On this special episode of Portland at the Movies, we talk with Dan Fiebiger, Portland film historian and composer for the film “Courier of Death.” He tells us about his dealings with Tom Shaw, the... Read More
This month we (accidentally) review two remarkably similar movies from the mid-70’s: “Sasquatch: The Legend of Bigfoot,” and “The Legend of Bigfoot.” Join us as we dig into the mysteries of the “skunk ape,” discover... Read More
It’s one of our most Portland movies yet, because of both the plethora of shooting locations and the subject matter. This is a wild ride of a movie, with an intoxicating mix of nonsense, psuedoscience,... Read More
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“Hear No Evil” (1993)
1993 was a busy year for Portland film making, from “Free Willy” to “Body of Evidence” to many more, but none gave us a whirlwind tour of Portland quite like “Hear No Evil,” starring Marlee... Read More
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“Guns on the Clackamas” (1995)
This month we take a trip down the Clackamas river for the 1995 mockumentary “Guns on the Clackamas,” directed by legendary animator and Oscar-nominee* Bill Plympton. How was Plympton’s transition from animation royalty to live-action... Read More
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“Chrome Soldiers” (1992)
The promise of an early-90s movie starring Gary Busey as part of a motorcycle gang investigating the death of his brother in a small Oregon town is a big one. There’s some payoff with a... Read More
This month we take a look at acclaimed Portland filmmaker Gus Van Sant’s biopic about Portland’s own famous artist resident, Willamette Week’s cartoonist John Callahan. Join us as we discuss our mixed reactions about this... Read More
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Wizard World 2019 – LIVE!
This past weekend we were live at the 2019 Wizard World Comic Con, where we took a look back on our favorite Portland movie moments from the past few years of the podcast. From “Deafula”... Read More
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“Courier of Death” 1984
It’s our first foray into legendary Portland filmmaker Tom Shaw, whose presence looms large over the Portland movie making world. Gus VanSant and Penny Allen, among many others, used Shaw’s equipment to make their first... Read More
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“How Sarah Got Her Wings” (2015)
On this special holiday edition of Portland at the Movies, we dive into “How Sarah Got Her Wings” – a 2015, made-for-IonTV-movie starring the store brand versions of Kristin Bell and Chris Pratt. The good... Read More
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“Deafula” (1975) LIVE!
Live from the 2018 Portland Podcast Festival, it’s time for “Deafula”! The only movie to ever be made completely in American Sign Language, “Deafula” is an amazing treat. As Brian “The Unipiper” noted: “It’s like... Read More
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“Harvest of Fear” (2004)
If your very specific wish was to see a low-budget horror movie filmed in Estacada, Oregon, then have we got a treat for you this month. Join us as we plow through “Harvest of Fear”... Read More
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“Homewrecker” (1992)
“Homewrecker” was the first World Premier Movie for the then-new “Sci-Fi” cable channel, and a surprisingly decent movie about a “smart home” AI system that goes rogue. While the movie features very little of Portland... Read More
Astoria, Oregon stands in for feudal Japan (really) as well as the NYC sewer system in this third installment of the original Turtles trilogy. Watch as time-traveling, anthropomorphized, martial artist reptiles spout tired catchphrases (although,... Read More
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“The Vernonia Incident” (1989)
The Portland at the Movies summer road trip starts in Vernonia, a picturesque little town just northwest of Portland. In 1989, the community came together to make the low-budget, homegrown movie “The Vernonia Incident” (aka... Read More
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“The Last Innocent Man” (1987)
Ed Harris stars in this 1987 HBO-made courtroom drama about a hot-shot lawyer who is having an affair with the wife of his accused murderer client. It’s certainly not the *worst* movie we’ve seen on... Read More
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“Foxfire” (1996)
In 1996, a 21-year-old Angelina Jolie came to Portland to film a movie called “Foxfire.” With many sweeping, beautiful shots from above and below the Broadway Bridge, Portland looks great — but how is the... Read More
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“Homer and Eddie” (1989)
In 1989, a movie so so abysmal was made in Oregon that writer and film critic David Walked dubbed it “The Curse of ‘Homer and Eddie.'” Essentially he said that “Homer and Eddie” was the... Read More
Fresh off the heels of the Portland Tonya Harding Film Festival, we invited John-Ryan Griggs (the director of the festival) to talk about the two movies shown: a 1986 documentary about a then 15-year-old Harding... Read More
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“Frozen Assets” (1992)
Going into this podcast about movies made in Portland, we knew that there would be more bad than good. But never could we imagine just how bad it could be. Insulting, joyless, trite, inexplicable, nonsensical,... Read More
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“Ironheart” (1992)
We had high hopes for this kung-fu action movie, from the same director as Bruce Lee’s classic “Enter the Dragon” and the so-bad-it’s-good classic “Gymkata,” and starring Bruce Lee’s cousin Britton Lee and martial arts... Read More
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“Forest Warrior” (1996) LIVE!
Recorded live at the Hawthorne Theater at the First Annual Portland Podcast Festival, we take a mini-look at the 1996 Chuck Norris masterpiece “Forest Warrior,” filmed around Mt. Hood and Hood River. It’s a crazy... Read More
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“The Devil’s Keep” (1995)
“The Devil’s Keep” is writer/director Don Gronquist’s 1995 follow up to “Unhinged” (see previous episode), and if you love real-time YouTube how-to videos, mixed with mute, albino, geriatric, female Nazis, then this is the movie... Read More
It’s a Halloween Double Feature as we sit down to watch two horror movies filmed entirely on location at Portland’s Pittock Mansion. “Unhinged” is a D-Grade 1982 slasher flick (with very little slashing, and a... Read More
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Master Movie List
Red Snow Love at Large Bad Samaritan American Taboo (1984) Zero Effect The Sasquatch Gang (2006) Brain Smasher: A Love Story The Competition (2018) Mr. Holland’s Opus Captain Fantastic Untraceable Body of Evidence The Music... Read More
To celebrate the one-year anniversary of “Portland at the Movies,” we watched all 3 sequels to the movie that started it all: “Halloweentown.” Join us as we slog through these terrible Disney Channel movies. Join... Read More
Travel back to a time when men were wiseguys, women were “B-girls,” and vice came in the form of flipperless pinball machines. In the mostly forgotten noir film “Portland Exposé,” based on a pictorial spread... Read More
In 1972, Raquel Welch came to Portland and made a movie in which she played a “Jammer” on the Portland Loggers Roller Derby Team. So naturally they called the film “Kansas City Bomber.” Anyway, join... Read More
“Extraordinary Measures,” the 2010 Portland-filmed movie starring Harrison Ford, Brendan Fraser, and Keri Russell, works on several levels: a dull one, a tedious one, and a crotchety one. “Inspired by true events,” this movie is... Read More
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Ep #7 – “Total Reality” (1997)
“Total Reality” is a bottom-shelf cocktail made from the discarded parts of a SyFy channel movie, Back to the Future, Terminator, and clown makeup. Written, produced, and directed by the same guy who did last... Read More
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Ep #6 – “Fatal Revenge” (1989)
“Fatal Revenge” is a wonderfully terrible action/taekwando/b-movie wonder filmed in 1989 in Portland. Never released in the US (for good reason), we tracked down a copy in German, and it was well worth the effort.... Read More
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Ep #5: “Breaking In” (1989)
“Breaking In,” a 1989 filmed-in-Portland movie starring Burt Reynolds, is technically about robbery, but in reality it’s just a complete mystery. Siskel & Ebert loved it. So did “Rolling Stone.” And it currently has an... Read More
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Ep #4: “Free Willy” (1994)
Ah, the early 1990s: when foster children roamed free, Michael Jackson still inspired us, and a whale named Keiko swam into our collective consciousness and became a temporary resident of the Northwest (before we kicked... Read More
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Ep #3: “Dr. Giggles” (1992)
Is it possible to write a movie whose dialogue consists solely of ham-fisted doctor puns? Is it necessary to film an entire movie in a tiny park in unincorporated SW Portland even though it mostly... Read More
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Ep #2: “The Hunted” (2003)
What do you get when you mix 3 respected Oscar winners and one of the most beautiful cities in America? In the case of “The Hunted,” sadly, you get crap. But boy was the crap... Read More
- Podcast
Ep #1 – “Halloweentown” (1998)
Portland at the Movies is a hilarious new podcast that takes an in-depth look at some of the questionable movies made in and around Portland (think How Did This Get Made with movies filmed in... Read More