Untraceable - the movie

Untraceable vs unwatchable

There’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance of Burnside in the trailer for an upcoming movie called Untraceable. It happens slightly over half way through the trailer, and looks like a short spot for cell phone service. The movie looks like it is supposed to take place in Portland, so the shot a bunch of location shots, including Burnside. Hey does Gus Van Sant know this is going on? When is Paranoid Park coming out over here anyway? It’s just like Ash said when she contributed this bit of news, “Why not put Burnside in a movie??? Haha, PDX is blown out!” Portland is hot for murders on the big screen right now. So will Untraceable be unwatchable? The last one they did here (The Hunter) with Benicio Del Toro and Tommy Lee Jones was a major dud, but the local weeklies sure loved to talk up the Benicio sightings. Diane Lane wasn’t as interesting apparently, or maybe they shot all her outdoor stuff in Vancouver BC.

So who was there when they filmed this, and did Burnside get it’s customary appearance fee in the form of a donation made for park maintenance?

Discussion

13 thoughts on “Untraceable vs unwatchable

  1. jaymeericle on December 27, 2007 - Reply

    YEah the park got paid. I was there not an extra though..
    I also was able to do some artwork in the background aerosol pimpin ya know..!
    I think Lil Brent is in the trailer also!
    AH, its the Hunted.
    Street also filmed for their movie a small scene at bside a couple months ago. Low budget though.
    word word, word on the street

  2. Tom Miller on December 27, 2007 - Reply

    “The Hunted.” Some of you have heard this story but I like telling it because it makes me laugh because it’s retarded so I’m telling it again.

    I was at Burnside one day in the fall of 2000 when two obviously non-skaters jumped up on the deck (where the curbs are set) from the street below. There were maybe 10 skaters present and I think we all pretty much wondered what was up with these people since the design and vibe of the place pretty clearly tell you intuitively where gapers belong and where they don’t.

    They were suspiciously hip for middle aged types, but since almost anything goes at Burnside, we just kept skating.

    After a few minutes of surveying the scene, I noticed they were starting to follow me. They caught up to me on the vert wall next to the fruit trucks.

    “Hi, we’re with ‘The Hunted,’ the movie being shot here in town. You know, with Benecio del Toro?”

    “Huh?”

    “Benecio del Toro, the actor?”

    “Never heard of him. What’s up?”

    “So like we said, we’re filming this movie and we’re looking for extras. We’d need you tomorrow for about four hours. We’ll feed you and pay you $100 for each hour you’re on the set. Interested?”

    “Not really my thing. What’s the part?”

    “Street kid.”

    “(Burst out laughing…) Tomorrow I’ll be at my law school’s low income legal clinic providing legal counsel to the kind of people you want me to pretend to be. I don’t think I can help you. Maybe try in front of Peterson’s between 9th and 10th on the MAX line for real street kids. They could probably use the money and the food more than me.”

    “Uh, thanks.”

    [End of conversation.]

    To this day, I still wonder why they sought out the cleanest cut dude at the park for the part of a street kid. Hollywood. I guess that’s all the explanation I need.

  3. In The Hunted Tommy Lee Jones claws his way up the lawn from the fountain by the Civic Auditorium and he can see Burnside!

  4. Chris Stevens on December 28, 2007 - Reply

    Yeah the Hunted kind of throws Portland geography to the wind. There’s the scene where Del Toro jumps off the Hawthorne bridge and apparently floated all the way to Oregon City. Pretty hard since it’s upriver about 18 miles.

    I got held up on Belmont street about a year ago for this new filming. The movie people seem to think they carry as much cred wherever they go as they do in Hollywood. They didnt like my reaction to being stopped on the street for a half an hour while they did their thing.

    We should try and get everyone to move here, I think I saw some some extra space on the freeway the other day.

  5. enemy combatant on December 28, 2007 - Reply

    “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.”

  6. Good story Tom. 100% believable except for the part about not knowing who Benicio was. Come on, the famous mumbler from The Usual Suspects?

    Seriously though, I hadn’t heard it yet. It’s a good one.

    Still, $400 isn’t bad if you’ve got the day off.

  7. Tom Miller on December 28, 2007 - Reply

    I’m not really a movie guy… too ADD. I don’t recall a movie called The Usual Suspects, for example. So yeah, it’s true I didn’t know the name at the time. Amazing how blissfully ignorant one can be without teevee.

  8. I sold a camera to benecio’s stunt double. Guy looked just like him except he wasn’t worth millions. Hundreds of thousands tho maybe…

  9. Speakin of usual suspects and skatin who’s down with STEPHEN BALDWIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  10. Rent the Usual Suspects Tom, it’s a great flick. As a lawyer you’ll probably like it.

  11. See kwag, I want to contribute.

  12. See that guy in the brown looking over the park next to the kid with the dreads? Yep, thats me! (Sage set it up for us to skate and get some cash, but my wardrobe wasn’t cutting it so I got to sit) I am famous now, or at least the back of my head!!! HAHAHAHAHA……. 75.00 to sit there, wasn’t a bad days work. They did so many takes on that scene.

  13. Mango on May 22, 2008 - Reply

    did anyone else who saw this kinda think the guy in the clip looked like Brent atchley from the side..
    not the one holding the psp or w/e the hell it is.. but the one who he shows it to

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