This is the time of year where I start watching Christmas movies with a gleeful and reckless abandon… quality be damned. It doesn’t really matter if it’s good or not because ultimately most of those Hallmark movies (or the new Netflix breed) have the exact same structure and arc with only a few mild variations. […]
Jared Rasic
Film critic and author of food, arts and culture stories for the Source Weekly since 2010.
Posted inCulture
Are We That Entertained?
Gladiator II brings the bread and circuses
“Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions — everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses.” —Juvenal (100-200 A.D.) There’s a meta […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Community as Comfort
Under new ownership, Jackson’s Corner elevates Bend all over again
If you’ve lived in Bend for any number of years, there are a few things that remain true no matter how much changes: 1) people forget how to cold-weather drive after the first snowfall, 2) Pilot Butte is going to catch fire on July 4th and 3) Anna and Chris Hall genuinely care about this […]
Posted inCulture
What’s the Early Buzz
“Anora,” “Bird” and “We Live in Time” for your consideration
Look, I went into this weekend fully intending to go see “Red One,” that new movie where The Rock, Chris Evans and a polar bear have to rescue a kidnapped (and completely jacked) Santa Claus, but then I realized that, ultimately, that movie is probably as critic proof as it possibly gets. You don’t need […]
Posted inCulture
Robots, Smiles, Heretics and Last Dances
A November theatrical roundup
This weekend I caught four movies in a row at the theater and now my entire brain feels funny. Here’s what I saw: The Wild Robot: At the bookstore I work at, we’re constantly selling copies of the 2016 novel by Peter Brown to kids so excited to read it that they’re bursting to get […]
Posted inCulture
May the Source Be With You: November Edition
Fighting SAD with cozy vibes
For one such as me, who doesn’t partake in any winter activities other than drinking hot toddies and making the occasional snow angel, I mostly spend the cold months binging podcasts, movies and shows I missed in the summer. I know, I’m boring as hell, but ending up headfirst in a tree well is a […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Bend, By Way of Belgium
Monkless Brasserie is a singular experience
I feel like I’m always sleeping on Monkless. From the panoramic view to the consistently fantastic beer and the deep bench of flavors on a food menu filled with dishes that are rare to find in Bend, Monkless has always followed its own muse, still innovating at a time when a lot of breweries are content […]
Posted inCulture
Creepshows
Ten underrated horror flicks for the spooky season
A majority of the movies that get made are horror movies for two main reasons: 1) With some imagination and a solid team you can make one on a very limited budget and 2) There’s such a large built-in fanbase starving for new horror that even hot garbage usually makes a little money. They’re the safest […]
Posted inCulture
No Matter Where You Go
Saoirse Ronan stuns in “The Outrun”
I think most of us know the feeling of either loving an alcoholic or being one. I’ve been in a relationship with someone struggling with alcoholism and will never forget the gut-churning fear of watching the person that put fire to my blood, subtly shift into an unrecognizable other that made being in public a nerve-wracking […]
Posted inCulture
The Joke’s On Us
"Joker: Folie à Deux" is a half-formed idea in search of a movie
Look, from the jump I’m going to say that “Joker: Folie à Deux” is both a little better than most people say, while somehow being worse in a lot of ways I wasn’t prepared for. But, and this might be a hot take, so I guess you can take my opinion with a bucket of […]