I don’t think this is a controversial opinion, but “Mad Max: Fury Road” is one the best action movies of all time and George Miller is still one of the most innovative and fearless filmmakers at 79 years of age. Just look at the breadth of his filmography going back to 1979. 1979: “Mad Max” 1981: […]
Jared Rasic
Film critic and author of food, arts and culture stories for the Source Weekly since 2010.
Posted inFood & Drink
Comfort Evolved
Tradesmen Coffee and Taphouse offers unexpected variety
in the Old Mill
There’s something comforting about Tradesmen Coffee and Taphouse that’s hard to quantify. So many aspects of the space feel like a throwback to a simpler time, yet the actual combination of offerings is decidedly modern and aimed at Bend’s tastes, which shift just as quick as its weather. The menu, the space, the location, the […]
Posted inCulture
Liminal Spaces
‘I Saw the TV Glow’ is full of strange beauty
My job as a writer about film, food and television has never been about pretending I’m some elevated being whose taste is so refined and on point that anything I like should be appreciated by the most people possible. Instead, I try to share what kind of human being I am with you so then […]
Posted inCulture
Monkey Business
A look at 50 years of "Planet of the Apes"
It’s such a nice feeling to be surprised by movies. That’s why I keep my cynicism buried underneath a giant pile of ridiculous and unwarranted optimism; that way every bad movie is a mild disappointment and every good one is delightful. But what usually ends up being a real rarity is when almost an entire […]
Posted inCulture
Blockbuster Season
Summer movies quietly return
OK, so here we are, creeping into another summer movie season and the upcoming deluge of blockbusters and the movies that the studios put the most money into marketing while looking for their next four-quadrant smash like “Barbie” or “Oppenheimer.” If you’d asked me a month ago, I would have bet that the Ryan Gosling/Emily […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Serving Aloha
Aina is back in a new location
If you’ve been a Central Oregon food truck connoisseur for the last few years, you’ll know the name Aina Kauai Style Grill. Owner/chef Ian Vidinha has been making some of the best Hawaiian food found outside of the islands with kindness, craft and a deeply caring Aloha spirit. “I have been cooking since a young […]
Posted inCulture
May the Fourth Be With You
The Original Trilogy comes to Bend…live!
Everyone has a different relationship to the “Star Wars” franchise, and it mostly depends on how old you are. I’m “Return of the Jedi” years old, so that’s the one I watched a thousand times before I discovered that a vocal majority of “Star Wars” fans hated the Ewoks and that “The Empire Strikes Back” […]
Posted inCulture
May the Source Be With You: April Edition
What show has your favorite ending?
We’ve talked about this in the past, but I want to get into it a little bit more: I don’t trust streaming services anymore…especially Netflix and Max. Maybe it’s my OCD, maybe it’s the fact that I’ve been let down too many times before, but it’s getting harder and harder for me to want to […]
Posted inFood & Drink
JIA is Where the Heart Is
Asian street food elevated to the moon
When you find that restaurant combining a comfortable atmosphere with kind service, incredible food and reasonable prices, it’s like you’ve found a unicorn. The Bend restaurant scene is so busy and fluid that a unicorn is more tempting to keep to yourself. I’ve blown up more than one spot writing for this paper over the […]
Posted inCulture
Political Prisoners
Alex Garland’s newest provocation imagines a modern civil war
My grandma turned 99 this year, and whenever she talks about the future she laughs and says she wants to live long enough to see the next election because she’s excited for a civil war. I think there’s a dark anarchy to my grandma that scares the shit out of me, but I also can’t […]