-handsome Glen Powell.

Second Run Portland: In Memoria, Tilda Swinton Has a Sonic Headache

Plus more slow cinema, Celtic myth, and Sergei Parajanov in smell-o-vision.

Train Dreams Go on When I Close My Eyes

Director Clint Bentley's ode to a small, quiet life in the Pacific Northwest is also one of the year’s most plainly beautiful films.

Bugonia Is a Good Time Yorgos Lanthimos Film

The famous Greek director of strange and unsettling movies has made another strange and unsettling movie.

What To Flirt To, What To Cry to at QDoc 2025

Portland's queer documentary festival turns 17 with Bboys, house music, true crime, and Boy George’s enormous hat. 

The Strange Sublime Cinema of Motern Media and Evil Puddle

Matt Farley and Charlie Roxburgh make micro-budget films followed by and starring their fans.

Second Run Portland: Phantasm’s Freaky Mortician Takes Over a Portland Funeral Home

Plus, city theaters pregame for Halloween with Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s neo-noir Cure and a fashionable giallo classic.

One Battle After Another Captures the Relentless Overstimulation of Being Alive in 2025

Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film is a funny, breathless, sometimes overwhelming spectacle of American violence.

Eleven Films to Argue About in Fall 2025 

The season is stacked with the likes of Paul Thomas Anderson, Kelly Reichardt, Lynne Ramsey, Chloé Zhao, Kathryn Bigelow, Yorgos Lanthimos, a Safdie, a Tron movie, and more!

Megadoc Is an Essential Portrait of Grand Delusion

We thought we were done talking about Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis, but this new, making-of documentary is fascinating.

Eleven Films to Argue About in Fall 2025

The season is stacked with films from the likes of Paul Thomas Anderson, Kelly Reichardt, Lynne Ramsey, Chloé Zhao, Kathryn Bigelow, Yorgos Lanthimos, a Safdie, a Tron movie, and more!

Second Run Portland: Gakuryū Ishii’s August in the Water is Unstreamable Late-Summer Magic

The folkloric Japanese film screens alongside Hungarian psychedelia and Edward Yang’s Yi Yi this month. 

Highest 2 Lowest Is Spike Lee’s Fanboy Homage to Akira Kurosawa

But this isn't a Kurosawa film, so don't go looking for one.

Nobody 2: Twice the Carnage, but Not Enough

Bob Odenkirk's dad justice series kicks up the brutality with the help of Indonesian filmmaker Timo Tjahjanto.

My Eternity Evening With Francis Ford Coppola

Inside the iconic director's Portland stop on his Megalopolis Tour—but first, a few tangents!

Second Run Portland: Shinji Sōmai’s Moving Is the Luminous Coming-Of-Age Film You’ve Never Seen 

Plus, Gakuryū Ishii’s punk-inflected vision and two cinema vérité documentaries head to the screen this month.

In It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley Youth Is Too Real

A new documentary by Amy Berg captures a songwriter's vivid youth cut short.

Cloud's Paranoid World of Online Resellers

A Japanese thriller depicts the terror and hilarity of anonymous animosity.

Clinton Street Theater's Third Hanabi Japanese Film Festival Line-Up Is Here

This year has US and Portland premieres and new 4k restorations, along with the cult films, award-winning classics, and anime features audiences demand.

Sorry, Baby Is a Rom-Com for People Who Have Panic Attacks

We are living in the golden age of directors discovered by Barry Jenkins, Eva Victor is one.

Album Review: Patricia Wolf Scores the Documentary Hrafnamynd

Playful sonics swirl with the landscapes of Iceland and director Edward Pack Davee’s narration. 

Second Run Portland: Days of Heaven Glows Again in 35mm 

Plus, a queer twist on yakuza inheritance and Chantal Akerman’s mother-daughter meditation hit Portland screens this month.

Dinosaurs Deserve So Much Better Than Jurassic World Rebirth

The seventh entry in this never-ending franchise struggles to unearth any fossilized remains of awe or fun from Steven Spielberg’s first Jurassic film.

Why Rocky Horror Picture Show Still Does the Time Warp at Clinton Street Theater

What's the secret to the weekly screening's enduring relevance?

Ten Years of Terror With the Portland Horror Film Festival

The five-day weekend fest welcomes over 70 films from across the world to Hollywood Theatre and Clinton Street Theatre.

Caught by the Tides Captures 22 Years of Filmmaking Into Two Sumptuous, Sweeping Hours

Chinese writer-director Jia Zhangke is one of cinema’s truly great Wife Guys.

Pavements Is Not Just A Pavement Movie, It’s All Pavement Movies

Biopic, doc, concert, museum, musical—Alex Ross Perry's documentary contains five views of the '90s rock band winding around one another.

Album Review: A New Look at Old Joy

Yo La Tengo’s score for Kelly Reichardt’s Oregon-made indie classic is out on vinyl for the first time via Mississippi Records.

Friendship Thrives in This Golden Age of Pathetic Men

Andrew deYoung taps into Tim Robinson’s vein of flailing white guy chaos for a familiar but funny phantasmagoria of adult social interaction.

Film Review: Björk's Cornucopia Is What a Concert Film Should Be

How is it possible to be a literal deity while so deeply human?

Film Review: The Shrouds Is a Shallow Grave

The new film from Body Horror director David Cronenberg barely cracks the topsoil of all he unearths.

Sinners: the Vampire Musical With a Cunnilingus Tutorial 

In which acclaimed director Ryan Coogler keeps alive the tradition of hiding  art in a vampire movie.

Film Review: Warfare Ups the Ante of Horror in War Films

Alex Garland and former Navy SEAL Ray Mendoza make us wonder: Can a war film ever actually be anti-war?

Misericordia Is Sexy, French, Unpredictable

Knowing that, do you even need to read this review? [smolders in French] Do you?

French Documentary Direct Action Keeps Focus Off Activist Faces

Portlanders can see the defiant, slow media movie at Clinton Street with co-director Ben Russell in attendance.

Death of a Unicorn Asks: What If Unicorns Make Meat Out of YOU?

Combining the violence of grindhouse with the plot of a straight-to-video moral kid's fantasy.

This Horror Double Feature Is the Exploding-Head Crown Jewel of March's Women in Film Series

The star of Chopping Mall and Night of the Comet, Kelli Maroney discusses the films at Clinton Street Theater.

The Best Part of Mickey 17 Is the Dying

Bong Joon-ho added 10 extra deaths to his new sci-fi movie, and it was a good editorial call.

The Monkey Is a Comedy About Horror Film Body Counts

The new work from Longlegs director Osgood Perkins helps us laugh at the meaninglessness of life.

Hong Kong Action Star Donnie Yen Seeks Justice (and a Fight Every 25-30 Minutes) in The Prosecutor

Cop-lawyers, brutal brawls, can't lose.

FREE TICKETS THURSDAY: Enter to Win Free Tix to See Damien Jurado, The Builders and The Butchers, Moe., and MORE!

Dig! XX Revisits the Friendship and Fall Out of Two Famously Eccentric Indie Bands

Dandy Warhols and Brian Jonestown Massacre were best-friend bands that eventually became bitter-enemy bands.

Film Review: Wolf Man Can’t Teach an Old Dog New Tricks

Like he did with The Invisible Man, in 2020, director Leigh Whannell has tried to bring a Universal Studios monster into an all-too-common family dynamic.

The Brutalist Looms Large

Everything about Brady Corbet's new film is big—the scale, the runtime, the acclaim.

What if Luigi Got Away?

A Netflix show dreamed up a Luigi Mangione nearly two years before he allegedly killed the CEO.

The Mercury's Favorite Movies of 2024 

Film Critic Dom Sinacola on his 10 favorite features of 2024 and where you can watch them.

A Complete Unknown Satisfies Only Your Lowest Expectations for a Bob Dylan Biopic

Director James Mangold’s latest bit of Oscar bait has the vibrancy and depth of a Wikipedia article.

Queer Is a Romance with a Dead Wife Problem

Director Luca Guadagino is out to make William Burroughs romantic. He mostly succeeds.

Gladiator II Is Just Gladiator With Jacked-up Howler Monkeys

Ridley Scott's long-awaited sequel could have examined the first film’s legacy and reimagined the warrior archetype. But nope.

Film Review: In Heretic and Don't Move Meek Heroines Fawn and Freeze

This fall, femmes find new ways to survive.

Season’s Reelings:
Your 2024 Holiday Movie Guide

Spend time NOT talking to family with our preview
of the holidays’ most-hyped new releases.

Allee Willis: Creative Force, 'Dangerous Woman,' Songwriter Behind Friends Theme

A new documentary The World According to Allee Willis reveals your favorite artists’ favorite artist.

Megalopolis is Francis Ford Coppola's Gloriously Dumb and Luminous Opus

When it's truly singing, the infectious film gestures at the passion and poetry that come from an artist with nothing left to prove.

Film Review: My Old Ass Is a Horny Teen Sex Comedy Meets Time Travel Tearjerker

It's Fall! So here's your pansexual Hallmark movie.

Evil Does Not Exist Is About Glamping and Other Forces Beyond Our Control

The new film from Drive My Car director Ryūsuke Hamaguchi strays from the clean conservationist message that would typically accompany such beautiful cinema of the natural world.

New Life Is a Scrappy Portland-Shot Sci-Fi Horror That Tears Through the Soul

John Rosman’s fantastic feature debut marks him as an exciting new filmmaker.

The Hype About The People’s Joker Is Entirely Warranted

The hilarious debut feature from Vera Drew parodies comic book icons to tell a trans coming out story.

The Beast Is a Sci-Fi Time-Traveling Romance Alive With the Anxiety of 2024

Bertrand Bonello crammed so much into this film that it threatens to tear at the seams, but Seydoux’s and MacKay’s chemistry holds it together.

Dev Patel's Directorial Debut Monkey Man Is a Paean to Visceral Movie Violence

And my god, it’s invigorating.

Film Review: Problemista Is a Bizarre, but Surprisingly Honest, Movie About US Immigration

The comedy genius behind Los Espookys and that SNL "Papyrus" sketch, Julio Torres' first feature is queer, surreal, and over the top.

Film Review: Love Lies Bleeding Is a Bold Newcomer to the Erotic Thriller Canon

Director Rose Glass’ second film tells the sleazy, sexy story of two star-crossed sapphic lovers.

Film Review: Hold Your Water, Dune: Part Two Is Worth the Wait

Denis Villeneuve crushes our senses beneath the magnificence of space opera scale and spectacle.

Film Review: In The Taste of Things Simple Pleasures Shine

Trần Anh Hùng’s portrait of 19th century French countryside haute cuisine sizzles with scintillating restraint.

Film Review: Todd Haynes' May December Is a Lifetime Movie With a Semiotics Degree

This holiday season, Julianne Moore gives us one of cinema's greatest lisps.

Should You Eat an Edible Before Seeing Priscilla?

Sofia Coppola's Priscilla Presley biopic is a great stoner flick. Hear me out.

See Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour as Big as You Can

The movie version of the exorbitantly-priced stadium show is an equalizer.

David Byrne Takes Over Tomorrow Theater's Opening Weekend

A look inside the renovated former adult movie house that Portland Art Museum turned into a 250-seat movie and performance venue.

Oregon Symphony's Deanna Tham Helps Us Unpack the Greatest Modern Film Composer

Portland Film Festivals to Fit Your Zodiac Sign

Bottoms Is the Horny Gay Teen Comedy of My Dreams

Also worth noting: Former Seahawks running back—and Portland restaurateur—Marshawn Lynch is amazing in his supportive acting role.

Six Records for Rotation Before The Elephant 6 Recording Co.

C.B. Stockfleth's new documentary digs into the '90s music collective behind Neutral Milk Hotel, Of Montreal, and the Minders.

The Agony and Ecstasy of the Portland 48-Hour Film Project

What's fun about making a short film, in an extreme time crunch, on no sleep?

Barbenheimer: A Purely Scientific Review of Two Very Dissimilar Films

We compared Barbie and Oppenheimer on their reframing of iffy history, portrayal of the legal system, ken-ergy, and HORSES.

Clinton Street Theater's Hanabi Japanese Film Festival Celebrates Cult Cinema and Local Businesses

See Tampopo on the big screen, while snacking on goods from nearby Japanese convenience store Kashiwagi.

Director Celine Song Talks About Her Stunning Debut Film, Past Lives

We also chatted about cannibalism, memory, and what comes next.

What Does MoviePass 2.0 Mean for Local Theaters?

Local cinemas may not have agreed to be part of this reincarnated movie subscription service—but they're going along for the ride anyway.

Film Q & A: Wild Life Questions Conservation and Capitalism

The new documentary from the directors of Free Solo paints complicated portraits of former Patagonia and North Face executives Kris and Doug Tompkins.

Beau Is Afraid Is a Painting of a Panic Attack

Ari Aster releases history’s most unchill film on 4/20 .

Hey Bike Lovers! Don't Miss the BICYCLE FILM FEST... TONIGHT! 🚴🏻

Hey Bike Lovers! Don't Miss the BICYCLE FILM FEST! 🚴🏻 (One Night Only!)

Film Q & A: Kelly Reichardt's Showing Up Was Shot at the Oregon College of Art and Craft—After It Closed

The director shot her latest film in Portland, collaborating again with writer Jon Raymond and actress Michelle Williams.