I had an epiphany while watching “Project Hail Mary.” Ryan Gosling could have played Marty in “Marty Supreme,” but Timothée Chalamet could never have played Ryland Grace in “Project Hail Mary.” There’s an effortless charisma to what Gosling does here that feels like a future Best Actor nomination, without question. It’s a movie star performance […]
Jared Rasic
Film critic and author of food, arts and culture stories for the Source Weekly since 2010.
One Battle, Sinners, and So Much More
In what felt like one of the most hotly contested Oscar races in recent memory, I found myself excited for the 98th Annual Academy Awards more than I had any right to be. Don’t get me wrong, the ceremony itself was overlong and filled with awkward moments, cringey speeches and performative humanitarianism, but the films […]
Animal Avatars
What do you need from an animated film that’s aimed primarily at children? Is it just something for you to throw on in front of the kiddos for a few hours while you get something else done? Do you want the film to teach vital lessons to your kids while sparking nostalgia for your own […]
Sahasi Chori (Brave Girl) Puts a Human Face on Trafficking
For the last few years, I’ve been the lead shorts programmer for the Bend Film Festival, which has involved me watching hundreds and hundreds of short films over several months of submissions. One thing I’ve learned in that time is that it’s easy to tell when you’re watching a terrible one, but when you discover […]
50 Shades of Jacob
Ever since the first trailer for Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” was released, I’ve been obsessed with finding out why they’re selling the film with the quotation marks around the title. No one does that. Five minutes into the film, I figured out why. This isn’t Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights; this is very much Emerald Fennell’s […]
The Luck of the Bendite
Every once in a while, a food truck comes out of nowhere with a concept so pristine and perfect that it immediately feels like it has always been part of a town’s culinary landscape. Places that open with such effortless attention to detail and handmade craft that the diner realizes they were missing something they […]
Off The Radar
We’re still smack dab in the middle of that time of year when most of what’s getting released doesn’t have much cultural cachet (or a massive marketing budget) and so gets quietly released around the end of January or the top half of February…just somewhere in the first quarter of the year. I still spent […]
The Politics of Insanity
For like five minutes, I thought it would be a funny idea to start this review pretending like I was doing a deep dive into the new “Melania” documentary, but then I had the (quite obvious) epiphany that giving money, publicity, or my words to propaganda directed by a hack filmmaker photographed cuddling women next […]
15 Insanely Romantic Movies to Watch with Your Partner
I’m not sure if any two people find the same things romantic, but there are still movies and moments I think are absolutely undeniable. After a cozy night in or a decadent night out, here are a few romantic-as-all-hell movies that will play as the perfect nightcap to your special day. 1: “Phantom Thread” (2017): […]
A Single Sort of Valentine
Dating is a special kind of hell in Central Oregon. The town is quite small and a good majority of the people are very sporty, active and outdoorsy. I mean, I like a hike as much as anyone else, but I guarantee you, the first time I snowboard or ski is the last time I […]

