Portland at the Movies

Did you know that the mid-90s Willie Aames Christian super hero series "Bibleman" and its companion traveling live show were made in Portland? Or eventually, at least, thanks to Pamplin media. And if you weren't part of the 90s evangelical media landscape, find out what in the world Bibleman even is, where it started, and how it got to Portland with our special guest Dave Baehler of the NotNerd Podcast, and former Bibleman team member.

It's a classic who-done-it, but also a "wait, what did they do?" and a "how would that even work" and a "I can't tell these Abercrombie model actors apart," and "how does a local winery have it's own IPO and stock?" and "HE'S IN THE SHOWER WITH WHO?!?!"  So, like it's a lot of things. But is one of those things "good"? Find out on this month's episode.

We're a lot more split on our opinions of this mid 2010's comedy filmed almost entirely in Lake Oswego High School. It's sort of a weird hybrid of Disney Channel movie and Ryan Murphy project -- which, if you're familiar with the old 2000s television show "Popular," makes sense -- but is it able to pull off such a weird tone mixed with a preposterous plot conceit? Find out this month.

This month we set our sights on the 2011 indie film "Rid of Me," by the director of the finest documentary about video stores ever made called "At The Video Store." This movie also has one of our favorite people, Storm Large, in a supporting role. So everything is aces, right? An instant classic? Or do we need to get rid of this film? Find out in this month's episode.

This month we settle in for one of our more confusing movies -- a full length motion picture porn-parody (?) of "I Am Legend," but with vampire strippers and Ron Jeremy. While on the face of it this movie may be easy to write off , there's way more effort and successful filmmaking that the premise demands. Does that save the film? Find out this week. (Note: Our main audio board went out at about the 33 minute mark, so we had to switch to back-up audio from one of the cameras we used to film the episode -- which means you can find us on YouTube as well.)

If you're looking to re-experience the Portland of 2010, here's the movie for you. What it often lacks in forward momentum, it makes up for with locations and vibes that not even the mystery of a missing girl and a mysterious man in a cowboy hat gets in the way too much. So grab a bag of ice, put on a cozy sweater, and enjoy the Cold Weather.

We end the year with a listener-submitted movie pick, which he described as the intersection of "What the Bleep Do We Know," "The Legend of Tillamook's Gold," and "A Walk In Her Shoes," which was a pretty apt description of this movie about the supposedly true-life phenomenon of kids born with special abilities, none of which are actually defined or explicated. Are we glad this movie manifested itself in our lives? Find out in this episode. The movie is available on Tubi, or YouTube for free.

This month we have a refreshing change of pace: a good movie! In fact, we recommend watching this before we dig in to the various twists and turns of this movie starring Teen Wolf's Dylan O'Brien and James Sweeney (who also wrote, directed, and produced the film). It's a great movie to go in blind to, but even if you end up skipping it, our episode is well worth listening to. Enjoy!

We missed releasing this episode before Halloween in the same way this movie missed being, well, really anything. Although there is some good lighting and camera work, this shot-on-video, low-budget movie struggles to provide any tension or scares to make it memorable. But is there anything worth celebrating? We find out on this month's episode.

This month we discuss the 2012 thriller "Gone," starring Amanda Seyfried, about a woman intent on hunting down the serial killer who kidnapped her sister. Oh and also she herself was kidnapped by the same person the year before, or at least she's pretty sure she was. Or was she kidnapped at all? Find out on this month's episode!