Marc Mohan

Marc Mohan moved to Portland from Wisconsin in 1991, and has been exploring and contributing to the city’s film culture almost ever since, as the manager of the landmark independent video store Trilogy, the owner of Portland’s first DVD-only rental spot, Video Vérité; and as a freelance film critic for The Oregonian for nearly twenty years. Once it became apparent that “newspaper film critic” was no longer a sustainable career option, he pursued a new path, enrolling in the Northwestern School of Law at Lewis & Clark College in the fall of 2017 and graduating cum laude in 2020 with a specialization in Intellectual Property. He now splits his time between his practice with Nine Muses Law and his continuing efforts to spread the word about great (and not-so-great) movies, which include a weekly column at Oregon ArtsWatch.

FilmWatch Weekly: ‘Nickel Boys’ and ‘September 5’ count on Oscar buzz

January 23, 2025Marc Mohan

Director RaMell Ross's adaptation of Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer-winning novel is ambitious and effective; plus, Portland documentarian Jan Haaken's "The Palestine Exception," the anime film "The Colors Within," and more.

FilmWatch Weekly: ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig,’ ‘Hard Truths,’ ‘Wolf Man,’ and more

January 16, 2025Marc Mohan

Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof's "The Seed of the Sacred Fig" is Germany's submission for Best International Feature Film. Also this week: Mike Leigh's first film in six years, a singing simian, and more.

FilmWatch Weekly: ‘The Brutalist,’ Almodóvar’s ‘The Room Next Door,’ Pamela Anderson in ‘The Last Showgirl,’ and much more

January 8, 2025Marc Mohan

Also this week: The Sonics get the documentary treatment, plus Godardian musings in "It's Not Me," and Pablo Escobar's hippos roam the Colombian jungles in "Pepe."

FilmWatch Weekly: ‘The Count of Monte Cristo,’ ‘The Damned,’ and Gaza’s ‘From Ground Zero’

January 2, 2025Marc Mohan

This week at the movies: a new, three-hour adaptation of the classic novel by Alexandre Dumas, plus supernatural hauntings in "The Damned," and Palestine's submission for Best International Feature Film.

FilmWatch Yearly: The Top Ten Films of 2024

December 29, 2024Marc Mohan

Marc Mohan shares his picks for this year's ten best films.

FilmWatch Weekly: Holiday arrivals include ‘A Complete Unknown,’ ‘Nosferatu,’ and ‘Babygirl,’ plus one of the year’s best movies

December 19, 2024Marc Mohan

Also this week: this year's Grand Prix winner "All We Imagine as Light," plus Barry Jenkins's "The Fire Inside," and Clint Eastwood's "Juror #2" streaming on Max.

FilmWatch Weekly: Tilda Swinton and Michael Shannon sing in ‘The End,’ Richard Gere regrets in ‘Oh, Canada,’ and much more

December 12, 2024Marc Mohan

"The Act of Killing" director Joshua Oppenheimer follows a pair of award-winning documentaries with a post-apocalyptic musical allegory set in an underground bunker.

FilmWatch Weekly: A buffet of cinematic dishes, from Northwest history in ‘The Order’ to female rage in ‘Nightbitch’ to erotic obession in ‘Queer’

December 5, 2024Marc Mohan

Also this week: Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche as Odysseus and Penelope in "The Return," plus the animated animal adventure "Flow," and much more.

FilmWatch Weekly: Angelina Jolie in ‘Maria,’ plus Finnish heavy metal comedy and John David Washington in ‘The Piano Lesson’

November 27, 2024Marc Mohan

Angelina Jolie brings majesty and gravitas to the role of Maria Callas in director Pablo Larraín's biopic about the legendary soprano.

‘Breakup Season’: La Grande-filmed feature has its Portland premiere

November 27, 2024Marc Mohan

After a successful run on the festival circuit, writer-director H. Nelson Tracey' debut feature screens Monday, December 2, at Portland's Hollywood Theatre.

FilmWatch Weekly: ‘Gladiator II’ aims to entertain, plus a Czech New Wave classic and a story of the London Blitz

November 21, 2024Marc Mohan

Ridley Scott's sequel to his 2000 sword-and-sandal epic doesn't tread any new ground, but it still delivers a lavishly gory spectacle worthy of the big screen.

FilmWatch Weekly: ‘A Real Pain,’ Portland’s QDoc Festival, and Andrea Arnold’s ‘Bird’

November 13, 2024Marc Mohan

Plus: a tour through the films of the Master of Suspense in "My Name Is Alfred Hitchcock," and the Daisy Ridley thriller "Magpie."

FilmWatch Weekly: ‘Anora’ tells a cautionary tale, plus ‘Memoir of a Snail’ and Cillian Murphy in ‘Small Things Like These’

November 7, 2024Marc Mohan

Also this week: Jérémy Clapin's sci-fi fable "Meanwhile on Earth," Tyler Taormina's "Christmas Eve in Miller's Point," and much more.

FilmWatch Weekly: ‘Emilia Pérez’ and ‘Chasing Chasing Amy’ center trans stories, plus music docs and more

October 30, 2024Marc Mohan

In a genre-defying musical comedy film from Jacques Audiard, Karla Sofía Gascón plays a drug cartel kingpin who fakes her own death to obtain gender confirmation surgery.

FilmWatch Weekly: A bevy of bizarre, brutal, and borderline bonkers Halloween-week movies, from silent classics to modern cult classics

October 24, 2024Marc Mohan

Go beyond the box office with these Halloween highlights from Oregon's independent movie theaters.

FilmWatch Weekly: Cate Blanchett in ‘Rumours,’ Anna Kendrick in ‘Woman of the Hour,’ and Florence Pugh in ‘We Live in Time’

October 17, 2024Marc Mohan

Also this week: thrills and chills in "Smile 2" and "I Will Never Leave You Alone," plus Tarsem Singh's "The Fall" restored in 4K.

Creativity and Craft: An interview with Julio Torres

October 16, 2024Marc Mohan

Ahead of an appearance in Portland, the writer-director-comedian and "Los Espookys" actor talks about consumerism, authenticity, and his recent HBO series "Fantasmas."

Ashland Independent Film Festival rebounds with first full in-person event since 2019

October 15, 2024Marc Mohan

The festival, while roughly half the size it was at its pre-pandemic peak, now looks ahead toward a promising future.

FilmWatch Weekly: Donald Trump meets Roy Cohn in ‘The Apprentice,’ Cate Blanchett locks horns with Kevin Kline in ‘Disclaimer,’ and more

October 10, 2024Marc Mohan

This week's highlights include Sebastian Stan as a young Donald Trump, a new TV series from Alfonso Cuarón, plus more Halloweeny horror flicks than you can shake a broomstick at.

FilmWatch Weekly: ‘A Different Man’ plus fall film festivals

October 3, 2024Marc Mohan

In a new psychodrama, Sebastian Stan stars as an aspiring actor who undergoes treatment to cure his facial deformity. Plus, film festivals in Portland, Ashland, Bend, and La Grande.

‘The Great Divide’: Director and co-star of Portland-made feature discuss its unique origins

October 2, 2024Marc Mohan

A new dark comedy film featuring an ensemble cast of students from a Portland theater class premieres October 8th at the McMenamins Kennedy School Theater.

FilmWatch Weekly: ‘Megalopolis,’ ‘Lee,’ Latin American Film Fest, and much more

September 25, 2024Marc Mohan

Francis Ford Coppola's first studio film in more than two decades is an underdeveloped vanity project, albeit an entertaining and visually splendid one.

FilmWatch Weekly: ‘The Substance,’ ‘His Three Daughters,’ and ‘Omni Loop’

September 18, 2024Marc Mohan

Three new movies put women actors front and center. Also this week: 1964's "Nothing but a Man," new Portland-made features, and "Burden of Dreams" restored in 4K.

FilmWatch Weekly: A trio of horror films (including ‘Booger’) plus the enchanting slapstick fable ‘The Falling Star,’ and much more

September 12, 2024Marc Mohan

Halloween creeps into September with three new horror flicks of varying quality. Also this week: the documentary "Join or Die," plus pre-Code women screenwriters on the Criterion Channel.

FilmWatch Weekly: Quebec’s ‘Red Rooms’ and New Zealand’s ‘The Paragon’ in theaters, plus ‘Rebel Ridge’ and ‘My First Film’ at home

September 5, 2024Marc Mohan

A thriller from French-Canadian director Pascal Plante hits theaters this week alongside a supernatural comedy from New Zealand and some choice streaming picks.

FilmWatch Weekly: Animated ‘Time Masters,’ an interplanetary ‘Slingshot,’ sly neo-noir ‘The Other Laurens,’ more

August 29, 2024Marc Mohan

The movie week shoots for outer space with a rarely seen gem from the maker of "Fantastic Planet" and other interstellar adventures. Also: Japanese film festival, singing the blues, more.

FilmWatch Weekly: ‘Between the Temples,’ Roger Corman tribute, ‘Blink Twice,’ and more

August 22, 2024Marc Mohan

Jason Schwartzman and Carol Kane strike up an unlikely friendship in writer-director Nathan Silver's ninth feature film.

FilmWatch Weekly: Documentaries ‘Made in England,’ ‘Hollywoodgate,’ and ‘Daughters,’ plus a Samuel Beckett biopic and more

August 15, 2024Marc Mohan

Martin Scorsese teaches a crash course on the films of Powell and Pressburger, plus a rare, intimate glimpse inside the Taliban in the wake of America's withdrawal from Afghanistan.

FilmWatch Weekly: ‘Dìdi,’ ‘Cuckoo,’ and ‘Sing Sing’ arrive to combat late-summer theater doldrums

August 8, 2024Marc Mohan

Also this week: "A Matter of Life and Death" at Cinemagic, films from the Dennis Nyback archive, and the 1973 spaghetti Western "The Man Called Noon."

FilmWatch Weekly: Director Penelope Spheeris talks about her long-lost metal doc, plus ‘Tokyo Cowboy’ and ‘The Secret Art of Human Flight’

July 25, 2024Marc Mohan

Also this week: "Seven Samurai," newly restored in 4K, plus Hong Kong horror comedy "The Seventh Curse" and Soviet sci-fi in "To the Stars the Hard Way."