Tag Archives: locations

The Adjustment Bureau

The Adjustment Bureau takes on some pretty big themes; fate, faith, chance, luck – good and bad – predestination, God. None of that matters though, because all you want is for the damaged Matt Damon to find love and happiness with the effervescent Emily Blount….

Stubby Matt (no favours done by that ill-fitting suit) plays a youthful congressman who meets a woman, played by Emily (perhaps in her best form since The Devil Wears Prada) in the loos at the Vanderbilt, and suddenly sees a life for himself that doesn’t include aching loneliness and constant craving. Unfortunately this stunning realisation is the cue for the appearance of The Adjustment Bureau, a shadowy, secretive, all-knowing, all-powerful Gods-and-Angels kind of organisation that makes subtle adjustments in the fabric of time, to get people back on course. And of course, the particular course they want for Matt does not include Emily….

So thus begins what is really a romantic-sci-fi-adventure-thriller-chase movie that scampers in and around and under New York City. But again, none of that matters because the stuttering, unfolding relationship between Matt and Emily is so heart-felt and so compelling. Wait til the pivotal kiss in the tea room in Central Park: you’ll also want them to be together. For ever.

With it’s film New York City storyline, The Adjustment Bureau was shot on location – no Toronto stand-ins here – and it shows. You can virtually smell the place. Emanuel Levy – you really must read this chap if you want informed takes on movies and their locations – has the best stuff on the scope of physical sites used during the filming. And if, like me, you’re wondering where the actual Adjustment Bureau building is: Continue reading →

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Who is the mysterious Half Blood Prince? What is a Half Blood Prince? Why Half Blood? Oh, and what is Ron Weasley wearing on his head? Yes, Ms. Rose is back from her holidays, so it’s back to a diet of kids’ movies and constant questions for me. And Harry Potter is back too, so that’s fortunate for all of us. The only trouble is I haven’t read the books and I haven’t seen a single HP movie since the very first one, so I’m not entirely sure what on Earth is going on…..

Anyway: is it a good film? Yes, but also no. All I can tell you is that the HP world – part English Heritage, part flight of fantasy – is incredibly well-realised, and the usual roll-out of Brit Thesps is impressive as ever. (Helena Bonham Carter plays herself, I believe….) However, the whole Boarding School thing still gives me chills, so that was kind of off-putting. And having once been a teenager myself, I believe there’s not a chance in hell that Harry and Hermione (both too pretty by far) wouldn’t have been snogging themselves silly, just to see. Hermione and that really ugly redhead? – not so much.  It also takes a while for the action to get going, so that by the time it does, you’re kind of mentally already heading for the exit.

JK Rowling – now as rich as Oprah of course, but apparently just as nice – notoriously insisted that this remarkable fantasy world be created only in England. So much for “Runaway Production.” Tour Operators the country over must be rubbing their hands with glee.

Battlestar Vancouver

Eek. I think I just became a Sci-Fi geek. I just sat through the first two seasons of Battlestar Gallactica, back to back. Don’t say I don’t know how to have a good time…..

Well written, dramatic, and often touching, BSG was of course filmed in Vancouver, Canada – which is pretty much kick-ass when it comes to on location filming. (though, as an aside, it reminds me of another BC-shot sci-fi pic – Stargate; apparently the actors on seeing the script were accustomed to moan “Not another wet planet?!”)

Anyway, apart from gratuitously trawling for pictures of Jamie Bamber in a towel, or falling ever so slighly in love with Katee Sackhoff, there’s a lot of interesting stuff on line, including a series of links to Vancouver locations at the Tahmoh Penikett-inspired blogspot.

The Waterfall Building at 1540 2nd Avenue, Vancouver has featured as the Caprican capital city in a number of episodes. There’s even a Google Earth/Maps site that links to locations.

Atonement

Finally saw Atonement over the weekend. Hadn’t been until now, because I’m a noisy sobber, and I didn’t want to embarass myself with too much loud and protracted weeping. But: I’m glad I saw it. It’s a beautifully-made film, with a truly memorable score, great costumes and period locations that are recreated with vivid attention to detail. If you are in any way interested in the production design elements that result in such a lush production, check out Peter Bowen’s Design of History story at FilminFocus.com    

Of course, being a British film, Visit Britain does the “best supporting” honours superbly, with wonderful information on Atonement’s locations and how to visit them. One of the most memorable scenes – the chaotic, disorderly and frankly disgraceful evacuation of British forces from Dunkirk, France – was actually filmed in Redcar in the north of England.

   

James McAvoy is disorientated in Dunkirk (Redcar) in Atonement 

But for a different take, also look at the Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council’s website for a glimpse of the real excitement, the enthusiasm, the willingness to cope with disruption, and of course the economic impacts of a major film.

Shirley Valentine

We have a pet hate in our family; the incessant and omnipresent Greek Tourism ad that tops and tails movie news on CNN. At 59 seconds, the (admittedly well-produced) spot seems longer than the snippet of film news it supports.

Now in comparison, last night we caught Shirley Valentine on tv. It’s a great little movie (Tom Conti’s accent notwithstanding) filmed in the village of Agios Ioannis on the island of Mykonos, and it effortlessly exudes the charm and simplicity of the Aegean. It simply makes you want to reinvent your life in the Greek sunshine. In fact, the movie (and stage play) have been so influential in positioning Greece as a lifestyle choice that “doing a Shirley Valentine” has entered the popular lexicon as an expression of escapism.

Oh My God, Can You Rent the Colosseum?!

For a Locations junkie, I took my own sweet time to get around to blogging about Jumper, the Hayden Christiansen / Samuel L Jackson sci fi pic about a young man who learns that he has the power of teleportation. Given his special skills, it’s unsurprising that the movie’s locations include Paris, China, Egypt, the Sahara, Toronto, New York, Michigan, Tokyo and Rome.

Most impressive of these, the Rome Film Commission granted rare access to film in the Colosseum for three days.

Jumper

The New York Times reports this film-making coup to have been made possible by Rome Mayor, Walter Veltroni, “an unabashed cinephile with a soft spot for Hollywood glitz. Mayor Veltroni dined with Tom Cruise & Katie Holmes on the eve of their Italian wedding, and was primarily responsible for creating the Rome Film Festival, which took place for the first time in October. On the business front, his administration has streamlined the process for getting filming permits, and authorizes more than 2,000 shoots in the city each year.”

To make Jumper happen, the crew was required to keep equipment off the ground by using harnesses and to rely only on natural light for filming the Colosseum’s scenes.

Cape Town cranks up Locations & Permitting

Cape Town has had a decade-long reputation as a thriving film hub with a “can do” attitude. However, this season, the sector has been hit by a number of locations management issues that industry insiders are calling a “crisis”. Following an Industry Locations meeting called on 6th December 2007, the Cape Film Commission has responded swiftly and positively:

 Lord of War  Made in Cape Town – Lord of War

Interventions include: Continue reading →

New York Movie Locations

I once attended Production East, a movie industry trade show in New York, where the troublesome subject of “runaway production” was repeatedly raised. (“runaway” being the quaintly xenophobic term used by certain people in America who believe they are entitled to sole ownership of the production processes of the worldwide film industry). New York at the time was recently post 9-11, and cities like Toronto and Vancouver had considerably upped their game to play regular stand-in for NYC. And New Yorkers were cross. After three days of panel discussions and debate, and apparently little willingness by any New Yorker crew to do stuff like cut their rates, a frustrated delegate finally said: “So what are we going to do about runaway production to Toronto? The eminent panellists looked at each other, a little non-plussed for a while, and then one said with a goofy grin: “Nuke it?” Oh, the hilarity! But there was no further discussion about how NYC could become more competitive……

Anyway, that was then. Now it would seem that the whole discussion was moot anyway, since I’ve noted, even from my own blog, just how many recent movies have been set in – and actually filmed in – New York. Check out the New York in the Movies site; it’s an eye-opener.

National Treasure

The second installment of Disney’s hugely successful National Treasure franchise entitled “The Book of Secrets”, starts when a missing page from the diary of Lincoln’s assassin implicates Ben’s ancestor in the crime. Determined to prove his ancestor’s innocence, Ben (Nicholas Cage) follows a chain of clues that takes him around some fantastic locations worldwide. Check out the video.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f7XC4E92fU 450 450]

Fair enough. However, I do have a wee problem with the plausibility of the scenario. You see, when you’re white, male, English and South African, you kind of get used to addressing the (considerable) sins of your forefathers. Think: slavery, colonisation, the class system, transportation, concentration camps, landmines, barbed wire – all England’s heritage. But actually NOT MY FAULT. So, should it ever come to light that Great Great Great Grandfather Cuff was posthumously accused of assassinating anybody, you could probably rest assured that I would not:

1. Kidnap the President of the United States.
2. Violate Parisian airspace with an unauthorized aircraft in the post 9-11 era
3. Break into Buckingham Palace
4. and the Library of Congress
5. Drive like mad through London (without being arrested, obviously)

But I’m just being picky. National Treasure – Book of Secrets is a fun film, the acting is good (well, it’s got Helen Mirren, hasn’t it? so that rather raises the bar) and it’s entertaining. So what if none of the main motivation makes the least bit of sense!