Ian Svenonius

Movies5

• Movie

  Comedy

  This 16mm short film is an homage to the campy beach movies of the 1960s, set within a late 90s time capsule. Shot in 1998 and completed in 2025, the music-driven film features performances by DC and Boston indie rock legends The Make Up, Victory At Sea, and The Wicked Farleys. The film follows Greg and Lesley as they enjoy a summer’s day at the beach. After they befriend a group of locals, their day takes an unexpected turn when everyone gets hungry…

  Beach-O

  2025

• Movie6.5

  MusicDrama

  A group of high school teens steal a van full of music equipment and pretend to be a band called "Truckstop" in order to stay on the road. When the band starts playing gigs, their sound is largely inconsistent and incoherent, however, over time the band becomes increasingly competent in their musicianship.

  Half-Cocked

  1994 · 4 votes

• Movie7.0

  DocumentaryMusic

  Made with Washington DC's notorious gospel-punk outfit The Make-Up. The musicians seek "creative asylum" in a subcultural womb. This road movie is, in the words of a Parisian critic, "comme si Foucault roulait avec les situationistes dans le Scooby-Doo Van". It is both a lyrical document of a time and space(s) which no longer exist as well as a record of one of the most kick-ass bands on earth.

  Blue Is Beautiful

  1997 · 2 votes

• Movie

  DocumentaryMusic

  From 1990 to 1994, ground zero for the all-ages, alt-rock scene in Portland was the X-Ray Cafe. Brought to life and operated as a flight of fancy by Benjamin Arthur Ellis and Tres Shannon, the X-Ray was both a critical venue for emerging local and touring bands and hang-out for an amazing array of outcasts, street kids and creative eccentrics of all stripes. When band such as Crackerbash, Sprinkler, Poison Idea, Hell Cows, Smegma, Dead Moon, Hitting Birth, Beat Happenings, Cake, Hole, Green Day or the Spinanes were not on stage, anything from poetry to Spanish lessons to a sewing circle might have connected and entertained the customers. Whether shelter, social or information hub, or music mecca, the X-Ray represented and remains, in age-old fashion, a key chapter in many Portlander's coming of age. Ellis's film, loaded with interviews and performance clips, is a spirited valentine to the craziness and glory of days gone by and to the many who called the X-Ray home.

  X-Ray Visions: A Look Inside Portland's Legendary X-Ray Cafe

  2000

• Movie8.0

  Documentary

  Portrait of legendary artist and groupie Cynthia Plaster Caster famous for plaster casting the penises of rock stars.

  Plaster Caster

  2003 · 3 votes