Writer/Director Dan Cohen and Producer Howard Schor have created an interesting hybrid of a movie: a thriller shot entirely in Bend and Prineville and featuring a murderer’s row of local talent, but starring two Hollywood actors in the central roles. It’s surreal to see friends I’ve watched for years (or even shared the stage with) […]
Jared Rasic
Film critic and author of food, arts and culture stories for the Source Weekly since 2010.
Posted inCulture
Cut to the Quick
“Knives Out” skewers the 1%
“Knives Out” is being marketed as a post-modern deconstruction of the whodunit genre—complete with a genius detective, a stacked cast of great actors and a plot so full of twists you might get whiplash from all the head shaking. Writer/Director Rian Johnson is such a cinephile that he’s incapable of making something that doesn’t at […]
Posted inCulture
Ice Ice Lady
“Frozen 2” doesn’t quite recapture the magic
I don’t have kids, so my relationship to the original “Frozen” is probably different than the one parents have with the 2013 Disney blockbuster. I didn’t have to watch it a thousand times or hear “Let it Go” sung by well-meaning children until my ears screamed with the fury of a thousand better Disney songs. I […]
Posted inCulture
The Sound and the Führer
“Jojo Rabbit” is unforgettable
Almost every time I get hyped up for a movie, I walk out disappointed—especially if the hype gets to me months before a movie comes out. I have all that time to marinate in my expectations, and I always imagine something much grander than what I get. When I heard that Taika Waititi, the beautiful […]
Posted inCulture
Seoul Survivor
“Parasite” Will Stick with You
I think this might be a little bit of a hot take, but the U.S. doesn’t make the best movies. Sure, we make the biggest and flashiest ones and we’ve got some pretty astounding filmmakers, but no other country on Earth comes close to making films of the power, complexity and sheer entertainment value as South […]
Posted inCulture
Shine On You Crazy Diamond
“Doctor Sleep” has ties to the terrifying “The Shining,” but overlooks being scary
What do you get out of horror movies? The joy of a mild little spook that gets the heart racing and puts a smile on the lips? Or is it a love of something a little heavier, like watching something so disturbing that the world doesn’t look as shiny as it did the day before? […]
Posted inCulture
Neptune’s Folly
“The Lighthouse” illuminates our dark corners
So, if “The Joker” is about a mentally ill man’s descent into madness, then Robert Eggers’ nightmarish “The Lighthouse” is about everyone’s capacity for insanity and violence if society and civilization are just out of reach. This is one of those movies with a deceptively simple premise that touches on themes and ideas so massive […]
Posted inCulture
May the Source Be with You
October edition
Can we just take a moment to be excited that Halloween is around the corner? I realize for the normies it might just be another random holiday stuffed into another random month, but for folks like me—the real weird ones—the entire month is spent searching for something genuinely scary. As someone who’s been a diehard […]
Posted inCulture
A Redmond Cinema Destination
Odem Theater Pub continues to dazzle
I take Redmond for granted. I love how the city has grown and changed since I moved to Central Oregon in 1999, but I still never explore the town as often as I should—which is a shame, since Redmond has one of my favorite breakfast places in Central Oregon (One Street Down Cafe) and now one […]
Posted inCulture
BendFilm Festival: An Itinerary
Ski bums, preachers and beekeepers, oh my
Here are the films you certainly don’t want to miss at the annual Bend Film Festival.
