Showing posts with label movie location. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movie location. Show all posts

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Man from Reno


Yesterday, Hollister got a treat with a big-screen showing of Man from Reno, a neo-noir, cross-cultural, mystery movie, of which some of the scenes were set in Hollister, San Juan Bautista, and other parts of San Benito County.  Whoo-hoo!

The award-winning Man from Reno came out in 2014. It was co-written and directed by Dave Boyle who was at the showing and did a Q&A after the movie. An extra treat for us, movie-goers.

The movie opens with Sheriff Paul Del Moral of San Marco County (think San Benito County) coming across an abandoned car on a dark and very foggy night. After a few minutes of investigating, he gets back into his car, drives several feet, and bang! A running man collides into his car.  This unknown Japanese man is taken to the hospital (set in Hazel Hawkins Hospital), but, after recouping, walks away without anyone noticing. And, so begins the mystery.

Meanwhile, 100 miles to the north, popular mystery author Aki Akahora has arrived in San Francisco. She has run away on a whim, no longer able to take all the adoration from fans in her home country of Japan. She's depressed and looks to be suicidal, but she breaks out of her funk when she meets a man who makes her feel like living again. He quickly moves into her hotel room, then, just as quickly, disappears leaving his suitcase behind. And, so begins another mystery.

The movie moves forward between the two suspenseful stories. The only thing I predicted correctly was that the two tales would eventually intertwine. Everything else about the plot—surprise!

Another enjoyable aspect of Man from Reno for me was recognizing settings in Hollister, San Juan Bautista, San Francisco, and Sausalito. As you read previously, the hospital scenes in the fictitious San Marco County were set inside Hazel Hawkins Hospital. I'll only tell you about one other setting. The sheriff's office was actually the Red Cross office on Fifth Street.

Missed Man from Reno yesterday or want to see it again? The movie is now available at Netflix, Amazon, Google Play, DIRECTV, and other online sites. Want to learn more about the movie, check the Man from Reno website.


Wednesday, September 2, 2015

All Things Vertigo in San Juan Bautista


In this instance, not Vertigo Coffee, but Vertigo, the 1958 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak. And, that is what Vertigo Day at the San Juan Bautista State Historic Park on September 26, 2015 will be all about.

The event is sponsored by San Juan Bautista State Historic Park and the Plaza History Association and features a tour, a lecture, and a showing of Vertigo.
  • 3:00 p.m. — a 1.5 hour guide tour of the mission and park, highlighting Vertigo stories and film locations.
  • 4:30 p.m. — "Mastery of Hitchcock," a talk by Luis Camara, CSU Monterey Bay film professor, at the Plaza Saloon.
  • 8:10 p.m — Vertigo on the Plaza lawn. Bring lawn chairs or blankets. It may be chilly, so bring jackets or extra blankets. 
The movie is free. The tour is $15/person and Professor Camara's lecture is $10/person. You can do both the tour and lecture for $20/per person. For more information about Vertigo Day, click here.

Wondering where to eat before the movie? San Juan Bautista has several restaurants, including Vertigo Coffee which serves awesome handcrafted, oven baked pizza. For info about places to eat and drink in San Juan Bautista, check out this link.

I can't leave you without a clip from Vertigo. This scene is from the imaginary bell tower of Mission San Juan Bautista. By the time Hitchcock came to San Juan to shoot, the mission no longer had a bell tower, so he built one for the movie. And, a taller one at that.





Thursday, April 19, 2012

Vertigo


Alfred Hitchcock filmed some scenes of his film Vertigo in San Juan Bautista. The movie came out in 1958 and starred James Stewart and Kim Novak. What I liked most about the movie was seeing how places looked in San Francisco and Monterey back then. Check out this link for a clip of Vertigo.

If you happen to go through the museum  of Mission San Juan Bautista, you'll find that display of Hitchcock in the room shown below.  By the way, if you want a place to rest your feet as you sip a cup of tea or coffee in San Juan Bautista, check out Vertigo Coffee.


Tuesday, October 4, 2011

100 Things I Like: The Eucalyptus Grove


On Highway 101, just south of the 156/San Juan Bautista/Hollister exit (entrance), you drive through a small eucalyptus forest. The trees are descendants of seedlings that were first planted by a farmer in 1912. Click here for an interesting tale about how these Australian trees took hold in California.

If you've ever seen the movie Vertigo by Hitchcock, you may remember a scene in which Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak are driving through this eucalyptus grove. They're driving south from San Francisco to San Juan Bautista. In real life, that would mean they missed the exit to San Juan.

For more 100 Things I Like About Living in Hollister, click on that link.


Saturday, November 27, 2010

A Movie Filmed in the County

Can you name one movie, besides Vertigo, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, that was filmed in San Benito County?

How about La Bamba?

La Bamba is the movie about Ritchie Valens (aka Richard Valenzuela), an up-and-coming teenage rock and roller in the mid 1950s. One of his hits was a rocking version of the Mexican folk song called "La Bamba".  The movie of the short-lived singer was written and directed by Luis Valdez, the founder and artistic director of El Teatro CampesiƱo in San Juan Bautista. Released in 1987, some of the scenes were filmed in San Benito County.  Below is the trailer, after which you might want to check out these links:


Saturday, November 20, 2010

Featured in East of Eden


In 1981, John Steinbeck's East of Eden was turned into a TV mini-series. It starred Jane Seymour, Timothy Bottoms, Sam Bottoms, and Karen Allen. Some of the scenes were filmed in and around Hollister, including Dr. Currie's house on the corner of Monterey and South Streets. Does anyone know if the movie guys filmed inside the house, too?

The mini-series followed the full story line of the novel, while the 1955 movie with James Dean focused on only part of the story. Both films are worth seeing. Here's a trailer for the mini-series.

ShareThis

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails