First Love (1977)
92 min, Drama/Romance
The tagline for this film is “Why doesn’t anyone tell you there’s a difference between making love and being in love?” If that doesn’t make you want to watch it I don’t know what will. Based on the story Sentimental Education by Harold Brodkey, the movie follows the relationship between young college student Elgin and his first lover, Caroline, who has to choose between Elgin and an older man she is seeing.
The Possessed (1977)
76 min, Horror
Calling this movie “horror” is a bit like calling carrot cake “healthy”. I mean, I guess there are some elements there but when they’re all thrown together it’s a bit hard to tell. In this movie, Reed stars as the campus for an all-girls boarding school. Somehow Harrison Ford is one of the teachers. Supernatural events cause the school to hire an exorcist and at one point the Reed pool is set on fire. It’s a classic.
Feast of Love (2007)
101 min, Comedy/Drama/Romance
A movie about intermingling tales of love, this story stars Morgan Freeman and is set in a small Oregon community. Reed’s front lawn is shown, as well as Eliot circle, although none of the scenes are actually supposed to be Reed specifically. Portland coffee shop Fresh Pot is also featured.
Into the Wild (2007)
148 min, Adventure/Biography/Drama
Brilliant student/athlete Christopher McCandless graduates from Emory University, donates his savings to charity, and hitchhikes to Alaska. “Filmed at Reed” might be a slight exaggeration for this movie, as really it’s only featured in the Emory graduation shots, but whatever.
Blue Like Jazz (2012)
106 min, Comedy/Drama
This is the only movie on the list that is actually about Reed. As a way of escaping his conservative religious upbringing, 19-year-old Don flees to Reed and gets up to all sorts of mischief. Somehow the movie manages to get most things about Reed inaccurately and has acquired a reputation around campus for being pretty awful (there was a screening of it last year). However, the movie has some charming moments and it’s fun to spot familiar scenes.
