A NEW VIEW ON CATS
DEAR MERCURY—Your review is snotty and inaccurate
[Visual Arts Listings, portlandmercury.com]. Many of my
pictures do have cats in them [The Insouciant Beauty of the
Street at Newspace Center for Photography], but I like to think
that they are doing interesting things—the very things that maybe
viewers have not quite seen before. Please give the show another
look—assuming anyone went in the first place.
-Rosemary Hammer
YOU DON’T KNOW SHIT ABOUT SHIT
DEAR MERCURY—Pok Pok is amazing, though has little in
common with Ping [“Memory Lapse,” Last Supper, April 30]. Pok Pok
serves Thai food, Ping serves authentic Southeast Asian dishes.
Portland is a town that seems to have just discovered good food, where
over night everyone has become a “foodie” (a term that, FYI, died years
ago in the rest of the world, thank god) and developed the most refined
of palates. Based on the ad nauseam blogs and the above review, this
town has a loooong way to go when it comes to understanding and
appreciating good food.
joycejay on portlandmercury.com
FOR YOUR OWN BENEFIT
HI—I just read the listing for the Atole Tour Benefit at
Backspace on Thursday, April 30, and was left wondering; was the
previously neutral word “benefit” recently reassigned exclusively to
matters of human rights [Up & Coming, April 30]? When an event is
set up to generate funds for a specific purpose, that’s called a
benefit, and the word exists as a way to describe it. Some bands have
big record labels or other sponsorship to assist them in going on tour,
and some musicians are independently wealthy. The rest rely on the
support of their community and I think you should know that there is no
shame in that.
-Carls
ADVOCATING EXPLOSIONS SINCE 2000
Just curious, Erik [Henriksen]—do you usually like these kinds
of movies, summer blockbusters [“Exhausted,” Film, April 30]? Or are
you an art-house douchebag who wouldn’t enjoy sitting through anything
that doesn’t involve subtitles, split screens, or tortured emotional
bullshit? Because movies like Wolverine aren’t about telling
complicated stories, or overthinking every camera angle—they’re
about explosions, loud noises, and bright colors. I’m looking forward
to this movie and I’ll be enjoying their weak, clichéd
storylines while you can suffer through some well-written and
depressing drama about real life down at the Cinema 21.
jbruner97 on portlandmercury.com
THE PERSONAL OPINIONATOR
Erik, I found your review, or more likely personal opinion, of
Wolverine offensive [“Exhausted,” Film, April 30]. What, may I
ask, do you expect from a comic book blockbuster? Depth, intellect,
tragedy? Please, it’s a comic book adventure for God’s sake!!!! I’m a
58-year-old woman who can see a movie like Wolverine for exactly
what it is and frankly, I loved it. I could have spent another two
hours lost in fantasy with Hugh Jackman’s biceps. Obviously this isn’t
your genre so leave the comic book/blockbuster reviews for someone who
gets it!!!!
-gmason on portlandmercury.com
MORE NIPPLE STORIES, PLEASE
DEAR MERCURY—This week’s Mercury cover [April
30] is the best ever—a half-naked woman, on a horse, with a
rifle. With excitement and a desire to learn more about this goddess of
a dreamy western era gone past, I turned to pg. 11 and what do I find?
A crappy story about “storytelling” [“The Subtle Art of Shooting the
Shit, Feature]. No offense to the Word to your Mother event but it just
cannot compete with exposed nipples. Next time please back up totally
awesome covers with something totally awesome, like an actual story
about half-naked women with exposed nipples and rifles, riding
horses. Thank you.
-JJB
BE CAREFUL what you wish for, JJB. You win the letter of the week,
two tickets to the Laurelhurst Theater, and lunch at No Fish! Go Fish!
over which you can tell your own tales of nipple exposure and
firearms.
In response to jbruner97 and gmason, and in defense of Erik Henriksen for “Exhausted”. C’mon people. I was one of the few to have seen Origins before this review, and I honestly felt it captured all of my problems with the movie. Despite what you believe comic book action adventure stories should be limited to, they still have the opportunity to break the mold and surprise. Eriks review was accurate, the movie was a total mess.
With direction and execution being a few of the primary factors to the success of a film, and also an adaptation, Origins fell short. It’s the reason that Prisoner of Azkaban stands out for Potter, or Xmen 2 stands out, or Batman Begins and The Dark Knight were a success to a tired series.
Your acceptance and expectation only serves to encourage more of this crap.