For last month’s May the Source Be With You column, I gave you some ways to become less overwhelmed by the sheer staggering number of podcasts and tips to cut through the noise and find the ones you actually want to enjoy. It’s even harder when trying to parse what to watch on streaming services, […]
Film
Oldboy, Parasite, Burning and So Much More
Last weekend, Tin Pan Theater opened the 20th Anniversary, 4K remaster of “Oldboy,” the movie that got me irrevocably obsessed with the cinema of South Korea. To this day, “Oldboy” remains one of the finest revenge thrillers of all time. Neon rereleasing it in 2023 is brilliant, as it’s the perfect time for modern audiences […]
The Cold-One Canon
If you’re reading this, then you probably know that Bend is basically Beertown, USA. Between Deschutes, Bend Brewing Company, Silver Moon, McMenamins, 10 Barrel, Boneyard, GoodLife, Ale Apothecary, Crux, Worthy, Oblivion, Bridge 99, RiverBend, Monkless, Craft, Kobold, Immersion, Spider City, Bevel, Boss Rambler, Van Henion (and other Central Oregon favorites like Cascade Lakes, Sunriver Brewing, […]
Extraterrestrial Ideas
This weekend I went to two movies that on the surface are both about aliens, but honestly could not have been more different. One is a blockbuster DC Comics movie, while the other is an absurdest arthouse genre bender, yet both are attempting to do different things with a genre that has been pretty stagnant […]
Dracula and Other Monsters
I went to the movies this weekend specifically to watch and review, “The Last Voyage of the Demeter,” a new vampire flick based on “The Captain’s Log” chapter from Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.” The film is solid, if unremarkable, with a few good scares and a pretty disturbing design for Dracula himself, but there isn’t much more […]
Too Many Brain Cells, Not Enough Time
I try not to describe movies along the lines of, “super fun if you just shut off your brain.” Sure, there are movies that exist solely to entertain without creating an internal dialogue about humanity or getting people to face their own mortality, but no film should treat its audience like they’re stupid. There’s something deeply […]
May the Source Be With You: August Edition
Cool, so what you’re telling me is that summer is half over, the SAG/AFTRA/WGA strike is still (rightly) going strong and that most of the movies set to release across the rest of this year are getting moved to next year, so pretty soon theaters might not have any new movies to show? Wow. I […]
No Matter Who Wins, So Do We
The battle for supremacy between “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” has finally begun and, while there is a clear winner, it’s not really what you might think. As of this writing, “Barbie” has made $337 million worldwide ($155 million domestic) and “Oppenheimer” has pulled in $174 million globally (and $80.5 million domestically). Those numbers are huge, regardless […]
Improbable Missions, Impossible Lives
No other actor alive cares more about saving and protecting the theatrical experience more than Tom Cruise. We used to have dozens of movie stars: actors that would put butts in seats just due to their presence in a film, regardless of the quality or content. Back in the day it was Jimmy Stewart and […]
Three Reviews for the Price of One
After the crushing disappointment I felt last week after watching the new Indiana Jones, I needed to scale back a little and watch some films that weren’t so deeply connected to my childhood. I went to four movies in the theater this weekend (one of which I won’t write about because I don’t need the […]

