movie making in BC

Lights..camera...action!

BC style...

..And I thought that Toronto is Hollywood North ( at least that is what the press agents say re: my city ) until I learned a large number of movies were shot in B.C.

Many were good, a few were stinkers...

In 1971, Robert Altman directed the western McCabe and Mrs. Miller.. This was shot in the Lower Mainland. So was The Accused with Jodie Foster and also I, Robot the sci-fi thriller with Will Smith that grossed about 350 million $ worldwide..

In one of our walks downtown, Rain pointed out to me a restaurant/hotel which is the hang out of many Hollywood celebrities when they are doing some film work in Vancouver..

Of course, there are also some turkeys, e.g. Are We There Yet?..Vancouver International Airport doubled as Oregon city's airport. Yes, it was Ice Cube's attempt to do a comedy which was not at all funny...

Fairmount Hotel Vancouver ( 900 West Georgia st. ) was the scene of a shootout involving George Segal and some baddies. Of course, they were using blanks. The film centered on a plot to assasinate Soviet Premier Alexi Kosygin and the climactic gun battle took place in the hotel's famous green rooftop. Oh, I almost forgot to mention the title. It was Russian Roulette.

At 750 Hornby street, you will find the Vancouver Art Gallery. This is better known because of its Emily Carr and Group of Seven Paintings..The venerable Gallery was renamed Coolsonian Criminology Museum in the movie Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed.If you grew up watching Scooby Doo cartoons on saturday mornings, you might love this movie which sometimes feature fart- related jokes..:)

Lucy Liu one of the recent Asian actresses who made a name as a good swordswoman was filmed in  a movie here called Ballistics: Ecks vs. Sever..In the Vancouver Public Library ( 350 West Georgia st. ) her character wipes out a bunch of Defence Intelligence Agency baddies who are pursuing her. And I thought there should always be silence inside public libraries...

Gastown was also the location of Halle Berry's characterization of Catwoman..Halle looked seductive in her tight leather outfit ( according to some reports, many times her pants wouldrip at the wrong places forcing the director to shout "cut" because just too much skin is revealed ) ..The leading man is Benjamin Bratt ( Law and Order ).

Did you like Catwoman?Miami Herald's Connie Ogle wrote "Catwoman does not belong to the big screen. It belongs to the litterbox.." I liked it, because I like to see STORM wearing tight leather pants and bouncing off sky scrapers..:) Story wise, I do agree with Connie Ogle.

See?..I really wished I stayed in Vancouver longer than 6 days..Six weeks will be more like it..Beyond six weeks, I may hate to leave the place already ----#