I reviewed One Battle After Another for the @portlandmercury.com, a movie that is very much about American political violence and what it feels like to take care of anyone you love anymore

Waking up to the smell of fire and the sounds of explosions in war ravaged Portland to report that I have updated my Best Movies of 2025 list:

Reporting from “war ravaged” “crime-ridden” Portland, Oregon.

all this is going to do is make me and all of us more rabidly portland partisan. sorry i know it's annoying we'll tone it down when the feds leave. but in the meantime PORTLAND FUCKING OREGON

#LastFourWatched All bangers this week

I’m adding to the praise of PTA’s latest.

"You're right, these Mercury stories are AMAZING! Oh, and can we go kill squirrels after this?" Catch up on the best Mercury stories of the week with our SUNDAY READING LIST! 🗞️☕

The man can fuckin whistle

Always love a chance to prove that I don’t NEED to overwrite everything. Anyway, very appreciative to Suzette for asking me to put this short Fall preview together, had a lot of fun writing it.

THROUGH THE DARKNESS OF FUTURE PAST THE MAGICIAN LONGS TO SEE ONE CHANCE OUT BETWEEN TWO WORLDS

Charlie Kirk is a means to an end: defector.com/charlie-kirk...

having seen megalopolis and knowing what does and doesn't work in the movie, Aubrey Plaza is actually one hundred percent in the right here

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

That’s right: I wrote more about Megalopolis. That is, I reviewed Mike Figgis’s MEGADOC for @portlandmercury.com, opening in Portland tomorrow night at the Fox Theater: www.portlandmercury.com/movies-and-t...

Following a recent trip to Israel and the West Bank, Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley says the US and its allies have a moral obligation to stop providing military aid for the war in Gaza.

Find @portlandmercury.com's Fall Arts Issue on stands now! Or hit up the web version for: • a Q&A with the podcasters Normal Gossip • nine Portland dishes that are little works of art • eleven films to argue about in this fall • an end to PAM's construction • wholesome mall zinsters • AND MORE

for the @portlandmercury.com Fall Arts Issue, I previewed 11 movies in under 500 words: www.portlandmercury.com/fall-arts-20...

Specifically this: youtu.be/Dst4ImIY4BY?... Malkmus starts off Unfair by saying "This next song is for the authorities" and then immediately fucks up the first line and goes "Oh well."

Here it is, the newest piece in our memorabilia collection. Straight out of John Carpenter’s classic BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, the brilliant neon sign from Egg Shen’s restaurant and the base of operations. Come on in and check it out now!

Trying to request “Sledgehammer” while very drunk

Good morning: new and updated post at the Werner Herzblog is now live for FAMILY ROMANCE, LLC, about Herzog's potential fixation with the inner lives of marine animals, his confidence in the film's ability to inspire awe, and about taking everything too personally

New post at the WERNER HERZBLOG: on 2019's FAMILY ROMANCE, LLC, the many times Herzog has wondered about the dreams of marine life, and what it's like to take everything personally wernerherzblog.substack.com/p/family-rom...

We used a Teams channel precisely because we knew it was under public records law. The reason why this story exists is because public records law ensures accountability. What it doesn’t require — and shouldn’t — is that every conversation between councilors be livestreamed to everyone.

A somewhat surprising but very satisfying end to a great project over at the A.V. Club. Nothing but appreciation to @jacoboller.bsky.social for including me in the initial rounds (giving me my first byline at the storied institution) and allowing me to write alongside @brndnstrssng.bsky.social.

The A.V. Club started this week with 32 action franchises, ranging from blockbusters (Mission: Impossible, James Bond) to DTV (Undisputed, Universal Soldier). Thousands of words have been written to find the best of the bunch over the course of our bracket www.avclub.com/best-action-...

Happy birthday, Werner Herzog. Watching a Herzog film will make you feel like a coward—for not capturing and being enamored with the world before it degrades and is gone. For not stealing these images back. Gonna spend the rest of my life trying to come to terms with what his work means to me.

The A.V. Club's 32-entry Action Franchise Bracket enters the Sweet 16 today, and things are already getting spicy www.avclub.com/best-action-...

featuring: - Rush Hour vs. In The Line Of Duty courtesy of @brndnstrssng.bsky.social - Once Upon A Time In China vs. Bad Boys via @sinacolad.bsky.social - lots of others, from me!

Blessed to be a small part of film criticism history:

Happy to announce the Portland premiere of EVIL PUDDLE, the latest from Matt Farley and Charlie Roxburgh, at the @cstpdx.bsky.social on Saturday October 19—tix available now!

Very excited to launch this big ol' tournament, which I've been working on for a while and will feature folks like @brndnstrssng.bsky.social and @sinacolad.bsky.social. Stay tuned for daily features breaking down some killer series!

Trailer of "Boys Go to Jupiter", the first indie animated feature directed (& self-financed) by Julian Glander. Limited US theatrical release from August 8 via Cartuna & Irony Point. Full video >> www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGeb...

The new Matt Farley and Charlie Roxburgh movie, EVIL PUDDLE, is coming to Portland in October. Details coming soon...

i hate this smug liar so much

It doesn't get more moving than @mrmichaelphillips.bsky.social's farewell letter. If you read nothing else today, at least read this.

Last week I lost my job at a large A/E/C firm because my role, managing a team of technical writers, was eliminated. The writers under me still have their jobs for now, thankfully, but they are being managed by people who, to put it lightly, cannot write, edit, nor train writers competently. (🧵?)

I will save the spiel about the importance of criticism to the vitality of the art form and society itself, and just say: We will, ultimately, have the world we pay to have, so if the writing means something to you, find a way to support it

I published two pieces in the Mercury this week, and you can read both via the link below. Also check out @corbinsmith.bsky.social’s trip to the rage room in St John’s. It will make you maybe want to listen to that one Limp Bizkit song.

Do you have "feelings" which can only be exorcized by SMASHING things? If so, photo essayist Corbin Smith has the RAGE ROOM for you!

Many cool things on the blog today; don’t overlook @sinacolad.bsky.social writing about “hoping to see a man’s [redacted] maimed by a [redacted]. That is the catharsis I deserve.”

about this stuff and say, "Oh well, no one reads anymore" but the larger pattern of it is really soul killing. Look, I don't care personally if anyone reads or doesn't read my precious prose, but don't we all want people to read SOMETHING, to really care enough to want to? And that is going, if...

Our @sinacolad.bsky.social on a "singular" evening with Uncle Francis. (For @portlandmercury.com.)

Good morning: for the @portlandmercury.com, I wrote about seeing MEGALOPOLIS a second time, but this time with Francis Ford Coppola in the same theater

For the late night crowd: my extended evening with Uncle Francis on the final night of his Megalopolis tour/“interactive discussion”

ok I want to read 100 more of these

Good morning from Kona

Francis Ford Coppola following a screening of Megalopolis

No, Kevin, nooo! A six-shooter isn't enough!!!