Well, this is kind of a weird one because it’s literal . . .
The original Footloose was shot at my high school and around the general area (Payson, Utah). In fact, I’m in the cafeteria scene! Many kids I know were used as extras and it’s fun to watch the film: “Wow! Look how young Brad was!”
I got to meet and spend time with not-yet-quite-famous Kevin Bacon and Sarah-Jessica Parker. Thusly, I always win “7-Degrees of Kevin Bacon.”
(The only really dissonant thing for me is that the film is supposed to be set in the FLAT Midwest and the 12,000’ Wasatch mountain range looms in most of the outdoor shots).
Ditto. Well, I didn’t *live *there but spent a lot of time due to friends and family. I *did *grow up in Torrance, home of Dirk Diggler, so there’s that.
Double ditto Sixteen Candles.
The one that hurts my heart with longing and nostalgia is Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
I went to the school where it was filmed. At the time it was filmed. Obviously, some things were pretty absurd, like underage kids with live ammunition. the campus is way to open to actually fortify it against the National Guard…things like that. But, the day to day dorm life, the parades, the issues with the Townies…these things were pretty close to what it was like.
My Blue Heaven was shot in my home town and several neighboring towns. I think I was in high school at the time. I know the real location of almost every shot, and can often tell you what the real shops were named. (They changed the signs in many of the scenes to use fictional store names). Other than geography, there’s not a lot there that captures the feel or culture of the place in a particularly memorable way.
Haven’t seen it. The President’s Analyst has scenes supposedly set in Seaside Heights, N.J., which look nothing like Seaside Heights, N.J. – now or then.
And don’t get me started on Buckaroo Bonzai. The scenes supposedly set in New Brunswick, N.J. aren’t even remotely right. And the scenes in Grover’s Mill…!
Pepper Mill grew up in Grover’s Mill*. There ain’t no palm trees. There’s no Yoyodyne (although other defense contractors have rolled in and out of the area), but the Yoyodyne plant looks as if it’s bigger than the actual Grover’s Mill is.
*after seeing the movie, she and her friends adopted aliases of the form John_______. I know her “John” name.
The only movie that is set in what I consider my home town, though I actually grew up in the boonies outside of town, is “Groundhog Day.” Even excluding the magical elements of the plot, they really didn’t capture the look or feel of the town on Groundhog Day (or any other day) in the early 1990’s. Punxsutawney isn’t nearly that prosperous looking. It has been steadily declining in population since the 1920’s. Downtown has few businesses. It has an aging population as there is little employment for the young. Fictional Punxsutawney is an altogether nicer, happier place than the real Punxsutawney.
“Rudy” was shot in my hometown. My husband and I took the day off and drove back the day they were shooting the crowd scenes in the football stadium so that we could be a part of the experience. We were told to dress “like we would have in the '70s” and after rummaging around we found some suitable clothes. We were supposed to dress for a chilly late autumn day, but the day of the shoot, it was a hot sunny late April day, so it was a challenge not to look as though we were steaming.
I was in high school during the '70s, and the cast of the show were remarkably similar to me and my friends. I looked not unlike a taller Eric,with similar clothes and hairstyle, I was dating a girl not unlike Donna (brunette instead of redhead), and had friends very like Hyde, Kelso, Jackie, and Fez. Now that I think about it, there were actually two Jackies, one for Kelso and one for Hyde.
Very, very familiar feel to the whole show, aside from the pot, which I didn’t use (the rest of the crew, on the other hand…)
I have a kind of reverse example. One section of “Away We Go” was set in Montreal. I said to myself, “This looks NOTHING like Montreal!” Turns out it was filmed in Vermont.
“Sometimes a Great Notion” , the other Ken Kesey book filmed in Oregon is an accurate depiction of Gyppo, or independent logger’s competitions with the large corporate firms in the early '70s on the Oregon Coast. Back when you logged for Crown Zellerbach or you didn’t cut trees. It has the look and feel of the place I grew up in and where I still live.
The corporations do little logging now and it is all independents ala “Axe Men”, but for a while the corps where really trying to push/burn/run them out of town.
Paul Newman, Henry Fonda, and other great cast members. A good movie if you have never seen it.
I hate quoting Matt Love as he is quite a local jerk. But here:
I’m not aware of any movie about Alaska that was set in the 50s/60s. That said, most movies/TV shows about Alaska are filmed in Canada and do not reflect reality.
Teachers, a forgotten '80’s flick with Nick Nolte and Crispin Glover. It was a movie about high school, filmed when I was in high school, at a local high school, including several high school classmates as extras.
