29 Oregon-filmed movies and TV shows to watch when youre home because of coronavirus – OregonLive

Even if coronavirus concerns are keeping us at home, we can still explore the beauty of the Oregon landscape, revisit jaw-droppingly strange-but-true history, and remember when locals got their noses out of joint over a comedy series that spoofed politically correct Portlanders. Whether you crave a virtual trip to the outdoors or are feeling nostalgic, streaming services provide a binge-worthy batch of Oregon-related movies and TV shows.

So, sit back, keep up your social distancing, and bring a little Oregon to your living room with our list of notable comedies, dramas, documentaries and animated features.

MOVIES FOR FAMILIES

The Goonies: Viewers who were kids when they first saw this 1985 adventure have shared it with their own children, which is why the Goonies nostalgia train just keeps running. As Josh Gads recent YouTube reunion of the original cast demonstrates, theres truth to the catchphrase, Goonies never say die. The story of Oregon Coast kids who use a treasure map to search for riches that may save their family homes keeps viewers coming back, and draws tourists each year to Astoria, where much of the movie filmed. (Rent on Amazon Prime Video)

Stand By Me: Stephen Kings novella, The Body, inspired this 1986 classic, about four boys who come from different backgrounds, but form a bond as they search for a missing teen in the Willamette Valley. Stars Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman and Jerry OConnell will make you laugh, make you cry, then make you laugh again. Locations include Brownsville. (Rent on Amazon Prime Video)

Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made: Adapted from the bestselling book by Stephan Pastis, this Disney Plus movie tells the whimsical story of an 11-year-old boy whose imagination sends him around Portland investigating cases for his supposed detective agency, with his polar bear partner in tow. The Portland locations are down-to-earth glimpses of the city, and the cast, including Winslow Fegley as Timmy, is sympathetic and likable. (Stream on Disney Plus)

Free Willy: A 1993 family film about a boy (Jason James Richter) who makes friends with a captive orca whale, and hatches a plot to let the whale escape. Keiko, the real orca in the movie, was a crowd-pleasing attraction at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, in Newport for a few years. Locations include Portland, Astoria and the Hammond Marina, where, in the film, Willy jumps to his freedom. (Rent on Amazon Prime Video; stream on Hulu)

Twilight: It seems like 100 years ago that Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson starred in the first chapter of the saga about romance between a human high school student, Bella Swan, and the much older, but young-looking vampire, Edward Cullen. While the Twilight movies got sillier the longer the saga went on, this 2008 effort had the benefit of Northwest flavor. Stephenie Meyers novel was set in Forks, Washington, but Oregon was used for many of the movie locations, with scenes filmed in St. Helens, Portland, the Columbia River Gorge, and more. (Rent on Amazon Prime Video)

Kindergarten Cop: Another movie not exactly made to dazzle critics, this 1990 comedy stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as a Los Angeles Police Detective who, on the trail of a drug dealer, goes to Astoria, where he winds up working undercover as a kindergarten teacher. Sounds plausible, right? Locations include Astoria, the movie star of the Oregon Coast. (Rent on Amazon Prime Video; stream on Hulu)

Mr. Hollands Opus: This 1995 tearjerker is a salute to Glenn Holland (Richard Dreyfuss), an aspiring composer who winds up teaching music at a fictional Portland high school. Its corny, but the movie was filmed on location in Northeast Portlands Grant High School, so students can get a virtual campus feeling even if they cant physically attend school. (Rent on Amazon Prime Video; stream on Hulu)

MOVIES FOR ADULTS

Wild: Portland-based writer Cheryl Strayeds bestselling memoir about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail amid personal turmoil remains a perpetual favorite with readers. The 2014 movie adaptation of Strayeds book is well-made and heartfelt, with fine performances by Reese Witherspoon as Strayed, and Laura Dern as the authors late mother. Locations include Bend, Ashland, Cascade Locks and Portland. (Rent on Amazon Prime Video)

Leave No Trace: After The Oregonian reported on the case of a teenage girl and her father, who were found living in Forest Park, writer Peter Rock wrote My Abandonment, a novel inspired by the true story. This tale of a father and daughter living off the grid was adapted into a touching 2018 movie, directed by Debra Granik (Winters Bone), and starring Thomasin McKenzie and Ben Foster. Locations include the Portland area, Estacada and Newberg. (Free on Amazon Prime Video for Prime customers)

Lean On Pete: British filmmaker Andrew Haigh (Looking) wrote and directed this 2018 adaptation of Oregon writer and musician Willy Vlautins novel. Charlie Plummer stars as Charley, a 15-year-old who comes to Portland with his father, Ray (Travis Fimmel). When trouble arises at home, Charley spends time at a racetrack, where he helps cares for an aging horse named Lean On Pete. Locations include the old Portland Meadows in North Portland, and Harney County. (Free on Amazon Prime Video for Prime customers)

Wendy and Lucy: Portland-based writer Jonathan Raymond and director Kelly Reichardt have collaborated on a number of projects, most recently the quiet, but deeply affecting First Cow. The 2008 movie, Wendy and Lucy, is a characteristically minimalistic work, but one that becomes increasingly poignant as it goes on. Michelle Williams stars. Locations include Portland, Salem and Woodburn. (Free on Amazon Prime Video for Prime customers)

Related: Director Kelly Reichardt on First Cow, and why she makes films in Oregon

Night Moves: Another low-key, tense collaboration from writer Jonathan Raymond and director Kelly Reichardt. The 2013 movie tells the story of a trio of environmental activists who plan to blow up a dam. Its subtle, but gripping, and features striking work by Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning and Peter Sarsgaard. Locations include Roseburg, Medford and Ashland. (Free on Amazon Prime Video for Prime customers)

Meeks Cutoff: Kelly Reichardt and writer Jonathan Raymond again worked together on this 2011 Western loosely inspired by a historic event, in 1845. The film features a guide named Stephen Meek (Bruce Greenwood), whos leading a group of settlers across the Oregon high desert. But the settlers begin to suspect Meek isnt all he claims to be. Michelle Williams stars. Locations include Burns and other Harney County areas. (Free on Amazon Prime Video for Prime customers; stream on Hulu)

I Dont Feel at Home in This World Anymore: Melanie Lynskey stars as Ruth, a nursing assistant whos already feeling down, and then finds out that her house has been burglarized. When the police dont seem interested in doing anything about the crime, Ruth, along with an unstable-looking neighbor (Elijah Wood), set out on a quest to find the thieves. Macon Blair wrote and directed the 2017 dark comedy-thriller. Locations include Portland, Wilsonville and Lake Oswego. (Stream on Netflix)

Drugstore Cowboy: Director Gus Van Sant lived for several years in Portland, and this 1989 movie is, among its other qualities, a postcard of the way the Rose City used to look. Matt Dillon and Kelly Lynch star in a 70s-set story about drug addicts who rob pharmacies to pay for their habit. Van Sant made other features in Portland, including My Own Private Idaho, Elephant and Paranoid Park, but Drugstore Cowboy remains one of his best. (Rent on Amazon Prime Video)

The Shining: You could get all technical about it, and point out that the 1980 thriller, starring Jack Nicholson, did very little filming in Oregon. Yes, the exterior shots of Timberline Lodge are supposed to be the Overlook Hotel, where lots of bad things happen. But since were likely not getting to Mount Hood anytime soon, well take what we can get. (Rent on Amazon Prime Video)

One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest: The late Ken Kesey wrote the novel that inspired the multi-Oscar-winning movie, starring Jack Nicholson in one of his best roles. Set in a mental hospital, the film focuses on the rebellious Randle McMurphy (Nicholson), and his clashes with authoritarian Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher). The 1975 movie has elements that may feel offensive to todays viewers, but there are classic moments. Locations include the Oregon State Hospital in Salem, and the central Oregon Coast. (Rent on Amazon Prime Video)

Animal House: For nostalgic Oregonians, this 1978 rowdy comedy (sometimes known by its full name, National Lampoons Animal House) summons memories of toga parties, the outrageous antics of John Belushis Bluto Blutarsky, food fights, and blow-out blasts at the fictional Faber College and Delta house fraternity. More sensitive souls may find the 70s humor has dated, but its a kick to see circa-70s locations in Eugene, Cottage Grove, the University of Oregon, and more. (Rent on Amazon Prime Video; stream on Hulu, with the addition of Starz)

Paint Your Wagon: If youre truly desperate for something to watch, this 1969 musical Western offers more Oregon scenery. Thats the good part. Less great is the fact that Lee Marvin sings -- or tries to. Costar Clint Eastwood also lends his pipes to the tune, I Talk to the Trees. Critics mostly blew raspberries at this supposed blockbuster. The stories about what went on during the filming near Baker City, in Eastern Oregon, makes things sound pretty wild (hippie extras!). As for the movie, its hokey (sample song title: Hand Me Down That Can o Beans), but harmless. And did we mention the gorgeous Oregon scenery? (Free on Amazon Prime Video for Prime customers)

Related: Paint Your Wagon, The Goonies, Grimm and more: The Oregon film and TV office turns 50

ANIMATED MOVIES

Laika features: The Hillsboro animation studio is known for the painstaking care lavished on its stop-motion animated features. Examples include the Golden Globe-winning, Oscar-nominated Missing Link (2019), about a Sasquatch living in a Pacific Northwest forest who joins forces with an explorer for globe-trotting adventures in the 1800s. (Rent on Amazon Prime Video; stream on Hulu.)

Other Laika features include 2016s Kubo and the Two Strings(YouTube Movies); 2014s The Boxtrolls (YouTube Movies); 2012s ParaNorman (iTunes); and 2009s Coraline (stream on Hulu).

TV

Portlandia: Remember the good old days, when locals worried about what message a comedy sketch show was sending, instead of panicking about a pandemic and economic catastrophe? Return with us now to the balmy past, when the IFC series co-created by and costarring Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein made Portland look like the world capital of political correctness. Even if youre sick to death of hearing about the feminist bookstore, and Colin the chicken, watching Portlandia -- which aired from 2011 to 2018 -- feels like a trip back to another, less stressed-out era. (Streaming on Netflix; and fuboTV)

Related: Saying goodbye to Portlandia, and the citys love/hate relationship with the show

Grimm: The premise was far-fetched, but the NBC drama about a Portland Police homicide detective who had the power to see the supernatural creatures lurking below the surface of seemingly ordinary folks developed a devoted following. In its 2011-2017 run, Grimm made Portland look like the scene of a dark fantasy you know, like Grimms fairy tales. (Free on Amazon Prime Video for Prime customers)

Related: Grimm may be ending, but its impact on Portland remains

Shrill: In its first two seasons of the Portland-filmed comedy, weve watched as Annie (played by Aidy Bryant, of Saturday Night Live fame) has struggled to deal with her own ambitions to be a writer, her lack of confidence, her messy relationships and a few other neuroses. Bryant is a fine lead, and shes joined by a terrific supporting cast. Catch up now, because the series has been renewed for a third season. (Stream on Hulu)

Leverage: The 2008-2012 series about a group of reformed crooks who took on jobs where they could stick it to fat cats and win justice for everyday people moved its production to the Portland area for Season 2. A rebooted revival is in the works for IMDb TV, with Noah Wyle starring (in place of Timothy Hutton) and other original cast members returning. (Stream previous seasons on the IMDb TV channel, which is available to Amazon Prime Video customers)

The Librarians: A spinoff of a series of TV movies made for TNT, the fantasy-adventure followed a group of gifted eccentrics who used their skills to solve mysteries and, sometimes, save the world. Like Leverage, the series filmed in and around the Portland area. It aired from 2014 to 2018. (Stream on Hulu)

Everything Sucks!: The series about a group of high school kids in Boring, Oregon in the 1990s had a good heart, and cast a compassionate eye on the travails and triumphs of the mostly misfit characters. Unfortunately, it only lasted one season. (Stream on Netflix)

Trinkets: Another moody/sensitive series about high school students struggling to find themselves, Trinkets tells the story of Elodie (Brianna Hildebrand), an unwilling transplant to Portland, who forms surprising friendships with schoolmates, Moe (Kiana Madeira), and Tabitha (Quintessa Swindell). The series will return for a second season, but that will be the last one. (Stream on Netflix)

DOCUMENTARIES

Wild Wild Country: Oregonians who have lived here for a while already know about the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Ma Anand Sheela, and the followers who descended on Central Oregon in the early 1980s. But everyone else apparently first learned about this bizarre-but-true saga thanks to Chapman Way and Maclain Ways six-part 2018 documentary series. (Stream on Netflix)

Related: Netflix documentary on Rajneeshees in Oregon revisits an amazing, enraging true story

The Battered Bastards of Baseball: Before they dug into Oregon Rajneeshee history, filmmakers Chapman Way and Maclain Way made this entertaining 2014 documentary about the Portland Mavericks baseball team. (Stream on Netflix)

-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist

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29 Oregon-filmed movies and TV shows to watch when youre home because of coronavirus - OregonLive