Guillermo del Toro loves his monsters. He’s built an Oscar-winning and critically lauded career on telling stories about the darkness at the center of the world and the creatures born from it. Because there’s no one that del Toro empathizes with more than the underdog, the misunderstood beast at the end of the book that […]
Jared Rasic
Film critic and author of food, arts and culture stories for the Source Weekly since 2010.
Posted inFilm
The Thanksgiving Canon
What movies are you thankful for?
I don’t think Thanksgiving movies get the credit they deserve. We get a ton of Christmas, Halloween, and holiday movies canonized as classics and added to the yearly rotation, but Thanksgiving has always remained the day when people slowly food-coma themselves into oblivion in front of football or a parade. Still, I think it’s time to spotlight a few pretty great Thanksgiving […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Waffles, Security and Love
The Secret Waffle Society makes sure no one goes hungry
Every once in a while, you meet someone so genuinely decent that you immediately want to support whatever it is they’re doing. Within just a few minutes of meeting Zeus at the Secret Waffle Society on the corner of Greenwood and Bond in Downtown Bend, I knew that his dream was one worth supporting. Quick […]
Posted inFilm
From Andromeda With Love
Yorgos Lanthimos makes it weird with Bugonia
If you’re a hopeless film fan like myself, then you more than likely feel some kind of way about the films of Greek auteur Yorgos Lanthimos. Whether you’re a fan of his darker, edgier earlier work like “Dogtooth” and “Alps,” or of his more whimsical and experimental later films like “The Lobster” and “The Favourite,” […]
Posted inFilm
Rich Man/Rich Man
“Good Fortune” is in bad faith
I think Aziz Ansari meant well when he sat down to write ”Good Fortune” and really thought he was trying to unpack the unfairness of the gig worker system in America, and how easy it is to make one or two small mistakes and end up homeless and destitute. While “Good Fortune” has some solid […]
Posted inFilm
It’s a Block(buster) Party
Blockbuster hits middle age
I think Bendites and Central Oregonians take for granted that they live alongside the Last Blockbuster on Planet Earth. While there are still several incredible and iconic video stores across the West Coast (the dreamy “Movie Madness” in PDX and the deeply quirky and cavernous “Scarecrow Video” in Seattle are two of my favorites), our Blockbuster is a genuine Mom and […]
Posted inChow
A Diversity of Flavor
The Crown Curry instantly impresses
The first thing I noticed about The Crown Curry upon entering is the unpretentious warmth of the vibe. More than the dearly departed Nome Italiano or Balthazar’s before that, The Crown Curry has a casual peacefulness that I appreciated. It doesn’t feel stuffy inside; instead, it asks that you take a load off and relax […]
Posted inFilm
Score One For Ross and Reznor
Nine Inch Nails save Tron: Ares
The “Tron” franchise is an interesting one. The original from 1982 is groundbreaking in terms of filmmaking and special effects, but it didn’t perform well critically or financially. At the time, Disney had to write off most of the budget, and the film was seen as a failure (except by Roger Ebert!). Over the next […]
Posted inMovies
Revolution and Other Lovers
“One Battle After Another” is an instant classic
Let me get the hype out of the way right from the jump so it doesn’t seem like I’m hyperbolically gushing over this movie for too many paragraphs in a row: “One Battle After Another” isn’t simply just an instant classic (which it is). Neither is it just another great Paul Thomas Anderson movie in […]
Posted inFilm
The Best Fest in the Northwest
A quick peek at BendFilm 2025
To try and describe the exact vibe of the Bend Film Festival is nearly impossible because no two have ever been the same…and I should know because I’ve seen at least one movie at every fest since the first one in 2003. That year, I sat in a frigid Midtown Ballroom and watched a midnight […]
