Suburban neo-noir doesn’t sound like a legit film genre, but picture how scary some of those perfectly manicured shadows can be. Beautiful upper/middle class homes with space-age kitchens, fully stocked pantries and floor-to-ceiling glass windows might not seem that mysterious or frightening, but when every corner hides another layer of lies, the suburban setting adds […]
Film
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May the Source Be With You
Improv, movie theater butter and the beauty of Gravity Falls
I know, it’s felt like a long time since the last column, but I’ve spent my time wisely, soaking up every single bit of pop culture I could so I can share with you a few of my favorite things. I spent so much time listening to podcasts that I’m pretty sure my inner ear hates […]
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Nun-Sense
The Conjuring universe gets some bad habits
Why is the idea of a cinematic shared universe so difficult for studios to reproduce? Sure, Marvel has nailed it, proving to other studios how and why it can be done, but the DC Comics Universe featuring “Justice League” and “Suicide Squad” and Universal’s “Dark Universe” with Tom Cruise’s “The Mummy” have failed miserably. Aside […]
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Gluttons for Cinema
BendFilm announces a stellar 15th fest
As someone who’s been involved with BendFilm since its inaugural year, I’m definitely not the person to look to for a completely unbiased look at the festival. There have been films I’ve acted in, written and screened at the fest, and I’ve met some of my cinematic heroes smoking cigarettes in Tin Pan Alley. All […]
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Lost and Found
“Searching” looks for new ways to tell a story
David Kim’s 16-year-old daughter Margot is missing. She’s a good student who takes piano lessons, helps her classmates study and has a seemingly open relationship with her father, who’s still reeling from the death of his wife. David doesn’t talk to Margot about her departed mother; instead filling their time chatting about the latest episode […]
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Streaming Killed the Video Star
A new doc muses over “The Last Blockbuster”
Bend is famous for so many different and random things; not just our majestic lakes, snow-capped mountains or miles of trails, and not even limited to our beer, coffee and…a lot more beer. We’re now newly famous for having the last Blockbuster Video in the country, nay, the entire world! Something you could find three […]
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Flight of the Butterfly
The new remake of Papillon offers little
We know Hollywood is basically bankrupt when it comes to genuinely original ideas and telling a story that hasn’t already proven to turn a profit…even a minor one. Every year critics and audiences alike complain about the staggering number of remakes, reboots, sequels, re-imaginings, rebootquels and se-boots. But here they are anyway. Entertain us. I’ll […]
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Re-Birth of a Nation
Spike Lee throws down against the Klan
There are few filmmakers with such a mastery of tone, structure and storytelling as Spike Lee. His visual style and technical adventurousness are his hallmarks—but he never lets that style overwhelm the story he’s telling, even when he goes full bananas in films such as “Da Sweet Blood of Jesus” and “Chi-Raq.” Since Lee came […]
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Miles to Go
Wahlberg is still set on being a true American hero
I think most can agree that Mark Wahlberg is a dick. Ignoring his apparently bottomless need to recreate American tragedies, he’s obviously the guy who kicked sand in your face at the beach. This is a man who told Men’s Journal in 2012 that he probably could have stopped one of the 9/11 planes from hitting […]
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May the Source Be With You
Public humiliation, ’50s housewives and countless riddlesIn Pod We Trust:Bingeworthy:
Here we are, living though another sweltering hot week while we wait for the sweet release of air conditioning to take us away on its centrally cooled wings. With MoviePass changing its service from unlimited movies to only three movies a month, it’s financially understandable to be a little discriminating when it comes to theatrical […]