ABOUT ME
Background
Freelance Reporter/Writer for The Stranger and The Portland Mercury, September 2020-Present
Reviewed films such as Memoria, Master, Fresh, Studio 666, Drive My Car, The 355, Antlers, Lamb, Dear Evan Hansen, Prisoners of the Ghostland, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Candyman, Demonic, Homeroom, The Suicide Squad, Old, The Green Knight, Pig, Godzilla vs. Kong, The Nest, Possessor, Collective, Feels Good Man, Minari, Identifying Features (Sin señas particulares), One Night in Miami, Wonder Woman 1984, Sound of Metal, Mank, Stray, The Vigil, The Reason I Jump, Mayor, Spiral, Alone, City Hall, The Donut King, Rent-A-Pal, and I Care a Lot.
Assisted in The Stranger's comprehensive coverage of the 2021 Sundance Film Festival which consisted of interviewing the head of the partner to the festival the Northwest Film Forum, previewing the release lineup, writing a feature about how many of the films tackled environmentalism, as well as reviewing the best films from the festival such as Censor and the soon to be released Wild Indian.
Came back for the second year of coverage in 2022. This consisted of writing a comprehensive preview and reviews of The Worst Person in the World, La Guerra Civil, Emergency.
Assisted in coverage of the Seattle International Film Festival by interviewing director Megan Griffiths about her new film and production in Washington state, talking with Navalny director Daniel Roher, and writing a feature about the locally shot film Midday Black Midnight Blue.
Contributed the piece 'An Oral History of How Pig, the Sublime Film Shot and Set in Portland, Found Its Heart' to the Portland Mercury's 2021 Fall Arts Guide: Art Is Political.
Interviewed the star of the Showtime series Yellowjackets Jasmin Savoy Brown.
Talked with The Room's Greg Sestero about his new directorial debut and the legacy of the most iconic cult film of all time.
Interviewed the improv comedy trio Broke Gravy about their craft and getting back on the stage.
Did a deep dive on the origins of the science fiction epic Dune and how it was born out of author Frank Herbert's concerns about the environment in his home state of Washington.
Wrote a preview of the 26th Annual Seattle Queer Film Festival by picking some of the best films being shown.
Reported on the concerns film/tv workers of IATSE Local 488, the chapter covering Oregon, Washington, Northern Idaho, and Montana, have about their working conditions as well as their thoughts on the future following a narrow contract ratification vote.
Interviewed comedian Niles Abston before his series of shows in the Pacific Northwest then reviewed his show in Seattle.
Wrote features about local artists and creators. This included the locally made film All Sorts that showed in the Seattle International Film Festival, the film East of the Mountains starring local icon Tom Skerritt, the Robert Rodriguez produced documentary Hood River, the documentary about Dr. Anthony Fauci simply entitled Fauci, a documentary-fiction hybrid Hunting Bigfoot, and a new documentary about Tina Turner.
Conducted interviews with directors of exciting and interesting new films. This included Test Pattern, Sophie Jones, Lupe, The People vs. Agent Orange, MLK/FBI, and Little Fish.
Film Critic and Culture Reporter for The News Tribune, September 2016-August 2021
Reviewed a litany of releases over the years such as Kajillionaire, The Lie, The Wolf of Snow Hollow, 12 Hour Shift, The Glorias, Misbehaviour, Enola Holmes, Antebellum, The Devil All the Time, Cuties, I Am Woman, Mulan, I'm Thinking of Ending Things, Bill & Ted Face the Music, Get Duked!, Chemical Hearts, Tesla, Project Power, Boys State, She Dies Tomorrow, The Fight, Radioactive, The Rental, The Painted Bird, Flannery, Palm Springs, The Old Guard, The Truth, John Lewis: Good Trouble, Irresistible, 7500, Miss Juneteenth, Da 5 Bloods, The King of Staten Island, Becky, Shirley, The High Note, The Vast of Night, The Lovebirds, Capone, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Clementine, Driveways, Bull, Dangerous Lies, A Secret Love, Extraction, Fantastic Fungi, Selah and The Spades, Extra Ordinary, Trolls World Tour, Corpus Christi, Zombi Child, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, And Then We Danced, Balloon, The Platform, Bacurau, The Banker, The Hunt, Blow the Man Down, First Cow, Wendy, Greed, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Recorder, Emma, Downhill, The Photograph, The Assistant, Clemency, The Rhythm Section, Little Women, A Hidden Life, The Two Popes, and A White, White Day.
Wrote features uncovering the true stories behind some of the year's biggest releases such as Disney's The One and Only Ivan, The Dark Divide, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, and the secret covid documentary Totally Under Control.
Covered the fallout of the pandemic's impact on the movie industry. This included how studios shifted to offer digital releases closer to their release date and eventually the simultaneous digital release schedule.
Covered film festival programming through in-depth interviews with directors, creators, editors etc. about their work. This included interviewing the outstanding director of First Cow, Kelly Reichardt.
Worked on a rigorous investigative piece over several weeks about former members of NXIVM, the subject of multiple documentaries.
Freelance feature and review writer for Collider, March 2021-Present
Reviewed the Spirt Award-Winning film 7 Days and the horror film X.
Reviewed a variety of shows such as the final season of Ozark, the first season of The Lincoln Lawyer, the second season of The Wilds, the final season of Better Call Saul, the first season of Reacher, the first season of The Boys Presents: Diabolical, the first season of Pachinko, the first season of Outer Range, and the video game adaptation Halo.
Wrote stories for the online publication that involved monitoring breaking news and writing engaging quick hit pieces as well as more long-form work that provided analysis to the day's events.
This included coverage of the historic Oscar recognition for Steven Yeun and Chloé Zhao announced for the Academy Awards, which I also participated in coverage of the aftermath of.
Also covered film production stories, including for big blockbusters such as Mission: Impossible, as well as upcoming films like Cruella 2 and a new A Quiet Place story.
Wrote a preview piece of the virtual 2022 Sundance Film Festival about the 10 most anticipated films you could see there as well as a recap piece of the best films of the festival.
Wrote about how the new Steven Soderbergh film KIMI shows the value of actually shooting in Seattle.
Analyzed what the Uncharted movie was missing in its portrayal of the character of Sully.
Broke down how Euphoria regained its focus in its second season through Zendaya's performance while still having problems in regards to forgetting about characters like Kat.
Argued why the foundation is being laid out for Grogu to become the villain of The Mandalorian.
Discussed what is lost in the new Death on the Nile film adaptation.
Wrote a tribute to actors such as Tony Todd in Candyman, Ryan Gosling in Drive for its anniversary, a appreciation piece on the film Speed Racer before the release of The Matrix Resurrections, an argument for why Tim Robinson of I Think You Should Leave should host the Oscars, a break-down of how Archive 81 successfully adapted a podcast, a praising of Issa's dynamic character journey on Insecure, a love letter to the craft on displaying How To With John Wilson, a praising of how Belle adapts an old story, as well as a deeper look at the why the cult horror classic Possession was initially banned, an analysis of how recent films are losing out by not casting character actors, a piece on how It Takes Two was 2021's best game, a ranking of all The Matrix films, a ranking of Will Smith's best dramatic roles, a ranking of all the films of Anya Taylor-Joy, a ranking of all of director Roland Emmerich's films, a ranking of all of director Denis Villeneuve's films (including Dune), a ranking of all the Wachowskis films, a ranking of all of director Jason Reitman's films, a ranking of all the films of Zendaya, a ranking of the 10 best Jesse Plemons performances, a ranking of the 10 best Adam Driver performances, a ranking of the 10 best Kristen Stewart performances, a ranking of the 10 best black & white films of the past decade, a piece on the honest depiction of power in Succession, a ranking ofthe best late night talk show hosts of all time, and a ranking of every A24 Horror movie released thus far.
Film Critic for The SunBreak, February 2021-Present
Wrote reviews for the online movie magazine including Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Uncharted, I Want You Back, Death on the Nile, Moonfall, Something in the Dirt, Dual, A Love Song, The Lost Daughter, The Matrix Resurrections, Nightmare Alley, Wolf, Encounter, The Beta Test, Finch, Mass, Halloween Kills, The Last Duel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Cry Macho, Malignant, Small Engine Repair, Reminiscence , Free Guy, Joe Bell, Space Jam: A New Legacy, The Forever Purge, The Tomorrow War, Zola, False Positive, Lansky, Werewolves Within, Les nôtres, Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It, In The Heights, The Amusement Park, Dream Horse, Voyagers, Come True, Nomadland, The United States vs. Billie Holiday, Raya and the Last Dragon, Nobody, Mortal Kombat, Spiral, & The Conjuring 3.
Assisted in website design, publishing, and participated in a robust collaborative planning process for the coverage of the 2020 SXSW Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) 2021 and the North Bend Film Festival.
Film Critic for The Inlander, February 2021-Present
Wrote reviews of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Lost City, The Adam Project, The King's Daughter, Scream, The Tender Bar, C'mon C'mon, Encanto, King Richard, Belfast, Last Night in Soho, The Rescue, The Night House, Nine Days, and feature pieces for The Inlander, an alternative weekly in Spokane.