If you want to go to the movies and watch a double feature so insanely polar opposite from each other that it factory resets your brain, then look no further than the mind-melting combination of “The Naked Gun” and “Together.” One is a gruesome, body-horror deconstruction of toxic relationships and codependency and the other is […]
Film
Posted inFilm
Marvel Goes Retro
Fantastic Four looks to the future
I don’t know if I’ve ever admitted this to myself, but sometimes I think I was born into the wrong time. Don’t get it twisted: being there for the birth of the internet, social media, AI, virtual reality and all kinds of other tech breakthroughs has been cool, but as a child of the ’80s, I […]
Posted inCulture
Marvel Goes Retro
The Fantastic Four looks to the future
I don’t know if I’ve ever admitted this to myself, but sometimes I think I was born into the wrong time. Don’t get it twisted: being there for the birth of the internet, social media, AI, virtual reality and all kinds of other tech breakthroughs has been cool, but as a child of the ’80s, I […]
Posted inCulture
Something Witchy This Way Comes
Colten Tyler Williams and Jesse Locke create a sensory experiencewith Witch Eyes
For Bend locals, certain names have been a part of the arts and culture scene for so long that it’s hard to imagine the evolution of the scene without them. Jesse Locke has been directing, shooting and editing features, documentaries and music videos as long as there has been a burgeoning film community here and […]
Posted inCulture
2020 Vision
Ari Aster goes west with Eddington
Ari Aster’s new film, “Eddington,” is a lot of things. It’s a period piece set in May 2020, right as the COVID lockdown and mask mandates were being implemented. It’s a Neo-noir revisionist western hung across the backdrop of a dying town in New Mexico (Noir Mexico?). It’s a doomscroll into the heart of America. […]
Posted inCulture
Human of Steel
Superman leaps over trolls in a single bound
I‘m tired of having to point this out about movies, television shows and daily life, so I think this is the last time I’m ever going to broach this topic and I’m going to do so in a way I hope isn’t too terribly offensive: If you think the new “Superman” movie is “woke” then […]
Posted inCulture
America Sings the Blues
A look at the best and worst of the year…so far
Well, we’re already halfway through the year, which has somehow felt like it’s lasted somewhere between two weeks and five hundred thousand years. I suppose this is as good a time as any to do a brief check-in of the best and worst movies and shows of 2025…so far. Even though some of these will […]
Posted inCulture
Formulaic One
"F1" stays in its lane
There’s nothing really that wrong with “F1,” the new film from Joseph Kosinski, the mastermind behind “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Tron: Legacy” and a few other films without colons. As someone with less than zero interest in Formula One racing, I found myself invested in the story, while still wishing the film would paint outside the […]
Posted inCulture
The Extinction of Awe
“Jurassic World: Rebirth” fails to evolve
I don’t think this is much of a hot take, but here we go anyway: the only good Jurassic movies are the first two, the ones directed by Spielberg. I get that “Jurassic Park III,” “Jurassic World,” “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” and “Jurassic World: Dominion” have their fans and I’m sure that if you were a […]
Posted inCulture
Dragons, Dancing and the Depth of Love
June at the Movies
This week in theaters, we have a wide variety of new releases for just about every discerning cinema-goer. A new romantic drama, “The Materialists,” focuses on a complicated love triangle between Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal. Then there is another live-action remake of a beloved animated film (but this time someone other than […]