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www.buzzfeed.com: Pittsburgh may not be America’s entertainment capital, but it has been the background for more than a few films. These 10 films came the closest to encapsulating the Western Pennsylvania experience, presented in chronological order
Dude! Flashdance was in Pittsburgh!?! I love that movie. I noticed that this article says that a lot of the movies are about Pittsburgh residents or "Pittsburghers" trying to find a way out from being trapped by the steel mills and society. I think that there is so much more the Pittsburgh than just what these movies define Pittsburgh as. Of course, I've only been here for a semester and a bit, but I have yet to see an influence by the mills at all except that there are references to them everywhere. There are probably better movies that would define Pittsburgh, but I guess in order for a movie to define a place, then the movie would have to specifically mention the place as what they were talking about. I feel like these movies were just picked because they happened to say Pittsburgh somewhere in them. I mean, in that case, we should add another movie: Batman.
This is an interesting list, when watching a movie where the location is not a major part of the plot you tend not to notice where they are filming. It was interesting to see Adventureland on the list of Pittsburgh movie locations seeing hot the movie is based on a Long Island location that I am pretty familiar with. Coming from New York it is common to see movies being filmed in popular locations like Times Square. It is also fun to hear of the history in the city I will be spending the next few years.
Being a native Pittsburgher, I love the fact that my city is slowly redefining itself. No longer are we the city of smog and steel, now we are a quickly growing hub of technology, medicine, and, most recently, filmmaking. Even though not all of these movies focus heavily on their being in Pittsburgh, all of them that I have seen hide references geared for Pittsburghers within them. One that I find especially interesting is what Olivia said about Adventureland. While the Adventureland amusement park is based on an amusement park in New York, It is equally influenced by Kennywood, and there are numerous subtle references to Kennywood's part in Pittsburgh's Culture throughout the film. So when I saw the movie, it was "Ha! They perfectly captured Kennywood."
I have just recently moved to Pittsburgt, but fortunately have seen some of the films that were listed. Groundhog Day is truly a classic, especially to northerners. I am from South Carolina, so winter would always come and go and if we were lucky we would get one snow day out of it. In Pittsburgh you actually become sick of the snow so the importance of Groundhog Day goes up ten fold. In Perks of being a wallflower one of the most important scenes is when they are riding through the tunnels. Every person from Pittsburgh knows what I am talking about and they also know that when you get out of the tunnels, Pittsburgh literally smacks you in the face. This was extremely thrilling for me when I first arrived.
I've seen half of the movies on the list, but I'm not sure if all of the movies (at least the ones that I know) fit. Flashdance definitely belongs, and it does a great job of showing what Pittsburgh was like at that time period. Groundhog Day, isn't a great Pittsburgh movie, seeing as it's set in Punxsutawney, but it does a good job of getting that whole Western Pennsylvania thing. Apollo 13 isn't really a good movie about Pittsburgh, that one joke does a good job of showing how people felt about Pittsburgh at that time. I feel that Adventureland and Perks don't really belong on his list though. They were both set in Pittsburgh, but other than that they aren't really Pittsburgh. Perks just happens to be set in Pittsburgh, so it doesn't really have much of an effect on the movie, and Adventureland is actually based on Long Island, not Pittsburgh.
My first reaction is relief that The Dark Knight Rises was not included on the list. There is much to admire in Pittsburgh, but in my opinion, the city did not make a convincing Gotham. I have to completely disagree with Thomas Ford – and agree with jcmertz – that Adventureland perfectly captured Kennywood, thereby defining one aspect of Pittsburgh in a nostalgic (for me) way. And while I have enjoyed Groundhog Day more than a few times, I agree with Thomas that it is not representative of Pittsburgh specifically. I could only make it through the first half of The Deer Hunter (seriously depressing), but I believe it convincingly evoked the bleakness of this city (even if much of it was filmed in Ohio), especially during the era the movie was filmed. Although I have not seen all of the movies on the list, I vote for Flashdance as most accurately capturing Pittsburgh – at least during the 1980s.
This article was fun and interesting to read because now that I live in Pittsburgh I always notice when something is filmed in Pittsburgh or references to Pittsburgh. Its interesting to see how the public views toward pittsburgh have changed and are still continuing to change throughout the years. Pittsburghers have so much pride for their "city of bridges". In the future, I think Pittsburgh will become even more of a cultural and entertainment hub, and I think Carnegie Mellon and the school of drama will help make that happen.
I always get excited when I read articles like this one. I've lived in Pittsburgh my whole life and was kind of bummed that I wasn't going to be going to a bigger, more cultural city for college. However, I've come to appreciate the deeply rooted arts in this city and the new work that emerges each day. It makes me proud to live in this city when I see that people have been choosing it to make movies in for so many years!
i found it interesting that a handful of these movies talked about things that I can definitely see helped to define Pittsburgh. The description for Flashdance makes me reflect on the atmosphere of South-side and Adventureland and Perks of Being a Wallflower make me reflect on the youth culture I have experienced here. Although I haven't been here long, the city has grown on me and I hope one day taking a trip to Pittsburgh will be as exciting as taking a trip to the moon (well maybe almost as exciting).
I feel kind of bad for not having seen most of these movies (I've seen Ground Hogs Day and Perks of Being a Wallflower) but I was slightly surprised because they didn't mention batman or silence of the lambs (or was this one filmed right outside of Pittsburgh?) But this is actually a great list of movies. it's so cool that Pittsburgh is such a great location for film and theatre. When people think about showbiz they always think of NYC (woot woot) and LA... Maybe Chicago. But Pittsburgh is actually a really big deal in the theatre/film industry and it's so cool that I'm learning to be a part of that world right here in Pittsburgh!
This list is really interesting because i had no idea any of these movies were Pittsburgh related. I think that unless a movie's location is central to the plot we don't really see it as an important part of the movie. I could see it meaning something to the residence of that place because of the different cultural identifier on display. I know I definitely notice when a movie refers to something very brooklyn specific.
I agree with Olivia in the sense that being a New Yorker you hear a lot about movies that are shot on location in the city or around at some local places. I also understand that the movie Adventureland was shot at Kennywood in Pittsburgh but is based on a Long Island theme park, Adventureland, that is rather "sketchy" and an uncomfortable place to be while Kennywood is an actual theme park with safe rides.
This article just makes me want to watch all the movies on the list (some for the first time) just to put it in context of what pittsburgh means to me now. I often get asked how i could possibly like Pittsburgh more than Miami (my home town). My answer is often much longer than this but succinctly pittsburgh feels like home. I think a lot of these movies show that in their own ways
I very surprised that The Dark Knight Rises wasn't on the list. Seeing the epic battle near the end of movie on the steps of the Mellon Institute was very cool. I suppose Pittsburgh is a very good location to shoot a wide variety of films
This article is really interesting. What I find interesting is that the Dark Knight was left of the list, but it isn't really iconic Pittsburgh. What I do wish this article brought up is the fact that Pittsburgh is slowly becoming a popular site for the film industry. What I think attracts filmmakers to the city is that it has the neighborhood feel while also giving that urban working environment. Here all four seasons happen and the nature is also beautiful. It will be interesting to see what is in store for the future.
I was surprised to see that "The Fish Who Saved Pittsburgh" didn't make the list. There were a few comments on the original BuzzFeed page that mention the omission as well. For those who don't know this 70's classic about Pittsburgh's love affair with their professional basketball team, here's a link to the trailer: http://youtu.be/Wre9bkg9Mxw Spoiler alert: Dr. J gets the top billing.
16 comments:
Dude! Flashdance was in Pittsburgh!?! I love that movie. I noticed that this article says that a lot of the movies are about Pittsburgh residents or "Pittsburghers" trying to find a way out from being trapped by the steel mills and society. I think that there is so much more the Pittsburgh than just what these movies define Pittsburgh as. Of course, I've only been here for a semester and a bit, but I have yet to see an influence by the mills at all except that there are references to them everywhere. There are probably better movies that would define Pittsburgh, but I guess in order for a movie to define a place, then the movie would have to specifically mention the place as what they were talking about. I feel like these movies were just picked because they happened to say Pittsburgh somewhere in them. I mean, in that case, we should add another movie: Batman.
This is an interesting list, when watching a movie where the location is not a major part of the plot you tend not to notice where they are filming. It was interesting to see Adventureland on the list of Pittsburgh movie locations seeing hot the movie is based on a Long Island location that I am pretty familiar with. Coming from New York it is common to see movies being filmed in popular locations like Times Square. It is also fun to hear of the history in the city I will be spending the next few years.
Being a native Pittsburgher, I love the fact that my city is slowly redefining itself. No longer are we the city of smog and steel, now we are a quickly growing hub of technology, medicine, and, most recently, filmmaking. Even though not all of these movies focus heavily on their being in Pittsburgh, all of them that I have seen hide references geared for Pittsburghers within them. One that I find especially interesting is what Olivia said about Adventureland. While the Adventureland amusement park is based on an amusement park in New York, It is equally influenced by Kennywood, and there are numerous subtle references to Kennywood's part in Pittsburgh's Culture throughout the film. So when I saw the movie, it was "Ha! They perfectly captured Kennywood."
I have just recently moved to Pittsburgt, but fortunately have seen some of the films that were listed. Groundhog Day is truly a classic, especially to northerners. I am from South Carolina, so winter would always come and go and if we were lucky we would get one snow day out of it. In Pittsburgh you actually become sick of the snow so the importance of Groundhog Day goes up ten fold. In Perks of being a wallflower one of the most important scenes is when they are riding through the tunnels. Every person from Pittsburgh knows what I am talking about and they also know that when you get out of the tunnels, Pittsburgh literally smacks you in the face. This was extremely thrilling for me when I first arrived.
I've seen half of the movies on the list, but I'm not sure if all of the movies (at least the ones that I know) fit. Flashdance definitely belongs, and it does a great job of showing what Pittsburgh was like at that time period. Groundhog Day, isn't a great Pittsburgh movie, seeing as it's set in Punxsutawney, but it does a good job of getting that whole Western Pennsylvania thing. Apollo 13 isn't really a good movie about Pittsburgh, that one joke does a good job of showing how people felt about Pittsburgh at that time. I feel that Adventureland and Perks don't really belong on his list though. They were both set in Pittsburgh, but other than that they aren't really Pittsburgh. Perks just happens to be set in Pittsburgh, so it doesn't really have much of an effect on the movie, and Adventureland is actually based on Long Island, not Pittsburgh.
My first reaction is relief that The Dark Knight Rises was not included on the list. There is much to admire in Pittsburgh, but in my opinion, the city did not make a convincing Gotham. I have to completely disagree with Thomas Ford – and agree with jcmertz – that Adventureland perfectly captured Kennywood, thereby defining one aspect of Pittsburgh in a nostalgic (for me) way. And while I have enjoyed Groundhog Day more than a few times, I agree with Thomas that it is not representative of Pittsburgh specifically. I could only make it through the first half of The Deer Hunter (seriously depressing), but I believe it convincingly evoked the bleakness of this city (even if much of it was filmed in Ohio), especially during the era the movie was filmed. Although I have not seen all of the movies on the list, I vote for Flashdance as most accurately capturing Pittsburgh – at least during the 1980s.
This article was fun and interesting to read because now that I live in Pittsburgh I always notice when something is filmed in Pittsburgh or references to Pittsburgh. Its interesting to see how the public views toward pittsburgh have changed and are still continuing to change throughout the years. Pittsburghers have so much pride for their "city of bridges". In the future, I think Pittsburgh will become even more of a cultural and entertainment hub, and I think Carnegie Mellon and the school of drama will help make that happen.
I always get excited when I read articles like this one. I've lived in Pittsburgh my whole life and was kind of bummed that I wasn't going to be going to a bigger, more cultural city for college. However, I've come to appreciate the deeply rooted arts in this city and the new work that emerges each day. It makes me proud to live in this city when I see that people have been choosing it to make movies in for so many years!
i found it interesting that a handful of these movies talked about things that I can definitely see helped to define Pittsburgh. The description for Flashdance makes me reflect on the atmosphere of South-side and Adventureland and Perks of Being a Wallflower make me reflect on the youth culture I have experienced here. Although I haven't been here long, the city has grown on me and I hope one day taking a trip to Pittsburgh will be as exciting as taking a trip to the moon (well maybe almost as exciting).
I feel kind of bad for not having seen most of these movies (I've seen Ground Hogs Day and Perks of Being a Wallflower) but I was slightly surprised because they didn't mention batman or silence of the lambs (or was this one filmed right outside of Pittsburgh?) But this is actually a great list of movies. it's so cool that Pittsburgh is such a great location for film and theatre. When people think about showbiz they always think of NYC (woot woot) and LA... Maybe Chicago. But Pittsburgh is actually a really big deal in the theatre/film industry and it's so cool that I'm learning to be a part of that world right here in Pittsburgh!
This list is really interesting because i had no idea any of these movies were Pittsburgh related. I think that unless a movie's location is central to the plot we don't really see it as an important part of the movie. I could see it meaning something to the residence of that place because of the different cultural identifier on display. I know I definitely notice when a movie refers to something very brooklyn specific.
I agree with Olivia in the sense that being a New Yorker you hear a lot about movies that are shot on location in the city or around at some local places. I also understand that the movie Adventureland was shot at Kennywood in Pittsburgh but is based on a Long Island theme park, Adventureland, that is rather "sketchy" and an uncomfortable place to be while Kennywood is an actual theme park with safe rides.
This article just makes me want to watch all the movies on the list (some for the first time) just to put it in context of what pittsburgh means to me now. I often get asked how i could possibly like Pittsburgh more than Miami (my home town). My answer is often much longer than this but succinctly pittsburgh feels like home. I think a lot of these movies show that in their own ways
I very surprised that The Dark Knight Rises wasn't on the list. Seeing the epic battle near the end of movie on the steps of the Mellon Institute was very cool. I suppose Pittsburgh is a very good location to shoot a wide variety of films
This article is really interesting. What I find interesting is that the Dark Knight was left of the list, but it isn't really iconic Pittsburgh. What I do wish this article brought up is the fact that Pittsburgh is slowly becoming a popular site for the film industry. What I think attracts filmmakers to the city is that it has the neighborhood feel while also giving that urban working environment. Here all four seasons happen and the nature is also beautiful. It will be interesting to see what is in store for the future.
I was surprised to see that "The Fish Who Saved Pittsburgh" didn't make the list. There were a few comments on the original BuzzFeed page that mention the omission as well. For those who don't know this 70's classic about Pittsburgh's love affair with their professional basketball team, here's a link to the trailer: http://youtu.be/Wre9bkg9Mxw
Spoiler alert: Dr. J gets the top billing.
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