“Portlandia” Gives Back to the City it Satirizes

The point of “Portlandia” may be to lampoon the more eccentric facets of its namesake city, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t an intense amount of love behind the jokes. Indeed, stars and co-creators Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen took part in a benefit August 20th for In Other Words – a non-profit bookstore on Northeast Killingsworth Street you might recognize from the Portlandia-verse as the Women & Women First bookstore of Season 1. The sold-out fundraiser was to support the bookstore’s transition and expansion into becoming the In Other Words Feminist Community Center. Continue reading... ““Portlandia” Gives Back to the City it Satirizes”

An Italian Perspective on American Cinema

by Francesca Serra
Oregon Film Intern from Napoli, Italy

In Italy, the idea of American cinema is tightly connected with Hollywood and sensationalist movies where the hero is always handsome and honest and the audience knows that.  By the end of the movie, he will defeat all his enemies who, of course, are ugly and bad.

Why do Italians have this vision of American movies?  Because, most of the American movies that arrive in Italy always have the same features: a big international secret, a woman in distress, and a hero that saves her.  Continue reading... “An Italian Perspective on American Cinema”

“Meek’s Cutoff” Opens at Portland’s Fox Tower on Friday

For all of you who haven’t seen “Meek’s Cutoff”, the film opens at Portland’s Fox Tower on Friday.  Local Writer Jon Raymond and Producer Neil Kopp will be on hand for a Q&A session at screenings on Friday and Saturday night.  Almost a month ago we held a screening of the film at the Elsinore Theater in Salem and the film was very well received.  It is a stunningly beautiful film featuring great acting, great directing and great locations!  Please do check the schedule of the Fox Tower later in the week to get more details about the show times as well as the times that Jon and Neil will be doing their Q&A. Continue reading... ““Meek’s Cutoff” Opens at Portland’s Fox Tower on Friday”

“Meek’s Cutoff” Insustry Night at the Elisonore Theatre

http://vimeo.com/21400776

March 15th was a night to celebrate the screening of “Meek’s Cutoff” at Salem’s historic Elsinore Theatre.   As seen in the video above, many local film industry workers took the time to show their support by giving a brief interviews discussing how important it is  to Oregon and to Oregon’s film community that productions like this continue to be filmed here in our state.  Many people from the Oregon film industry along with quite a few state senators and representatives showed up for this special screening to benefit the Oregon Cultural Trust. Continue reading... ““Meek’s Cutoff” Insustry Night at the Elisonore Theatre”

Big Turnout for Screening of “Meek’s Cutoff”

Reception in the Lobby of the Elsinore

Crowd files in for the screening

It was a great evening last night in Salem as the special screening of “Meek’s Cutoff” was bigger than anticipated.  We’re waiting on the final tally of ticket sales but we’re expecting between 400 and 500 total tickets were sold for the event.  Prior to the screening we hosted a reception for several legislators, industry members, and cultural trust board members.  We were expecting about 10 legislators to come to the event but my last count was 16 including Senate President Peter Courtney and Speaker of the House Arnie Roblan.  Continue reading... “Big Turnout for Screening of “Meek’s Cutoff””

Theatrical Trailer for “Meek’s Cutoff”

We noticed this weekend that the theatrical trailer for Kelly Reichardt’s feature film “Meek’s Cutoff” is now online.   “Meek’s Cutoff” is due in theaters this April.  More details on the film can be found here.

According to the film’s website, “Meek’s” will be in Portland on April 22 (Fox Tower), Bend on May 13 (Regal Pilot Butte 6), and Salem on May 13 (Salem Cinema).

For those of you in Oregon who are interested in seeing this movie, there will be a special screening at the Elsinore theater in Salem on March 15th to benefit the Oregon Cultural Trust.  Continue reading... “Theatrical Trailer for “Meek’s Cutoff””

“Meek’s Cutoff” screening to Benefit Oregon Cultural Trust – tickets available

Join us for a special screening of “Meek’s Cutoff,” Tuesday, March 15th at The Historic Elsinore Theatre in Salem.

All tickets are $20 and proceeds benefit the Oregon Cultural Trust. Tickets can be purchased in person (check only) at the Oregon Film office, or at Tickets West or at the Elsinore Theatre Ticket Office. Thanks to many ticket sponsors for this event, the OMPA has free tickets available.  For more information, please go to their website.

Continue reading... ““Meek’s Cutoff” screening to Benefit Oregon Cultural Trust – tickets available”

Good Washington Post article about “Meek’s Cutoff”

I came upon a link to this article in the Washington Post about “Meek’s Cutoff”.  The film is due to be released in theaters in April and I’m very curious to see how it does.  The film has already made the rounds at the Venice, Toronto, and Sundance Film Festivals and by in large the critics have given the film very good reviews.

For those of you who would like to see the film in March, stay tuned since we have finalized the plans to screen “Meek’s Cutoff” at the Elsinore Theater in Salem on March 15.  Continue reading... “Good Washington Post article about “Meek’s Cutoff””

"Meeks Cutoff" gets distribution

So I was doing the Oregon Film rounds Friday night (very rare for me).  I first stopped by OMPA’s “Oregon’s Got Talent” event which was literally packed with talent.  Then I headed over to a wrap party at the North Portland Chopsticks – equally fully with creative talent.  At the party I heard producer Neil Kopp was at the bar celebrating the news that “Meeks Cutoff” got a distribution deal with Oscilloscope Laboratories.  I went looking for Neil before my curfiew of 11:00 but could not find him to congratulate him on the news.  Continue reading... “"Meeks Cutoff" gets distribution”

Glowing review of "Meeks Cutoff" from Variety

Meeks Cutoff

Variety film critic Justin Chang gave a rave review of Kelly Reichardt’s film “Meeks Cutoff” last week in Variety.  He saw the film at the Venice film festival.  Among the things he praised were the locations credited to location scout Roger Faires.  How often does a location person get credit in a review? Here’s an excerpt from the review.

“Reichardt’s decision to shoot in the 1.33 aspect ratio enhances the docu-like feel and yields one majestic composition after another, the nearly square frame capturing the wide-openness of these harshly beautiful desert vistas (Roger Faires is credited for the film’s Oregon locations, which look utterly of the period). Continue reading... “Glowing review of "Meeks Cutoff" from Variety”