MCAFEE - IMAGE: Mike Grippi
- MCMOVIES: Dueling biopics are in the works for Portland newcomer John McAfee. Canadian production company Impact Future Media, which owns the rights to the life story of the software millionaire wanted for questioning in a Belizean murder case, has partnered with Equinoxe Films to produce a film with a budget of $28 million. The Canadian film is tentatively titled Running in the Background and will chart McAfee’s life from childhood to, hopefully, his first lap dance in Portland. A press release promises the film will “[reveal] unanswered questions and intimate secrets.” Brian Fitzgerald of Impact Future Media tells WW that the screenwriter, director and actors are still being negotiated. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. is adapting a Wired article about McAfee into another feature film, with Sacha Baron Cohen slated for the lead role.
- SUKI, SUKI NOW: Popular Portland State University neighborhood karaoke venue Suki’s Bar and Grill is getting slapped with a lawsuit by the notoriously litigation-happy karaoke production company Slep-Tone, which alleges that Suki’s used pirated copies of that company’s materials. Nine other small Oregon bars are also named in the suit, with total damages of $10 million sought. We’ve got more details here.
- FUTURE EATING: Killer Burger has applied for a full liquor license for its new Southwestern-themed Hatch Restaurant (500 SW 3rd Ave.), at the southern edge of the Old Town bar district. Meanwhile, El Cubo de Cuba announced Jan. 19 that it will follow a long line of food carts into the brick-and-mortar world, with a prime location slated at 3106 SE Hawthorne Blvd., where a Taco Del Mar once stood.
- BYE-BYE BOOM-BAP: Portland’s minors are taking another hit: Boom Bap!, the Southeast Portland makeshift all-ages music venue and art space, is shutting down at the end of the month. The club—which is actually more of a garage—played host to numerous experimental bands, avant-garde visual artists and comedians. Its final announced show is Jan. 25, and will feature sets from moody synth outfit Acre, minimal electro-dance project Apartment Fox and loop artists Cloaks. The Facebook event invitation implores attendees to “bring beer and presents for the boom bap people.”
- HIGH BAR: Where do Portland’s beer bars stack up nationally? Draft magazine’s list of the top 100 came out last week, and Portland has five—Apex, Bailey’s Taproom, Belmont Station, Horse Brass and Saraveza—tying it with San Diego and Los Angeles. Chicago paced the field with seven picks. In related news, has anyone from Draft magazine been to BeerMongers?
