Rushmore Day!

-
Did you know February 19th is officially Rushmore Day in Houston?

Last week I went to a 15th Anniversary screening of Rushmore at The Alalmo Drafthouse in Houston. The films star, Jason Schwartzman was in attendance to meet fans and answer questions before the film.  After the Q&A he was given a proclamation from Houston's Mayor naming February 19th Rushmore Day.



The reason for all of this was because Rushmore was filmed in Houston, and the director, Wes Anderson is a Houston native.  If you have never seen the film, you are really missing out.  Bill Murray is in it, what else do you need?

I wrote about the film a few years ago and took some "then and now" photos of the locations, you can see them here.

I also had the chance to meet Jason, here's the proof.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Blank Check House

-
Image
After the success of Home Alone movie studios did not waste anytime copying the formula (kid outsmarts bad guys).  While the worst offender was probably Three Ninjas, Disney was also guilty with Blank Check.  They even used it as a selling point! I saw Blank Check in the theater, I remember because it was the only time in my movie going life that the theater manager came out and talked to us about how the movie was filmed in Texas (which is where I live).  So, on a recent trip to Austin, I stopped by the Blank Check house. Here is how it appeared in the film: And today: As you can see, they've done quite a bit of remodeling. Not to mention the heavy plant growth which makes it almost unrecognizable. The old garage door is now a window The original entry way has been completely removed. This is the front door now: I drove around to the side and found the back gate open.  In the film, the back yard had a pool, go cart t
Read more

Back to the Twilight Zone: Part 2

-
Image
After the clock tower, the most important set in Hill Valley is probably the cafe.  In the Twilight Zone, the area we know as being the cafe is a police station. In 1985 Hill Valley, it's Lou's Aerobic Fitness Center. The building has not changed that much since the Twilight Zone, all they really did was relocate the door and build that facade.  Funny how Lou went from owning a restaurant to a fitness center 30 years later. Mike Ferris also takes in a movie at The Savoy. The Marquee (and movie selection) was changed when this area became Hill Valley A close up shows, that those busts have been there for quite a while. One scene that really threw me off, was when Mike walked past a drug store. It looks like the clock tower is behind him, and the reflection in the window looks like the post office building, but something about the geometry just didn't make sense to me.  I looked for more pictures of the set fr
Read more

Film Cameras: Sprocket Rocket

-
Image
The second camera I brought with me to Walt Disney World was the Lomography Sprocket Rocket. This camera is modeled after a toy Dick Tracy camera from the 1940's.  Like the Diana it is plastic and completely analog.  You wind the film manually, there is a dial for focusing distance, a switch for  shutter speed based on sunny vs. cloudy, and another switch to take the photo normally or in bulb mode (where you leave the shutter open as long as you want).  It takes 35mm film, but because the photos are more panoramic you get 18 shots instead of 36.  One of the coolest features though is that you can expose the entire piece of film, including the sprockets. Here's one that I took of the Tea Cups using Bulb Mode. Conclusion:  I'm a huge fan of this camera, no complaints.  It didn't wind itself in my back pack like the Diana did, and it even if it had, you can wind the film backwards t
Read more