Anybody who knows Matt McCormick, knows of his pumpkin obsession

Probably Portland's most well-liked citizen/experimental filmmaker, Matt McCormick’s debut feature Some Days are Better Than Others, which stars indie rock royalty/Portlanders James Mercer and Carrie Brownstein of the now defunct Sleater-Kinney will open the Hollywood Theater on March 25th before opening wider across the country. Show up and let's try not to passive aggressively hate on someone who actually has done something ambitious (which is kind of a Portland tradition that everyone of note in this city is familiar with).

Yes, Brownstein has done other things, like being trounced on Beulahland trivia night by my old team of critics, lawyers and economists (It shouldn't sting, but for any Portlander it would, I'm mean losing to critics and economists??? the shame!) Then there is her Portlandia series, which helps give Portland credit for things that also happen other in places... so it's a kind of indie-imperialist propaganda machine.

More importantly Some Days was selected to play New Directors/New Films, the prestigious film series organized by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).

According to the press release, "The film explores ideas of abundance, emptiness, human connection and abandonment while observing an interweaving web of awkward characters who maintain hope by inventing their own forms of communication and self-fulfillment. It’s a sad valentine to the forgotten discards of a throwaway society, and a story about knowing when to hold on, and when to let go." More importantly Matt has a real knack for the kind of introspective melancholy that another Portlander, Mark Rothko defined as one of the chief aspects of 20th Century art that lives into the 21st. Another Portlander, Gus Van Sant is the master of this melancholy in film and it will be interesting to see how Matt's vision differs. Yes, Portland is really starting to tell a myriad of conflicting stories about itself and yes they are probably all true in their own way.