Creeper Crawl: Scream Portland

A confused jumble of plywood shacks on lonely fairgrounds. And wrestlers.

Features Who's the weird old person hanging around the packs of high school kids at Portland-area haunted houses? The one who reeks of good coffee and cheap gin? Yeah, that’s a Willamette Week writer out reviewing local haunts for Creeper Crawl 2012.
Scre...   More

 

Thursday, October 18, 2012 by REBECCA JACOBSON

Madea Goes to Langley

Tyler Perry vs. James Patterson

Movie Reviews & Stories This weekend, Tyler Perry, Hollywood’s defending biggest earner, stars in Alex Cross, adapted from a thriller by airport bookstore kingpin James Patterson. Both Perry and Patterson are wildly pr   More

 

Wednesday, October 17, 2012 REBECCA JACOBSON

Step Up to the Plate

Haute cuisine served family-style.

Movie Reviews & Stories In an early sequence in the documentary Step Up to the Plate, about a father-son culinary duo, the camera floats above a white plate as it fills with ingredients: first smudges of mashed yellow pe   More

 

Wednesday, October 17, 2012 REBECCA JACOBSON

Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Portland Playhouse)

America, the oversexed adolescent.

Performance In Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, the seventh president pours himself into skinny jeans, slicks his hair back Fonzie-style and packs a microphone...   More

 

Wednesday, October 17, 2012 REBECCA JACOBSON

Island Mana Wines: Aloha Lite

Bar Reviews When a bar plays lilting ukulele tunes on its website and sets up speakers underneath its sidewalk sandwich board, I expect a full-on luau. I want a flower lei around my neck, the heat cranked up    More

 

Wednesday, October 17, 2012 REBECCA JACOBSON

Brew Views: Night of the Living Dead

Bloodthirsty business.

Brew Views When Night of the Living Dead opened in 1968, its flesh-eating zombies scandalized audiences otherwise watching Hawaii Five-0. George Romero’s horror flick follows a group trapped in a farmhouse a   More

 

Wednesday, October 17, 2012 REBECCA JACOBSON

The Body of an American (Portland Center Stage)

The wars abroad and the battles within.

Performance At the beginning of Dan O’Brien’s play, two actors introduce themselves as Paul Watson. One then speaks as Terry Gross, the familiar voice of NPR’s Fresh Air. Soon after, the other also ad   More

 

Wednesday, October 10, 2012 REBECCA JACOBSON

That Hopey Changey Thing (Third Rail Repertory Theatre)

Going rogue in Rhinebeck, N.Y.

Performance That Hopey Changey Thing is like reverse dinner theater: Rather than audience members munching on their meal, it’s the actors sipping wine and gobbling pie. Some even take second helpings. But   More

 

Wednesday, October 10, 2012 REBECCA JACOBSON

Art (Theatre Now)

A portrait of friendship.

Performance In 1934, an interviewer asked Gertrude Stein to explain a piece of her writing. “Look here,” Stein answered. “Being intelligible is not what it seems.” Understanding, she went on, is not   More

 

Wednesday, October 3, 2012 REBECCA JACOBSON

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Portland Center Stage)

Shave and a haircut…and murder!

Performance House lights still on, a rags-clad crowd shuffles about the stage, looking forlorn and doing little. Suddenly, two actors dressed as riot police storm the stage and haul off one of the men, exit   More

 

Wednesday, September 26, 2012 REBECCA JACOBSON