Sometimes things are broken, and sometimes the only way to fix them is to break them even more.Furious, funny, and smart, Cory Doctorow’s Radicalized is a quick, cracking read, full of the brave ideas and humanistic optimism that have marked Doctorow…

Cory Doctorow’s Radicalized Examines Our Dark Present, and Our Possibly Slightly Less Dark Future

Confession: I don’t like Christmas that much. Maybe it’s because I’ve never been religious. Maybe it’s because social gatherings amp up my anxiety. Or maybe it’s because scientists have repeatedly and definitively proven that Halloween is cooler in…

How Star Trek Ornaments Can Light Up a Dark Year

Saturday mornings used to be a lot weirder.
While Star Trek: Lower Decks explored new territory as Star Trek’s first comedy, it’s actually the second animated Trek series. On Saturday mornings from 1973 to 1974 — years after The Original Series was…

Before Lower Decks, There Was Star Trek: The Animated Series

Spaceships are cool. Photon torpedoes are cool. And aliens are super cool. But as much as Star Trek has always been about those things, it’s also always been about something slightly less cool: politics!
Trek has based much of its drama — and many of…

A Beginner's Guide to Interstellar Politics

“I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical,” wrote Thomas Jefferson in a 1787 letter to James Madison — adding, a few sentences later, that authorities shouldn’t…

Star Trek’s Best Revolutions and Rebellions

The first season of Star Trek: Picard is over. I haven’t left the house in three weeks, except to hastily buy ramen and peanut butter while trying to keep mask-breath from fogging up my glasses. With few new options arriving as we look for comfort…

Our Favorite Moments from Season Two of Star Trek: Discovery

NOTE: This story will be updated as we continue to hear back from Portland-area theaters. If you're unsure if a specific screening or event has been canceled, contact the theater.
On Wednesday March 11, in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19,…

How Portland's Movie Theaters Are Responding to the Coronavirus

While other movies are seeing their releases postponed thanks to coronavirus, the controversial horror-comedy The Hunt—which was already postponed from its September release date—is still opening tonight. Whether or not you venture out to a theater…

The Hunt Review: A Bloody, Pulpy B-Movie with Smarts

Behold, the cocktail—the preferred drink of the rich and the effete alike! And ah, behold the cocktail bar—the cultured and beautifully designed gathering place favored by only the most erudite and rarefied of alcoholics! Like any other beloved place…

A Guide to Correct Cocktail Bar Etiquette for the Boor or Loutish Oaf

Especially when compared to Pixar's best, there's definitely stuff to nitpick in the studio's latest, Onward. Fair? Maybe, but then again, even Pixar movies can have a hard time living up to Pixar movies.
But to focus on Onward's benign, minor…

Onward Review: A Wholly Original, Surprisingly Emotional Adventure

On Saturday, April 11, director John Woo will be at the Hollywood Theatre for a rare 35mm screening of The Killer—the 1989 classic starring Chow Yun-fat and Danny Lee that changed the way action movies are made.
The Hollywood's screening of The…

Legendary Hong Kong Action Director John Woo Is Coming to Portland with The Killer

AMERICA! Our land of dreams and of promise, of sprawling vistas and magnificent inspiration! Also a place where presidential candidates are basically legally required to hawk a bunch of crappy merch that no one needs! Let's take a…

The 2020 Presidential Candidates’ Terrible Campaign Merch: A Journey of Discovery

We have something to discuss.
IS DOM GOING TO MAKE OUT WITH JOHN CENA?
C'mon kiss kiss kiss kiss everyone can tell you want to
OH—WAIT! WAIT... WHAT???!
This entire story is about family and to find out that Dom has a supposed "brother"—a so-called…

The World's Most Important Questions About the Life-Changing Trailer for F9: The Fast Saga

Based on the first three episodes given to critics, Star Trek: Picard is great—anchored by a fantastic performance from Patrick Stewart, the show, overseen by Michael Chabon, ticks off all the sci-fi boxes (spaceships! laser guns! acid-spewing…

The First Episode of Star Trek: Picard Is Streaming for Free

The last time we saw Jean-Luc Picard was in 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis, a not-particularly-great film that ended with the legendary Starfleet captain striding through the corridors of the Enterprise with Irving Berlin’s “Blue Skies” swelling…

Star Trek: Picard Review: On Earth and in the Stars, an Old Captain Finds New Life

We live in dark times. We must find light where we can.
Look above. That is light. That is joy. That is Nicolas Cage, in 2014, at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. That is Nicolas Cage, introducing Guns N' Roses' Hard Rock residency, which…

The Cage Uncaged Film Series: In These Dark Times, Let Us All Cherish Nicolas Cage

As if you didn’t have enough to watch in 2019, 2020 is coming at you even harder with more stuff you’ll be excited to watch, more stuff you’ll feel obligated to watch, and more stuff that everyone you know won’t shut up about until you finally just…

All the Movies and TV We’re Already Excited to Watch in 2020

In 2019, there were far more great music projects than I can count, and an abundance of fantastic movies and TV shows as well, but some of the music compilations and original scores behind these onscreen stories are worthy of some serious…

Here Are the Mercury's Favorite Movie and TV Soundtracks of 2019

The first half of Terrence Malick's A Hidden Life stacks up with some of the best work the legendary filmmaker has ever done—right up there with Badlands, Days of Heaven, The Thin Red Line, and Tree of Life. The second half, though, feels a lot more…

The First Half of Terrence Malick's A Hidden Life Is Great

It’s that time of year: there’s clouds and rain, and now I’ve got “Books of the Decade” lists all over my shoes. But are we really gonna do 2019 like that? No, we are not. We’re doing a 2019 books list like usual: short, spicy, and summing up the…

The Mercury’s Favorite Books of 2019: Cultural Commentary, Environmental Pragmatism, Vegan Cooking, and Graphic Novels

Howard Ratner is an asshole. He’s an asshole to his wife, Dinah (Idina Menzel). He’s an asshole to his girlfriend, Julia (Julia Fox). He’s an asshole to his kids (who he, and we, hardly ever see). He’s an asshole to his employees, including Demany…