Film

Depending on what you think of the “Alien” franchise, the following statement will either sound like a huge compliment or damning with faint praise: “Alien: Romulus” is the third best film of the franchise by a hair. Set between 1979’s seminal sci-fi/horror masterpiece “Alien” and James Cameron’s 1986 action extravaganza “Aliens,” director Fede Álvarez has […]

As someone who has spent a majority of their life writing, acting, rehearsing and basically doing anything and everything they can to make it into the motion picture industry, I can’t bring myself to be cynical about movies, even while knowing there’s lots of cynicism to spread around. While it’s easier now to make a […]

Kevin Costner is now and will always be an icon. Even with what could somewhat of a limited range as an actor, he’s always managed to instill the characters he has played with varying levels of flawed humanity and a certain unquantifiable vibe of old-fashioned movie star charisma, mixed with a ’50s-style drip of cowboy […]

I don’t think I’m as much of a film snob as I’m supposed to be. Don’t get me wrong, I love a complicated and mind-bending independent film that melts my brain and inspires me to write 1,000 words on the cinematic language of the New Hollywood movement, but I equally love a good disaster movie or […]

I understand and, to a lesser extent, accept, that Nicolas Cage isn’t for everyone. He goes so big that it’s sometimes hard to know whether he’s acting or just becoming the character, transcending this planet we call Earth and becoming a being of pure mega-acting. As a performer, his talent is questioned by everyone from my […]

We’re at that time of year where the number of movies being released outweighs the number of hours in the day in which to watch them. This past weekend I hit up a few different local theaters to try to catch up with some of the titles I’ve been missing, with decidedly mixed results. Was […]

I have been remiss in my duties as your Friendly Neighborhood Cultural Writer. With the weather so lovely over the last week and my deep and abiding love of walking around Bend and listening to early aughts hip-hop music, I haven’t been dedicating enough time to podcasts and streaming services lately. Luckily, I binged just enough […]

Hollywood has this habit now that rarely pays off. Some young/new/hungry filmmaker makes a gorgeous independent feature or two on a small to medium budget, Hollywood notices and hires them to make a $100-million blockbuster that, more likely than not, tamps down their directorial style and attaches their sensibilities to filmmaking-by-committee, thus losing whatever spark […]