Seen In Cinema

It happens often enough once you move to Los Angeles that you recognize places in films and television. There are the places you go to that you realize were in some favorite or famous thing, and then there are the places that are just part of your neighborhood or town that show up in something. It's a little point of pride that make up just a little bit for the many inconveniences of living here. I love the city, but it's got problems, the less positive aspects of filming and tourists being among them.

A recent thing was in this movie trailer I watched. A friend had sent it to me, pointing out that something notable occurred at a certain time in it. I watched the trailer, at first just enjoying it and thinking I'd like the movie. Then the main characters go to a movie theater, and I realized immediately that it was our very own local cheap theater in North Hollywood. It appeared rather prominently in the trailer, which perhaps could be seen by more than the movie itself.

I enjoy the idea that a place I go to regularly is a place of fantasy, a place out of reach to millions. I'm amused that in the film it's a theater someplace else or in a bygone era. I will probably watch the movie like a hawk to see what else of the theater and the surrounding neighborhood it may contain. It's always fun to know that the geography doesn't check out, or that they've chosen a different outside to go with the inside. I like knowing that when others don't.

This particular sighting is nice in that I was never even inconvenienced by the filming, which must have closed the theater down for a day at least, or maybe considerably more. Really, even if it were closed for such filming on a day I meant to see a movie, I couldn't be very mad. I was livid the first time I went to the grocery store in the middle of the night only to find it wasn't open 24 hours anymore, but when much of my local library was inaccessible due to filming of "Reno 911", I was tickled pink. I do love this city.