americaine

It is always fun to watch movies that are filmed in your location before you go. A friend and I are traveling to the Seattle / Portland area next month and I was wondering if anyone knew of any good movies filmed here. Thanks!

ALF

Not to belabor the obvious, but, "Sleepless in Seattle" comes to mind. The beginning part of "War Games" was filmed north of Seattle.

xxx

The recent movie starring Cuba Gooding Jr. on a submarine was filmed in Portland, though you would never guess it from the movie.

John

Here’s a list of a few more shot at least partly in Seattle.
“It Happened at the World’s Fair” – Elvis, 1963
“The Parallax View” – Warren Beatty in a memorable paranoia-inducing flick
“Twice in a Lifetime” – Gene Hackman and Ann-Margaret
“House of Games” – David Mamet’s quirky whodunnit
“Say Anything” – great John Kusak vehicle written and directed by Cameron Crowe (“Almost Famous” from last year is biographical)
“Singles” – Bridget Fonda, Cameron Crowe et al.
“Assassins” – Sly Stallone and Antonio Banderas
“Ten things I Hate About You” – “Taming of the Shrew” in set in Tacoma, featuring wonderful Stadium High.
“Get Carter” – Sly again in a remake of a (better, really) Michael Caine film from the 70s.
“Five Easy Pieces” – Some parts filmed in Portland and Eugene

Dan

Here's a list of films and TV shows that have filmed in Seattle, courtesy of the Seattle Film Office. (Sorry for the all-caps presentation--that's the way it appeared on their Web site.) The page I got them from is:

http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/film/shoot.htm

TUGBOAT ANNIE
IT HAPPENED AT THE WORLD'S FAIR
THE SLENDER THREAD
BEFORE AND AFTER
CINDERELLA LIBERTY
ELEANOR AND FRANKLIN
HARRY IN YOUR POCKET
THE LIVES OF JENNY DOLAN
THE MAGICIAN
SINGLES
SWEET REVENGE
YOUNG JOE, THE FORGOTTEN KENNEDY
AN ACT OF LOVE
BAREFOOT IN THE PARK
THE LAST CONVERTIBLE
JACQUELINE BOUVIER KENNEDY
PLAZA SUITE
EDEN REFLECTIONS OF MURDER
MURDER SHE WROTE
HYPE!
TWICE IN A LIFETIME
RAPE OF RICHARD BECK
TROUBLE IN MIND
BLACK WIDOW
HARRY AND THE HENDERSONS
PARALLAX VIEW
HOUSE OF GAMES
SEVEN HOURS TO JUDGMENT
A YEAR IN THE LIFE
THIRD DEGREE BURN
DAREDREAMER
CLASS OF 1999
THE VANISHING
COME SEE THE PARADISE
CHILD IN THE NIGHT
THE YEAR OF MY JAPANESE COUSIN
NORTHERN EXPOSURE
INNOCENT LOVE
TO CROSS THE RUBICON
ORPHEUS
THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE
CRAZY IN LOVE
DOGFIGHT
AMERICAN HEART SHREDDER
FIRE WALK WITH ME
WITH A VENGEANCE
FABULOUS BAKER BOYS
SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE
MAD LOVE
DISCLOSURE
BETTER OFF DEAD
LITTLE BUDDHA
THREAT OF INNOCENCE
UNDER ONE ROOF
THE DANGER OF LOVE
STARMAN
KATIE
GEORGIA
ASSASSINS

Dr. Killjoy

John Badham's hilarious "Stakeout" with Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estives (sp?) and the sequel-no-one-wanted-cause-of-Rosie-O'Donnell "Another Stakeout" was Seattle, too!

John

Actually, like so many other movies and TV shows ("X Files") these days which purport to be set in Seattle, the "Stakeout" movies were filmed in Vancouver BC, which has a favorable exchange rate and first-class film industry infrastructure. It's very irritating to those of us who live in Seattle to watch car chases with Washington plates on the vehicles, but roaring through streets we know to be in Vancouver, or, in the case of "Roxanne" with Steve Martin, or the first Rambo movie ("First Blood"), through Nelson BC, which is a cute, but distinctly Canadian, place.
For what it's worth, though, most of the general town shots for the current series of "The Fugitive" are filmed in Everett, just north of Seattle. Even Everett gets 15 minutes of fame...

sheri

It's been a while since I've seen them, but I'm pretty sure that a couple of Gus Van Zant's films ("Drugstore Cowboy" and "My Own Private Idaho") take place at least partially in Portland.

Robyn

John,

We feel the same way here in Vancouver, only the opposite way. Here we are watching our neighbourhoods being filmed and put into Hollywood movies, yet they can't even called it Vancouver... it must be Seattle, or Washington State, etc. Even scenes in the movies currently in the theaters (3000 Miles to Graceland - where they painted parts of Steveston BC to resemble a small Nevada town), or the entire film of Saving Silverman... all filmed here, but the name is always disguised. Or if you remember that final episode in the X-Files where they finally called it Vancouver "Canada" (Vancouver, BC is more common).... they just had to do the stereotypical snow-bound Canada scenes. Ah well. What can you do!

I think I can sum up the feeling with Douglas Coupland's quote:
"Ashley Judd stars in "Double Jeopardy." This was one of the dopiest films of 1999, but some of it was shot in my Dad's office's neighborhood; a few months ago a bunch of us went to see it during its theatrical release. In the movie, the neighborhood becomes 'Boulder, Colorado.' Sometimes it feels really slutty to be from Vancouver because so many films are shot there and it's never Vancouver - it's always Seattle or Portland or 1950s suburbia. One of these days there'll be an uprising." - Douglas Coupland

ps. Here's an interesting company, doing local movie location tours:

www.x-tour.com