Remember in “Lethal Weapon” how Mel Gibson would bet his co-workers he could get himself out of a straitjacket with no help? So then he would dislocate his shoulder and get out of the straitjacket, but then have to put the shoulder back into place by banging it into a filing cabinet or something? It’s […]
Jared Rasic
Film critic and author of food, arts and culture stories for the Source Weekly since 2010.
Posted inCulture
A Neo-Noir Comedy Thriller?
Be confounded by "The Kid Detective"
If you held a gun to my head and made me pick a favorite genre of movie, I’d say horror, but if I got to pick another one, I’d say the genre of Lowered Expectations. The best example I can give is “The Royal Tenenbaums,” where everyone is talented and brilliant in their own ways […]
Posted inCulture
Women in Film
Celebrating BendFilm’s new voices
BendFilm is filled with brilliant women. Throughout the tenure of the organization there have been several amazing women with the festival, but recently Executive Director Todd Looby has made it a priority to focus on showing movies by women and BIPOC and staffing BendFilm with new and diverse women. This being Women’s History Month, I […]
Posted inCulture
May the Source Be With You
Your March edition of what to stream and what to listen to this month
Has everyone had a beautiful month? I know many more people are tentatively venturing back out into the world, so I have a feeling that this month most of us have maybe watched fewer movies and shows than we have in the last, say, year and change. Not me, though. I’m such a dedicated and […]
Posted inCulture
New Streams in the Ether
Paramount Plus pushes nostalgia over quality
There are so many different streaming services that it’s kind of stupid. Between the subscriptions I pay for and the ones I have borrowed from others, I have Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBOMax, Disney+, AMC+, WWE Network, Hoopla, Kanopy, Shudder, IFC Films Unlimited, Peacock, Sundance Now and Hulu. Hell, I even had Quibi back when it […]
Posted inCulture
The Stories We Don’t Hear
Indie Womxn Film Festival launches, virtually
There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t realize my privilege being a cis white male writing about movies in an industry where most of the executives and filmmakers look like me—and even more of the critics look like me. My voice is not a marginalized one. So whenever there’s an event focused […]
Posted inCulture
The Lonesome, Crowded West
McDormand and Zhao take us to "Nomadland"
There’s so much Oscar hype surrounding Chloé Zhao and Frances McDormand’s new film “Nomadland” that I’m curious whether the film’s quiet and contemplative simplicity will wow audiences trained to think hyperbolic over-reliance on big emotion is what makes modern movies “dramatic.” “Nomadland” is the antithesis of movies like “Green Book” and “Crash,” which seem offended […]
Posted inCulture
May the Source Be With You
February Edition
How is February shaping up for everyone? Have things slowly started feeling like they’re getting back to normal? I still mostly work from home, mostly just talk to my cat on a lot of days and still watch a lot of movies and listen to way too many podcasts. Wow. That should be my dating […]
Posted inCulture
Immigrant Song
“Minari” makes the personal universal
I’ve said it a thousand times in these pages over the years, but the most important thing that cinema can do for the world is create empathy—not just for different cultures and religions and people, but for ourselves and the struggles we think we’re fighting in the dark.
Posted inCulture
No Rabbits. No Hates. Just Magic.
Identity exists in and of itself in this moving live show
A friend recommended I watch some weird-ass little movie on Hulu called “In and Of Itself” and now I can’t think about anything else.
