Mark surprises Todd and Brian mid-show with a phone call from Sean McGrath, the main star of 2015’s “Deep Dark,” a psychological thriller about an artist who finds his muse in the form of a... Read More
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50th Movie Spectacular!
This month we indulge ourselves by taking a long, hard look back at what has become of our lives as we discuss the best and the worst of the 50 Portland-filmed movies we’ve reviewed so... Read More
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“Duplicates” (1993)
This 1993 made-for-USA TV movie is surprisingly watchable (and available for free on YouTube), although it features only a couple blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Portland locations. A sci-fi/detective thriller, this movie dares to ask the question Wonder Woman... Read More
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“Fatal Exposure” (1991)
A post-Brat Pack Mare Winningham meets a pre-“Happy Gilmore” Shooter McGavin in this 1991 made-for-USA-TV-network movie “Fatal Exposure.” Oddly, this is probably the most intriguingly in-depth discussion of a plot of any movie we’ve done... Read More
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“Train Master” (2008)
We ride the rails back to 2008 for this movie filmed around West Linn, Willamette, Canby, and more! It’s a delightful kids movie that’s cornball and low-budget enough to thoroughly enjoy, and well made enough... Read More
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“Payback” (1997)
Ed Asner and Mary Tyler Moore reunite for the first time since “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” in this made-for-TV thriller about a rogue cop who harasses Moore and her family after she testifies against... Read More
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“Just Before Dawn” (1981)
Join us for this Halloween episode as we take a look at the 1981 horror slasher flick “Just Before Dawn,” which is not only shockingly competent, but actually pretty good — and includes a truly... Read More
- Podcast
“Fire in the Sky” (1993)
We travel back to 1993 for this movie about real-life events that happened in 1975, which contain some of the most gripping and interesting alien abduction scenes out there. Filmed in Roseburg and Oakland, Oregon,... Read More
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“Bongwater” (1997)
A zany late-90s stoner comedy with an incredible cast including Luke Wilson, Alicia Witt, Jack Black, Jamie Kennedy, and more sounds like a sure-fire hit. Let’s unroll this joint and find out if there’s any... Read More
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“Cabin Fever” (2016)
This month we try to escape the real-life deadly virus by diving into a movie about a deadly virus, the remake of the 2004 Eli Roth film “Cabin Fever,” filmed outside of Mollala, Oregon. Come... Read More
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Special Edition: An Interview with Ted Pfeifer, Writer of “Harvest of Fear” and “Path of Evil”
Last year we reviewed the horror movie sequels “Harvest of Fear” and “Path of Evil,” and to say that we weren’t very kind would be an understatement. We pretty relentlessly mocked both movies. Now it’s... Read More
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“Visions” (1989)
We finish our look at the trilogy of Steven Miller films (the “Millergy”) with his first movie “Visions,” a mystery/thriller from 1989. After really enjoying Miller’s final film “Backtime,” and only sort of enjoying “Love... Read More
- Podcast
“Love and Dynamite” (1990)
This month we explore the middle chapter of the Steven Miller’s trilogy (“Millogy”?) with our take on “Love & Dynamite,” starring Grizzly Adams’s Dan Haggerty. Billed as an “action-comedy,” this movie is more an exercise... Read More
- Podcast
“Backtime” (1998)
Every once and awhile we find a little gem in the stark landscape of movies filmed in Portland, and what “Backtime” lacks in budget, it more than makes up for in heart, costuming, and passion.... Read More
What can we say about “Brain Smasher: A Love Story,” starring Andrew “Dice” Clay and Teri Hatcher? Whatever we’d say, we’d have to say it in an impenetrably thick Brooklyn accent even though we live... Read More
On a very special episode of Portland at the Movies, we speak to the one-and-only David Walker. If you’ve been a listener to our show, you’ve noticed that about 75% of them involve hearing David... Read More
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“A Walk in My Shoes” (2010)
It’s a time for Christmas miracles! Sort of. We tackle this not-quite-Hallmark-Holiday TV movie starring Nancy Travis and Portland itself, with more footage of our fair city than any other movie we’ve done. Todd loves... Read More
- Podcast
“Path of Evil” (2005)
Last Halloween, we were spooked by how terrible a little movie called “Harvest of Fear,” made in Estacada, Oregon, was. And now we’re back at it with its sequel, “Path of Evil,” which came out... Read More
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
- Podcast
“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
- Podcast
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
- Podcast
“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
- Podcast
“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
- Podcast
“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
- Podcast
“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
- Podcast
“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
- Podcast
“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
- Podcast
“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
- Podcast
“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
- Podcast
“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
- Podcast
“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
- Podcast
“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
- Podcast
“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
- Podcast
“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
- Podcast
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
- Podcast
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
- Podcast
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
- Podcast
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
- Podcast
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
- Podcast
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
- Podcast
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