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Live! From FanExpo ’23: The Portland at the Movies Awards

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  • Podcast

“Zero Effect” (1998)

This month we return to larger, more mainstream studio movies with our review of “Zero Effect,” about a wacky, quirky, zany private detective (played by the opposite of wacky, quirky, and zany: the human cardboard... Read More
January 24, 2023
  • Podcast

“Thomas & the Trainmaster” (2012)

The first “Trainmaster” movie was a surprise and a delight when we reviewed it two years ago. So does the sequel deliver the same great production work, directing, and wholesome wonderfulness the first one did?... Read More
December 20, 2022
  • Podcast

“Spunk’s Not Dead” (2018)

This month we dissect this fascinating anthology film, featuring 6 different segments centered around, sadly, “spunk.” And yes, the kind of “spunk” you’re thinking of. But is it the straight garbage we anticipated based on... Read More
November 16, 2022
  • Podcast

“Exorcist: The Fallen” (2014)

This month we look at a truly evil 2014 movie called “Exorcist: The Fallen,” and if you think you’ve seen it all when it comes to exorcist movies…..you have. There is zero new things in... Read More
October 26, 2022
  • Podcast

“Spy” (1989)

Despite the best effort of Catherine Hicks, this tepid spy thriller, which centers around a man getting a new face, doesn’t seem to rise above it’s inherent blandness. This month we dive into Spy, as... Read More
September 27, 2022
  • Podcast

“Moment of Truth: Why My Daughter” (1993)

After technical difficulties rendered the first 40 minutes of one of our best shows corrupted and lost forever to time, we still managed to salvage the show by having an equally hilarious second half of... Read More
August 23, 2022
  • Podcast

“Child of Darkness, Child of Light” (1991)

Always two, there are: a Child of Darkness, and a Child of Light. Or something. Things get kind of convoluted in this 1991 made-for-USA-television thriller starring Sela Ward and a very young Josh Lucas. And... Read More
July 19, 2022
  • Podcast

“Murder C.O.D.” (1990)

TV’s Patrick Duffy and William Devane star in this made-for-TV movie about a cop in search of a killer who commits serial murders and then starts blackmailing the families of the deceased, threatening to frame... Read More
June 28, 2022
  • Podcast

“Slapped! The Movie” (2018)

Portland at the Movies is at its best when the movies are at their worst. And nothing is worse than this vile, juvenile, offensive, horrifying, putrid — and, worst of all, pathetically and unrelentingly unfunny... Read More
May 24, 2022
  • Podcast

“Where the Truth Lies” (1999)

Marlee Matlin returns Portland in this – her third! – movie filmed in Portland. Murder, scandal, affairs, politics, and lies take the front seat in the made-for-Lifetime movie co-starring Regina King and the guy who... Read More
April 26, 2022
  • Podcast

“Bandits” (2001) with Aaron Durán

Was this the worst thing to happen in 2001? Probably not, but it’s certainly not good. Aaron Durán from Geek in the City joins us to tell some behind-the-scenes stories from his time working on... Read More
March 2, 2022
  • Podcast

“Deadly Game” (1991)

Join us as we flee for our lives while discussing this 1991 made-for USA-network movie “Deadly Game,” based partially on the classic short story “The Most Dangerous Game,” where a group of people are taken... Read More
January 19, 2022
  • Podcast

“Wee Sing: Best Christmas Ever!” (1990)

Who’s ready for all their favorite Christmas characters? We have Santa, Poofer, Dermie, Dusty, Thooner… You know, everyone’s favorites! Join us as we dive into the holiday season with “Best Christmas Ever!,” the holiday entry... Read More
December 15, 2021
  • Podcast

“In the Line of Duty: Blaze of Glory” (1997)

This film, starring Bruce Campbell and Lori Loughlin, tells the true-life crime story of a modern day Bonnie and Clyde. It also features more shots of Portland than any movie we’ve done — but ironically... Read More
October 19, 2021
  • Podcast

“The Temp” (1993)

It’s telling that this supposedly sexy thriller is just bland enough that we kept referring to the star as “William Hurt” instead of the actual star Timothy Hutton. In any case, “The Temp” was released... Read More
August 24, 2021
  • Podcast

“Pig” (2021)

Who would have guessed after all the movies we’ve reviewed that there would not only be a good movie filmed in Portland, but that the good film would star Nicholas Cage? Well here we are.... Read More
July 20, 2021
  • Podcast

“Shadow Play” (1986)

This month we travel to the Ilwaco Lighthouse with Dee Wallace, a playwright haunted by the reflections of her dead fiancee, and pursued by her would-be brother-in-law. Is the movie the psychological thriller it’s trying... Read More
June 8, 2021
  • Podcast

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
March 23, 2021
  • Podcast

“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
February 24, 2021
  • Podcast

“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
February 3, 2021
  • Podcast

“Trainmaster” (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
December 23, 2020
  • Podcast

“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
December 2, 2020
  • Podcast

“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
October 27, 2020
  • 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
September 23, 2020
  • Podcast

“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
August 19, 2020
  • Podcast

“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
July 28, 2020
  • Podcast

“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
May 25, 2020
  • 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
April 21, 2020
  • Podcast

“Backtime” (1996)

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
March 30, 2020
  • Podcast

“Brain Smasher: A Love Story” (1993)

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
February 19, 2020
  • Podcast

“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
December 18, 2019
  • 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
October 16, 2019
  • Podcast

“What the Bleep Do We Know?!” (2004)

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
July 24, 2019
  • Podcast

“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
July 3, 2019
  • Podcast

“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
May 22, 2019
  • 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
April 23, 2019
  • Podcast

“Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot” (2018)

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
March 27, 2019
  • 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
February 26, 2019
  • 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
January 23, 2019
  • 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
December 5, 2018
  • 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
November 15, 2018
  • 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
October 17, 2018
  • 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
September 11, 2018
  • Podcast

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3” (1993)

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
August 15, 2018
  • 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
July 11, 2018
  • 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
June 13, 2018
  • 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
May 16, 2018
  • 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
April 18, 2018
  • 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
February 14, 2018
  • 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
January 17, 2018
  • 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
December 12, 2017
  • 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
November 22, 2017
  • 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
October 11, 2017
  • Podcast

Ep #10 – “Portland Exposé” (1957)

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
August 18, 2017
  • Podcast

Map

Filming locations for the movies covered on “Portland at the Movies.” Continually updated with each new episode. Click each marker to see a photo of that location from the movie, and expand the map to... Read More
August 16, 2017
  • Podcast

Ep #9 – “Kansas City Bomber” (1972)

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
July 21, 2017
  • Podcast

Ep #8 – “Extraordinary Measures” (2010)

“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
June 15, 2017
  • 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
May 18, 2017
  • 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
April 13, 2017
  • 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
March 16, 2017
  • 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
February 9, 2017
  • 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
January 16, 2017
  • 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
December 2, 2016
  • 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
October 31, 2016

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