art review

Jeremy Okai Davis Paints the Complex Legacy of Black Performance

Past and present, vaudeville to Pryor to Kendrick, the stage has been a fraught mix of expression and oppression.

11/15/2024 By Matthew Trueherz

Restaurant Review

How Nodoguro, Maurice, and Scottie’s Pizza Parlor Made Their Big Comebacks

They conquered Portland, but when the pandemic hit, they crashed and reexamined everything.

02/27/2023 By Karen Brooks Photography by Aubrie LeGault

Film Review

Portland-Made Wendell & Wild Is a Head-Spinning Display of Craftsmanship

The latest dispatch from the minds of Jordan Peele and Henry Selick is an overstuffed, overstimulating feast of delicious stop-motion animation.

10/24/2022 By Conner Reed

Film Review

Showing Up Brings Portland to NYFF

Kelly Reichardt’s latest lowkey gem offers a portrait of the artist as a grunt worker.

10/10/2022 By Conner Reed

Theater Review

tick, tick ... BOOM! at Portland Center Stage Plays Plenty of Grace Notes

At its best, this production of Jonathan Larson’s autobiographical musical convinces us there really is no day but today.

09/02/2022 By Conner Reed

Review

A Secret Well Fuels Wondrous Japanese Shaved Ice at Portland’s Soen

Step inside downtown DIY gem Courier Coffee to find the city's best kakigori.

05/19/2022 By Karen Brooks

Theater Review

Profile Theatre's Appropriate Sees the Forest, the Trees, and a Whole Lot More

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' sharp, lacerating family drama shines in the hands of director Jerry Ruiz and a game cast.

05/11/2022 By Conner Reed

Pop Culture Deep Dive

Electra Heart 10 Years Later

Revisiting one of Tumblr-pop's most indefatigable outputs on its tin anniversary.

04/29/2022 By Conner Reed

Theater Review

History Has Its Eyes on Hamilton (and It Isn't Looking Great)

The national tour of the smash-hit musical runs at Portland’s Keller Auditorium through May 1.

04/15/2022 By Conner Reed

Theater Review

Shaking the Tree’s Chick Fight Is a Thrilling Live Wire

The Southeast Portland company returns with a devised play that's funny, fierce, and memorable.

03/17/2022 By Conner Reed

Theater Review

Frida ... A Self Portrait Asks Why We Look in the Mirror

Vanessa Severo’s intriguing one-woman show starts Portland Center Stage's comeback season off on a reflexive note.

11/01/2021 By Conner Reed

Film Review

Dune, a Sci-Fi Classic Inspired by the Oregon Coast, Returns to the Cinema

Frank Herbert's heady novel has taken failed trips from page to screen before. Is this time any different?

10/26/2021 By Conner Reed

Theater Review

The Chinese Lady at Artists Rep Is a Mostly Compelling Tale of Squashed Hope

ART’s season opener uses a real-life story to lay bare the emptiness of American optimism.

10/26/2021 By Conner Reed

Review

Pig Is a Wildly Original Journey to the Center of Portland’s Food Scene

It's also surprisingly tender.

07/16/2021 By Conner Reed

Review

Move Over, Peanuts. Meet Canard's Dairy Queen-Inspired Pine Nut Buster Parfait

Chef Taylor Daugherty goes all in on pine nuts to create the great new Portland sundae.

06/10/2021 By Karen Brooks

Hit List

Portland Restaurants Are Going Above and Beyond During the Pandemic

Takeout treasures we can't recommend enough.

06/01/2020 By Julia Silverman and Ben Tepler

Review in Review

Communion Bakehouse Is Our April Review. Now, It’s a Completely Different Place.

PoMo food critic Karen Brooks hunts down the subjects of the last review penned before the pandemic changed everything. Its survival now rests on “mystery pastry boxes” to-go.

04/02/2020 By Karen Brooks

The Comeback Kids

After a Lifetime of Near-Hits, Communion Bakehouse Finds a Promising Home in Westmoreland

The best thing about Communion Bakehouse? Its realness.

04/02/2020 By Karen Brooks

PIFF Review

The Climb Is a Formally Audacious Buddy Comedy with a Glaring Gender Problem

Michael Angelo Covino's first feature is impressive, funny, and troubling.

03/09/2020 By Conner Reed

Review

Indecent Is a Moving Celebration with Some Very Pretty Pictures

The Profile/Artists Rep coproduction is a flawed but effective meditation on collective grief.

03/02/2020 By Conner Reed

Portland Monthly

Reviews

Jeremy Okai Davis Paints the Complex Legacy of Black Performance

How Nodoguro, Maurice, and Scottie’s Pizza Parlor Made Their Big Comebacks

Portland-Made Wendell & Wild Is a Head-Spinning Display of Craftsmanship

Showing Up Brings Portland to NYFF

tick, tick ... BOOM! at Portland Center Stage Plays Plenty of Grace Notes

A Secret Well Fuels Wondrous Japanese Shaved Ice at Portland’s Soen

Profile Theatre's Appropriate Sees the Forest, the Trees, and a Whole Lot More

Electra Heart 10 Years Later

History Has Its Eyes on Hamilton (and It Isn't Looking Great)

Shaking the Tree’s Chick Fight Is a Thrilling Live Wire

Frida ... A Self Portrait Asks Why We Look in the Mirror

Dune, a Sci-Fi Classic Inspired by the Oregon Coast, Returns to the Cinema

The Chinese Lady at Artists Rep Is a Mostly Compelling Tale of Squashed Hope

Pig Is a Wildly Original Journey to the Center of Portland’s Food Scene

Move Over, Peanuts. Meet Canard's Dairy Queen-Inspired Pine Nut Buster Parfait

Portland Restaurants Are Going Above and Beyond During the Pandemic

Communion Bakehouse Is Our April Review. Now, It’s a Completely Different Place.

After a Lifetime of Near-Hits, Communion Bakehouse Finds a Promising Home in Westmoreland

The Climb Is a Formally Audacious Buddy Comedy with a Glaring Gender Problem

Indecent Is a Moving Celebration with Some Very Pretty Pictures