Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Fresh Horses with Molly Ringwald. Although at least partially filmed in Cincinnati, Ohio, the scene with the boyfriend driving a boat on the Ohio river to go to class at the University of Cincinnati is not possible.
The mountains surrounding Los Angeles (San Gabriel?) are clearly visible in many shots on The Office. Wouldn't typically bug me but I was watching one scene where Michael was "attempting" suicide on a roof and the background was a little distracting.
Thanks for the reminder on this one. It's one of the worst offenders in my opinion. Parks and Rec has a few very obviously filmed in SoCal scenes (it's set in fictional Pawnee Indiana) as well.
Dumb and Dumber was the first movie I ever noticed issues with a filming location. Minor thing, but the opening scene with the limo and the "That's a lovely accent you have... New Jersey?" exchange was set on Hope Street in Providence, but clearly was not filmed there (it was filmed in Atlanta). Hope St. is a fairly narrow, classic New England urban st. that cuts through Providence's East Side (by Brown U). Hope St. in the film was wide and suburban. As a kid I knew that was wrong.
Another standout is Boondock Saints. Set in Boston, filmed in Toronto. They mostly do OK, but there are scenes with the CN Tower in the background.
Two more minor Boston ones (that most people wouldn't notice): The chase scene in "The Town" though the North End lasts way longer than it ever should (it's a tiny neighborhood geographically speaking), and the Boston skyline in Black Mass (set in the 1970s) shows the modern Boston skyline repeatedly.
As an aside, Joyce's accent is all wrong for Indiana. Winona Ryder gives her a very Midwestern accent, but in a very "Great Lakes" Upper Midwest kinda way - as if she's from Wisconsin or Minnesota. I don't think that many people talk like that in Indiana, except maybe right around Gary.
To be fair she could have moved from upstate. Winona Ryder is originally from Minnesota.
The obvious presence of Southern California geographic features in movies set elsewhere is kind of (in)famous to the point that theres a rather in your face joke about it in one of the Austin Powers movies.
One of the things I found funny was the portrayal of the place Wolf Trap, VA in the show Hannibal. Will Graham lives there and its shown to be a remote rural setting (it also always seems to be cold and uninviting). In reality this is a wealthy community in the heart of Fairfax County suburbia and most housing is in subdivisions.
Texas is so often misrepresented - all parts of it. There was a recent miniseries called Texas Rising and we couldn't even watch it, it was so ridiculous. The filming occurred in Mexico. There are no mountains between San Antonio and Houston. Most of this area is NOT desert.
And don't get me started on the stupid accents and other details. It was very, very poorly done overall in my opinion. Of course, if you're not familiar with Texas or the story, I don't guess that matters much.
New York Philly or any city remotely Northern is usually shows to be snowy around Christmastime which is usually not the case. Right around I-90 is where a “white Christmas” is a relatively common occurrence.
Texas is so often misrepresented - all parts of it. There was a recent miniseries called Texas Rising and we couldn't even watch it, it was so ridiculous. The filming occurred in Mexico. There are no mountains between San Antonio and Houston. Most of this area is NOT desert.
And don't get me started on the stupid accents and other details. It was very, very poorly done overall in my opinion. Of course, if you're not familiar with Texas or the story, I don't guess that matters much.
King of the Hill is a show that does Texas well. Of course in animation you have more liberty (just don't draw a damn palm tree lol) but the animators definitely created a realistic suburban Texas setting.
New York Philly or any city remotely Northern is usually shows to be snowy around Christmastime which is usually not the case. Right around I-90 is where a “white Christmas” is a relatively common occurrence.
I love how in a lot of TV shows it always seems to be spring or summer, except for that ONE Christmas episode where there's snow everywhere
The movie "Boys Don't Cry" was set in Nebraska, but filmed mostly around Greenville, TX. There's even a scene that's supposed to be Omaha, but it's very clearly the nighttime skyline of Dallas.
RoboCop was set in a futuristic Detroit, but also filmed in and around Dallas.
And then, of course, there's Monument Valley, UT/AZ which is pretty much the official stand-in for any western set in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, or Colorado.
I watched "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" back when I lived in Denton, TX. It was partly filmed there (especially the courthouse scene) as well as other areas in Texas, but it was set in Iowa. I felt it still looked enough like Iowa, though. Parts of Texas do resemble the Midwest to the untrained eye.
Not necessarily movies but half of Texas nonsense merchandise (think keychains and such) show saguaros when saguaros clearly do not grow that far east by El Paso or even towards San Antonio. As an Arizonan that really grinds my gears. I’m sure if I dig deep enough I could find a TV show or movie referencing El Paso or New Mexico with saguaros in it. Or Vegas, or Palm Springs...
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
