Murder In Portland

Rating:
Summary: REDEMPTION!
Review: I recently posted a review of another RAF film and I had the opportunity to watch this second film today and must admit, while I found the acting in Gods of Olympia to be pretty bad, this film redeemed itself with a cast of very talented, young stars and a really wonderful storyline. The storyline kept me glued to my seat. Def. low budget, but well worth the $29.95. Kudos to RAF and the cast of Murder in Portland for a job well down!

Rating:
Summary: Needs Much Improvement
Review: I recently sat down and watched "Murder In Portland"... what I was hoping for is by far from what I got. "Murder in Portland" tries to hard to be something that is really is not-- a well made gay film. The acting ranges from mediocre to downright horrible with production seeming very jittery and rushed. I seriously had the feeling that I was watching a student film assigned as a high school video production class project. The scenes that seem to hold up and give some credibility to the movie as an entirety as ruined with the cheesy midi-porn sounding music selection. I am very aware that music rights are quite expensive-- especially for a production company such as Richard Anthony Films that is just getting started... however, if they tried harder I am sure they could find some better fitting music... The things that perturbed me the most with this film was the editing itself. With good editing, the story would had flowed much more smoothly and the poor acting could have been overlooked much easier. But it is hard to watch anything when the video editing is bad to begin with. There are several shots where the sound does not line up-- as you see one character speaking and zoom over to the other only to see that it is clearly filmed two different times and meshed together quite poorly. I reccommend maybe they invest in more cameras so that they can film different angles all at once during the same shot-- enabling them to edit the scenes together more smoothly. Overall, the story is okay.. its falls into the gay cliches-- as to how gays are always mistreated.. there is are always some "flamers" in the group, and hey-- whenever you take a guy home it leads to sex. Overall, had fallen into all of these cliches-- the movie is very predictable. Also, another thing that bugged me was the locations. They shoot at some well known clubs, some of which I have been to. However, they totally take away the real feeling of the club by having very little "extras" cast to fill the dance floors and stuff. Everytime I have been to these clubs they have been wall to wall people-- not a few tables of old men and fag has sitting around clapping like they have just fallen off of a rerun from the Brady Bunch! I am terribly disappointed with this film. I hope in the future they find someone who is better at camera work-- and also get access to better script writings. I am not definite on this, but it feels as though they are just recycling pieces of their prior films in order to make new ones. I would not recommend this movie to anyone looking for well made entertainment. It feels like a cheaply made home movie gone awry!...

Rating:
Summary: Worst gay-themed movie I have ever seen -
Review: If it was possible to give a movie MINUS stars, that is exactly what I would have given this one. This movie is nothing but 99 minutes of bad acting and directing and should be removed from the market altogether. To charge $30 for such a piece of crap should be against the law.

Low budget movies does not always mean bad movie but in this case it's exactly what it means. (An example of a low budget movie that I truly love is "24 nights"). This movie has to be the worst gay themed movie I think I have ever seen and I would be too embarrassed to make it a part of my over 700 dvd collection, 50 of which are gay themed. So I will be putting it on the market SOON. There was not one aspect of this film that I liked. The acting was horrible, (I often felt like I was watching a school play) the actors were not particularly goodlooking, the directing sucked (My impression was that the director was in a hurry to get the film made and accepted the first take on every scene..seriously, it was THAT bad.), The cinematography was horrible, the sound, the picture quality, the soundtrack, etc. all was just AWFUL. Never again will I purchase another gay themed movie based on a hand full of reviews, especially not one that costs $30! It was bad, you guys, BAD. The worst of the worst...Sorry to sound so unenthusiastic and negative about the film but I just watched the end of the film just 15 minutes ago so it is all still very fresh in my mind. Hope this helps some of you make the decision NOT to waste your money on this dvd.

Rating:
Summary: No stars are too many stars!!!!
Review: If you are a true masochist, into heavy-duty self-flagellation, and if after you have beaten yourself to a bloody pulp, you still believe that you have not endured enough agony and pain - watch "Murder in Portland". On behalf of the State of Washington as well as for the benefit of its entire gay and lesbian community, a truly perfect selfless act of kindness would be to never allow Gael Richards to direct another film, to permanently pad-lock the studio door of Richard Anthony Films Production, and to burn the original negative as well as every copy of "Murder in Portland".

Rating:
Summary: Maumee, Ohio please crawl out of your hole
Review: Many people enjoy films because they allow us an escape...no one would deny that. But only a simple-minded lunkhead could enjoy such a worthless piece of dretch as Murder in Portland. And only a simple-minded lunkhead would try to ravage the integrity of a reviewer simply because he/she didn't enjoy a film, especially one of such low quality. You don't have to be a tired queen to know that this film is the pits. You only have to be a tired queen to accuse someone else of being one.

If your name is Biff...this movie may be for you. If you have any type of criteria by which you qualify a film, you'll throw this out of the window after viewing it.

Rating:
Summary: ?????
Review: No- really... did i just sit through this? i'm afraid so. and i'd like to warn anyone who hasn't yet--not to. This was probably one of the first times i bought a dvd because of the reviews.And it will be the last. C'mon people! did we watch the same movie? All of the actors were unattractive, except for the undercover cop, the runaway looked 14 years old. watching him have sex with the store owner was brutal. And the editing was so choppy and noisy that i had a migrane 20 minutes into it.Forget about the fact that i spent 30 bucks on this. I am very bitter. How can anyone have the balls to sell this? let alone make this movie. i laughed outloud several times during this film, and not because it was funny but because i couldnt beleive the lack of talent involved with this. Really, it was that bad. sorry.....

Rating:
Summary: Don't get (...)by this turd of a movie.
Review: Notice that nearly every 5 star review of this comes from Kansas City, MO? And nearly every other review tells you this stinks? I failed to notice that, and based on all those flowery reviews coming out of Kansas City, I rented two of these RAF films (this and "Revenge in Olympia"). What a colossal waste. Thank goddess I didn't actually buy these stinking heaps of putrid plastic. These films are an insult to (...)audiences, and a scam on Amazon's rating system.

The film: The acting is truly horrid. Worse than a bad (...). The script is painfully lame. The characters were trite, cliche, two-dimensional stereotypes. There is skin, but it is pointless and the guys are no better than average looking. The video quality and editing look like it was done with a cheap K-Mart video cam by a talentless highschooler. Forget low budget. This looks like it was done for about $15 from beginning to end.

I've seen lots of gay-themed movies, and I'm willing to forgive a lot when I know earnest film makers are honestly trying to create a vision or art on a minimal budget. I know it's tough to get backing for a (...)film. But these films are really, seriously, the worst I've ever seen. Even that I could forgive, but I'm really incensed that I was conned into renting them based on scam reviews on Amazon. The scammers should be ashamed of themselves. Stay away from these rip-offs; far, far away. Not even worth a couple bucks to rent. I would give this zero stars if I could.

Rating:
Summary: OLYMPIAN EFFORT
Review: OLYMPIAN EFFORT,

(...)All three of RAF's films take place in Olympia, WA. I watched "Murder" first and then, in a single afternoon, the first two as well. Their formula varies little, and includes: unusually cute young men (at least one of whom is troubled, new in town, and/or needs help); a sex scene or two (in the context of loving partners); a variety of characters of all ages and persuasions (their apparent use of street people is reminiscent of Gus Van Sant); a healthy dose of sex-ed and gay politics; good music. It works. The stories are interesting (even touching), the characters are winning (often beautiful), and the endings are positive.

"Murder" centers around a young and extraordinarily handsome 'straight' cop (not credited by role so I don't know his name, malheureusement), who is recruited to investigate the killing of two gay men. To say he learns MUCH about the gay community he infiltrates would be rather a zenith in understatement. Suffice it to say, he is dedicated to his work and goes 'under cover' in more ways than one to solve the crime.

All the RAF films have plenty to offer if you just look beyond their low-budget parameters and drink in the actors, characters, stories, and message. I can't wait for the next one, along with the pleasure of a sweet, funny, character-driven movie in this age of macho, jingoistic nonsense.

Rating:
Summary: A Anthropologist Look at RAF films.
Review: Review of the Richard Anthony Film releases from start to now. The production company has released four films. The first in 2001 with "Traveling to Olympia". They followed with Murder in Portland", Gods of Olympia and the last one Revenge in Olympia. All of these movies take place in the Pacific Northwest with three of four in the state capital of Washington. Four films in three years is quite a feat from a independent production company. Are they of Hollywood quality, no but they are as good as any straight or gay low budget independent film company. And make no mistake these are low budget films. What make the concept work is that they are made for the DVD release. There is no pretense that these are going to a theatrical release. They release these productions on both the internet and lesbian and gay books stores. With the thousands of films released for distribution and after checking web sites, I only found a few bad reviews. And all of these reviews sounded the same. It seemed that the same person wrote all the comments. It also seemed that they all were the same type of person. Someone who with the power of the review can make a unfair statement in the community. I am guessing this is a person who never gets cruised at the bar and has had a hard time getting a date. So he goes back to his small apartment and takes it out on RAF. Everyone has the right to speak, it is some who speak with authority and others from picayune. I would expect that the first film was a learning experience for RAF. I thought the films got better and all had great stories. I learned something from each movie, the stories were original and historically correct. Remember no one made you spend the first 29.95, and if you did not like it why spend more for the other three. It seems you are not admitting you buy the movies not for the story but for the cute sex scenes. That is fine, I am sure the producers have that as part of their markenting plan.

I understand Richard Anthony Films is starting a new project, by providing venture capital for new young film makers. These first films will be a works in progress and should get better with time. I am old enough to remember the only gay movie at the time was "Boy's in the Band". Now we have gay movies on TV, gay plays at the local community theater, and for better or worse. To all of those people who want to put down RAF put up your own $50,000 make a movie then you will have the right to criticize those who have. These are very small people in our community and do not represent the

Rating:
Summary: OLYMPIAN EFFORT, GOOD JOB
Review: Reviewer: Miles Fusco (see more about me) from NEW YORK, NY USA
All three of RAF's films take place in Olympia, WA. I watched "Murder" first and then, in a single afternoon, the first two as well. Their formula varies little, and includes: unusually cute young men (at least one of whom is troubled, new in town, and/or needs help); a sex scene or two (in the context of loving partners); a variety of characters of all ages and persuasions (their apparent use of street people is reminiscent of Gus Van Sant); a healthy dose of sex-ed and gay politics; good music. It works. The stories are interesting (even touching), the characters are winning (often beautiful), and the endings are positive.

"Murder" centers around a young and extraordinarily handsome 'straight' cop (not credited by role so I don't know his name, malheureusement), who is recruited to investigate the killing of two gay men. To say he learns MUCH about the gay community he infiltrates would be rather a zenith in understatement. Suffice it to say, he is dedicated to his work and goes 'under cover' in more ways than one to solve the crime.

All the RAF films have plenty to offer if you just look beyond their low-budget parameters and drink in the actors, characters, stories, and message. I can't wait for the next one, along with the pleasure of a sweet, funny, character-driven movie in this age of macho, jingoistic nonsense.