Favorite Bay Area Film

Give me some examples...I feel like there aren't that many although I could be mistaken. I am ashamed to say that the last one I saw was The Wedding Planner, which takes place in San Francisco. It is not even close to qualifying as a "favorite."

Yeah, I'm not thinking of too many either, off hand. How about 40 Days and 40 Nights, that's definately one. I kinda like that one--I don't know if I would call it my favorite.

I haven't actually heard of a lot of these. Milk is a good (and obvious) one. I had no clue that Mrs. Doubtfire was shot here. Umm...Full House? That was a fun childhood one for me...

@StephSF - loved Full House! I don't know of many other TV shows that were shot in SF.

My mom says that something called Streets of San Francisco was shot here--I guess it where Michael Douglass got his start. She also mentioned a PBS series called Tales from the City by Armistead Maupin (given the author's name I always though it was set in India) and she mentioned the Dirty Harry Movies too. And one of Woody Allen's movies was shot here too, but she couldn't think of which one.

I found one for myself too--The Pursuit of Happyness with Will Smith is all over the city. That's probably my favorite.

The Hulk was shot here? Oh, and part of X-Men takes place here too don't they take out the Golden Gate or something?

Oh, just remembered on more that I really like--the beginning of Interview with the Vampire. I love that movie--now, of course, vampires have become such a cliche, you can't turn on the TV without some vampire movie coming on. I liked Twilight but how many vampire shows can somebody watch?

Yes, @Flowergirl! I was going to mention The Pursuit of Happyness but somehow forgot to, or couldn't remember if it was actually in SF. That's a good one.

I heard Journey's "Lights" today, which is also descriptive of this city. Gotta love it!

I think that Jefferson Starship song, "We built this City," was about SF too (although I hate that song--it really gets stuck in your head like a commercial jingle).

My mom says that Huey Lewis and the News have an SF song too. Whoever that is.

Hehe. I like that song in an annoying way, probably in the same way that I like "Lights." Funny, because that genre of music doesn't seem to really jive with SF.

Here's one that I really like despite the kitsch: "Do you know the way to San Jose?" It's another one of those songs that hard to get out of your head once it is in.

And there is that other 60's classic, "Be Sure to Wear Flowers in your Hair."

I thought the title of this blog post was Famous SF movies and I love how it just morphed into famous songs about SF.
Btw, are you guys familiar with Film Night In the Park SF? They showed Amelie last night in Washington Square Park. I thought that was super cool. (even though Amelie was not filmed in SF).

@Tracypie: Random thought: I wonder if somewhere in France now there is someone who went to Lafayette Park in Paris to a movie night where they showed Vertigo so they are thinking about SF? I don't know why that seems funny too me?

But anyway, the other night I was watching this this movie from maybe the 80's called Fearless about a guy who survives a pain crash and then become like a daredevil--sort of. It was set in SF--looked like just after the Loma Prieta earthquake maybe. It was pretty good.

A little dated. Jeff Bridges and Rosie Perez were good in it. An they had this neat scene with a U2 song.

Hey @Tracypie - my roommate went to see that and tried to get me to go (although I think he may have been trying to bum a ride more than looking for great company).

Dolores Park also does movie nights, I believe.

I just wrote a review of Going the Distance in another thread (meh), but that happens to take place partially in SF (both Palo Alto and the city) as well as in NYC. It doesn't necessarily give the most accurate portrayal of the area, but it does a decent job of getting it on the Hollywood map. And the combination of the two places in the same film was like cinematic gold for me...

I saw So I Married an Axe Murderer again the other day. I had forgotten that it was set in SF. They have scened in Alamo Square and they take Vesuvio on Columbus, next to City Lights Books and turn it into a Beatnik coffee shop where Mike Myers does his funny poetry thing. It might be my favorite.

Axe Murderer is a funny film.

I was also reminded in another thread of the fact that the Graduate's last scenes take place in the SF area (the Hoffman character chases her down here after she catches Hoffman with her mother).

OMG you guys! Hello? THere have been hundreds of movies filmed in the Bay Area and San Francisco over the past several decades.

Dirty Harry (Eastwood)
Zodiac (2007 - Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey, Jr.)
Towering Inferno (Newman/McQueen)
What's up Doc? (Streisand/Redford)
Bullitt (McQueen)
Milk (Sean Penn - 2008)
Vertigo (Hitchcock)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
The Princess Diaries (Hathaway)
Hulk (Ed Norton)
Bedazzled
Bicentennial Man
Mrs. Doubtfire (Williams)

Oh my goodness....here's a link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Films_set_in_San_Francisco,_California

Vertigo
Bullitt
Milk
The Graduate
Maltese Falcon
Lady from Shanghai
The Conversation
Escape from Alcatraz
The Pursuit of Happyness
Rise of the Planet of the Apes

There are TONS of great movies that are shot in their entirety here in San Francisco, and way too many to name that have at least a scene or two here in the city. I think most people got the long list from StevenMartin & TracyPie, but my favorites that didn't make the list are "The Rock" and "Pacific Heights". Pacific Heights is a great Michael Keaton thriller for those who haven't seen it, and if you don't know about The Rock then, well, you've been living under one! A few that didn't make the previous lists:

The Rock
Pacific Heights
Along Came a Spider
The Fan
X-Men 3
Getting Even with Dad
The Presidio