The Miniplex is hosting a very special breed of power trio tonight at 7:30 p.m., a punk and free jazz outfit called mssv, which stands for Main Steam Stop Valve. Mike Watt from outsider punk pioneers the Minutemen joins with guitarist Mike Baggetta and drummer Stephen Hodges, who has beaten the skins for artists like […]
The Miniplex
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Bloody Havoc
HAVOC. The most linear, lowest resistance path to Gareth Evans’ latest is most likely an accidental one. Dropped unceremoniously onto Netflix, where algorithmic manipulation, more than fandom or genuine interest, is intended to steer traffic its way, Havoc would hardly seem positioned for lasting — even fleeting, viral — success. Casual Tom Hardy fans might […]
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Original Sinners
SINNERS. To turn any original movie into a hit these days is a dicey proposition at best, given the fearfulness and uncertainty of the industry (as it once was and perhaps never again shall be), let alone the ambivalence of an audience hamstrung by distractions, paranoia and the omni-present spectre of intellectual property as guiding […]
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Music Tonight: Saturday, April 19
Portland, Oregon-based Native musician and Saddle Creek Records artist Katherine Paul, better known by her stage name Black Belt Eagle Scout, is a marvel of post-rock innovation, blending fuzzy after-grunge sparks with the sounds of her heritage with a result which rises higher than the sum total of its ingredients. I highly recommend this show […]
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The Amateur‘s Lukewarm Revenge
THE AMATEUR. The old adage is that if you set out on a path of revenge, you ought to dig two graves (perhaps a dozen, if you’re Hamlet). The self-destructive aspect is part of our fascination with tales of vengeance, along with the burden of justice. What if, instead of carrying on with the maddening […]
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Death of a Unicorn‘s Satirical Magic
DEATH OF A UNICORN. Magical realism is, pun intended, one of the trickier genres to both execute as a creator and to navigate as observer/reader/audience. Because it relies even more heavily on suspension of disbelief than its really only slightly less fantastical cohort, we in the cheap seats need a cohesive, compelling vision to allow […]
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Leigh’s Soft Touch in Hard Truths
HARD TRUTHS. Loath as I am to contribute to the ongoing erosion of the cinematic theatrical experience, and legitimately intriguing as Ash or Locked or Novocaine may seem — genre exercises, all, with promising hints of 21st century cheek and worldliness — circumstances will intrude. And so, for now, I’ve missed Flying Lotus’ undoubtedly singular […]
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Black Bag Keeps its Secrets
BLACK BAG. Decades ago, I read a story in which a couple was described as having a “daunting conjugal bond.” It has since been the only scale by which my husband and I, mostly joking, measure our relationship. Are we, different though we are, seamlessly united against everyone at this table, in this restaurant? Is […]
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Trouble in Paradise
PARADISE. There are two kinds of people: those who do not see most of the twists and revelations coming in the eight episodes of the Hulu thriller series Paradise, and goddamn liars. A possible subgroup would be those intent on ruining their own unstudied response by focusing on what puzzles writers might come up with, […]
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September 5 Goes Live
SEPTEMBER 5. Being of a certain age and something of a masochist, trigger warnings aren’t really my thing. Times being what they are, though, it only seems appropriate in this case to preface these remarks with the disclaimer that September 5 centers its narrative on one of the more broadly visible events in the ongoing […]
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Music Tonight: Wednesday, March 5
Portland, Oregon’s Rose City Band is a big sound/small stage experience, where founder Ripley Johnson turns the notion of the afternoon backyard jam into a massive landscape of sound, conjuring vast vistas filled with the inscrutable symbols of untamed nature. It’s really gorgeous stuff and a perfect band for a perfect venue like the Miniplex, […]
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The MonkeyGets Weird
THE MONKEY. My close reading of Stephen King — now three quarters of a lifetime ago, was defined by morbid curiosity — a fascination with the seemingly endless, dark wellspring of the author’s imagination. The books were scary, sure, but they were also compelling for their weirdness and perversity and examination of Evil as an […]