The end of the world!  How awful! Let’s make a movie about it! Jim McBride kicked off this sub-genre of Oregon film in 1971; James Hillcoat contributed the most recent entry in 2009. Lillian Gish (above) appeared in no Oregon film that I know of.

Watch these films to see what happens after the end of The World As We Know It:

Glen and Randa (1971) written and directed by Jim McBride. Shot on the Oregon Coast.

Lathe Of Heaven (1979) directed by Fred Barsyk & David R. Loxton, based on novel by Ursula LeGuin.

Millennium (1989) directed by Michael Anderson, based on the short story “Air Raid” by John Varley.

The Postman (1997) directed by Kevin Costner, based on novel by David Brin. Shot in Central Oregon.

The Road (2009) directed by John Hillcoat, based on novel by Cormac McCarthy. Partially shot in Oregon.

It began with a bang. Andries Deinum arrived at PSU in 1957 from LA, and co-founded (long distance) the magazine Film Quarterly. He served on its editorial board until his death in 1995.

The following are the children of Andries. All have some Oregon connection: either they were born here, or moved here, or began their careers here before moving away.

Andries has other film addled children (Cinema Project, I’m looking at you!). These are the ones who write.

Jeff Bayer, The Scorecard Review

Jason Bellamy, The Cooler

Nick Bruno, The Rain Falls Down In Portlandtown

Dennis Cozzalio,  Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule

Erin Donovan, Steady Diet Of Film

Travis Ezell, No Time For Love, Mr. Jones!

Ryan Gallagher, The Criterion Cast

Stan Hall, Beyond The Multiplex

D. K. Holm, Cinemonkey

Brian Kellow, Kael: A Life After Dark

Shawn Levy, Mad About Movies

Jon Lewis, Oregon State University

Aaron Mesh, Willamette Week

Marc Mohan, Mohanthropy, Far From Hollyeood

Kim Morgan, Sunset Gun

Gary Morris, Bright Lights Film Journal, Bright Lights After Dark

Kevin J. Olson, Hugo Stiglitz Makes Films

Darleen Ortega, Opinionated Judge

Jamie S. Rich, Criterion Confessions, dvdtalk.com

Anne Richardson, Oregon Movies, A to Z

Bobby “Fatboy” Roberts, Damnit, Bobby, Nerd Puddle

Mike Russell, Culture Pulp

Eric Snider, Cinematical

Dawn Taylor, Cinematical

John Varley, varley.net

David Walker, Bad Azz Mo Fo, Indie Film Journal, The Missing Reel

Bill Warren, pioneering online film critic

Gary Wolcott, Mr. Movie

Kyle Yount, Kaijucast

Lillypadders are artists who make use of a limited stay to Oregon to push forward their careers. Miranda July is a classic lillypadder, as was Clark Gable, Callie Khouri and Eric Bogosian. John Varley and Chuck Palahniuk made the most of long stays in Oregon, but since they now live elsewhere, they fall within the lillypadder classification.

Edward Everett Horton (above) left Columbia University to pursue an acting career, which quest brought him to Portland, where he performed with the Baker Stock Company. He leapt from the Portland to Hollywood (this was during the silent era) and the rest, as they say, is history.

Portland continued to have a strong fan base for Horton. In the 1940’s he was invited to serve as Grand Marshal for the Rose Festival Parade.

I am fascinated by lillypadders. Please alert me when you learn of one.

I like this picture of John Varley because he likes it, and because it disguises the true nature of a writer’s life, which is almost the exact opposite of days spent outside at the beach listening to other people talk.

John Varley moved to Oregon in 1976 and commenced winning every science fiction award he could lay his hands on. He lives in LA now, but many of his novels were written during tenures in Eugene and Portland.

Hollywood’s one attempt to ride the literary meteor that is John Varley was Millennium, a caper film in which our intelligent but genetically traumatized descendants send Cheryl Ladd back in time to retrieve live humans to replenish the race’s screwed up DNA. Everything goes great until Kris Kristofferson finds a piece of her futuristic equipment, and begins to see through her cover.

If you can handle weird 80’s hairdos, see Millennium. If you don’t have that kind of patience, read Air Raid, the dazzling short story on which it was based.

I hereby claim Millennium as an Oregon film.

Saturday Market, Eugene, Oregon.

No, that’s not a picture of E. Max Frye. I don’t have any idea what Mr. Frye looks like, but here is some idea of the visual culture which surrounded him as he grew up in the largest city in Lane County, Oregon. I can vouch for that.

E. Max Frye shares his Eugene origins with Ken Kolb. Ditto John Varley, although Varley was a lillypadder who came to Eugene from Texas by way of Haight Asbury.

]]> http://www.talltalestruetales.com/2009/04/e-max-frye/feed/ 0 http://www.talltalestruetales.com/2009/01/jon-raymondwendy-and-lucy/ http://www.talltalestruetales.com/2009/01/jon-raymondwendy-and-lucy/#comments Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:44:48 +0000 Anne Richardson http://mufilmfest.episodecreative.com/?p=513

For people who missed it on Sunday, here’s Jeff Baker’s profile of Jon Raymond in the Oregonian.

My favorite part:

“Wendy and Lucy” is the second movie filmed in the same location Raymond used in a short story. The first, “Old Joy,” mostly takes place at Bagby Hot Springs, where Raymond and the gang from Plazm magazine once took photos of Bigfoot, with director Todd Haynes playing the lead role in a furry suit.

I’m trying to think of a New York magazine that would have thrown Todd into a furry suit and taken him to a hot springs. No wonder he moved to Portland!

Jon Raymond joins Ernest Haycox, Walt Morey, Ken Kesey, Walt Curtis, Jean Auel, John Varley and Chuck Palahniuk – all Oregon writers whose work has been adapted to the big screen.

Read more about Wendy and Lucy, which has replenished the spiritual stores of lots of hardened film critics, or better yet, go see it at Cinema 21.