Adventures in Babysitting - 1987
When this film came out, there were two things people always mentioned. The first was that you should never, “fuck with the babysitter,” and the second was the “diamond” building .[ link to vagina article] The film single handedly catapulted the “diamond” building into the spotlight of Chicago 's Skyline. Alas this quick rise to fame as also led to a quick fall from grace. The lesson however is that Chicago was once again the setting of a masterpiece of Hollywood ingenuity…or something. Other Chicago buildings have played home and character to a number of films, more then you might think.
 

The Negotiator – 1998

Shot on location at 77 West Wacker Drive , which is the focal point of the story's action, this site was chosen by the filmmakers because it has the most dramatic architecture of any office structure facing the river on the downtown side. All that business aside, this film really isn't half bad. Unless of course you're one of those freaks who likes to sit and point out the ridiculous nature of Hollywood plots. You know those people who can't suspend their disbelief for 2 hours so they can enjoy the possibility of an alien race, or a talking pig or even a CIA cover up. Well, maybe we believe the last one. This plot centers on Samuel L. Jackson, a hostage negotiator, who is framed for a murder and must take people hostage to prove his innocence. Ahh, for all you cynics, this is indeed a true story of a negotiator in St. Louis . So there!!

Fact: The wife of Danny Roman's partner, Nate Roenick, mentions their son, Jeremy. Jeremy Roenick is the name of a hockey player who used to play for the Chicago Blackhawks in the city where the movie is set. (imdb.com)

 

Candyman – 1992

As if Chicago 's Cabrini Green needed more legends and bad press, Clive Barker set this film in the heart of Chicago 's most infamous housing project. Now I have a couple of questions for a number of people. Lets start with Clive. Clive, why is a man with a hook for a hand called Candyman? Shouldn't he be called, Hookman or something? Now we move to the City of Chicago . City, who was the jackass that said, “Yes Mr. Barker, I think it would be a fantastic idea for you to shoot in our worst slum project ever and then show the world our huge huge mistake. Fantastic!!” It's worse enough being over seas and saying you're from Chicago and the response is either “eh, Michael Jordan,” or some bad impression of a guy holding a tommy-gun. But I cringe when even a child in Egypt will ask about Cabrini Green. Thank you all.

Fact: There is a Guy Fawkes mask hanging next to Helen's bathroom mirror. Fawkes is an infamous figure in English history (an influence from Clive Barker's original story perhaps), who attempted to blow up the English Parliament on November 5, 1605 . Every year the British celebrate Guy Fawkes Day by lighting bonfires and burning Fawkes in effigy. (imdb.com)

 

Poltergeist 3 – 1988

This third installment of the series was filmed entirely on location at 875 N. Michigan Avenue . That's the Hancock Center for those of you who don't know the address. (which, lets be honest, is all of us) Thank you everyone for bringing this piece of crap to Chicago ! And along with it you brought the curse! The curse you say? Indeed. The “Poltergeist” series has been cursed from the start. Dominique Dunne was murdered after starring in the first film, Julian Beck died after filming the second, and the star of the series, Heather O'Rourke, died before this film was released . The biggest casualty of all in this whole curse business is, of course, the viewer and the time taken away from their life for watching this film. Enjoy.

Fact: At the beginning of the film, the characters mistakenly believe that the weather outside is cold. When they descend from the upper floors to the ground level however, they find that it is in fact quite warm. This phenomenon of weather varying from the upper to lower floors actually does occur at the Hancock Center due to the building's height. Residents often call the lobby doormen before leaving their apartments to find out what conditions are like at ground level. (imdb.com)

 

Barbershop – 2002
Filmed on location on East 79th Street in Chicago , I'm really up in the air on this film. I do have to give it credit for pissing off everyone from white conservatives to “black leaders” like the reverend Jackson and Al Sharpton. Despite the simple plot, a day in the life of a southside Chicago Barbershop, this film, as well as it lesser sequel bring up a good point. Are we ready, Chicago , to be rid of our neighborhood flavor? Should we replace it all with condos and Starbucks? And if that's too much to think about, try this:

Eddie : There are three things that Black people need to tell the truth about. Number one: Rodney King should've gotten his ass beat for being drunk in a Honda in a white part of Los Angeles . Number two: O.J. did it! And number three: Rosa Parks didn't do nuthin' but sit her Black ass down!

Fact: Shortly after the film's theatrical release in late September 2002, Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton protested over some of the statements made by Cedric the Entertainer's character, Eddie, about African-American historical figures Rosa Parks ("Rosa Parks ain't do nuthin' but sit her Black ass down; there was a whole lotta other people that sat down on the bus, and they did it way before Rosa did!"), Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ("Martin Luther King was a ho [whore]!"), and Jackson himself ("Fuck Jesse Jackson"). Jackson and Sharpton pressured MGM to edit these scenes out of the film before its DVD release in January 2003; the film was released with the "controversial" scenes intact. (imdb.com)

 

A League of Their Own – 1992

If you didn't know this was filmed at Wriggly Field you indeed need to beaten over the head with your own shoe, repeatedly. About the only thing I really hated about this film was that it produced the single “This Used to Be My Playground” for Madonna. Oh god, I can hear it now in my head, pounding every god forsaken note into my skull. Reverberating around in a vortex of pain and harmonic damnation. Why, why why?!?

And no songs from “Evita”! When will it stop?

Fact: All of the injuries and bruises that are seen in the film were real injuries that the actors received during filming. (imdb.com)

 

The Relic – 1997

This film is set inside the building at 1400 S. Lake Shore Dr (and again for us layman, The Field Museum), and believe me when I say the location is the only really good thing about the film. Fiction can be fun. A crewless ship manages to navigate the great lakes canal system and deliver a crate to the Field Museum . Ok, I'll buy that. The crate is full of old relics, and a monster, which nobody sees, manages to leave the crate. Ok, maybe. A man is decapitated in the Field Museum and the city of Chicago says, sure we'll hold a fundraiser there that same night. I'm getting a bit lost. So we have a monster, a museum and lots of people. Let the hilarity ensue. And yes I am one of those freaks who like to sit and point out the ridiculous nature of Hollywood plots…sometimes.

Fact: At one point this was considered as a tagline for the film: “A mind is a terrible thing to waste... Especially if you're really hungry”

 

Stir of Echoes – 1999

Yea, filmed somewhere in Chicago but who cares? Let's play the game ! Kevin Bacon was in “Wild Things” with Denise Richards who went to High School at Downer's Grove North with Matt Kimball who dated Barbara Reynolds who used to baby-sit for me. Awesome. All roads do lead to Kevin Bacon.

Fact: The hypnosis sequence in which Kevin Bacon is hypnotized for the first time follows actual hypnosis techniques used by professional hypnotists. In order to ensure that the audience hasn't been put to sleep (and some susceptible people have been), there's a musical accent at the close of the sequence to wake everyone up. (imdb.com)

 

High Fidelity – 2000

Yes indeed, our little claim fame here in Chicago , with the record shop location being in Wicker Park as well as Lane Tech High School in Lake View . I urge anyone who loves this film to please read the book and not because it's better, just because. Both the book and the film are fantastic:

“What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?”

Fact: In several scenes, Rob is wearing a Wax Trax! Records t-shirt. The lot in Chicago that houses Rob's record store, Championship Vinyl, was once a Wax Trax! Records store. (imdb.com)

 

The Color of Money – 1986

I love Chicago and, truth be told, I'm not the fondest of New York but there is something to be said for the saying, “Don't fix it if it ain't broke.” Let me explain. You take a great director like Scorsese and take him out of New York and place him in Chicago and you get what? His worst film ever! I don't care what Travis Bickel thinks . What do you get when you take an oscar winning performance of a character and bring it back 25 years later? A horrible horrible idea. For those of you who need a bit more, Paul Newman's character in this film is the same character from “The Hustler” from 1961. Filmed in Chicago , I recommend the Italian restaurant across the street from the pool hall it was filmed at.

Fact: Paul Newman says the best advice director Martin Scorsese gave him, especially in humorous scenes, was: "Try NOT to be funny." Maybe that's why the film sucks .

 

Home Alone – 1990

As with all John Hughes projects, this was filmed on location up in the north shore, 671 Lincoln Ave . in Winnetka to be exact. It seems that in the 80's concurring the teen market was not enough and Hughes turned his attention to the “pre-teen” market. Now do I hate Macauly Culkin? Yes. Am I glad we have seen very little of him since these films? Yes. Did I like this film? A decidedly hell yes! There is just a quality that makes me giggle inside, a quality that has gotten my ass kicked on a number of occasions. I love it and so should you…please don't hurt me.

Fact: The concept for this movie originated during the filming of a scene in Uncle Buck in which Macaulay Culkin plays a character who interrogates a would-be-babysitter through a letterbox. (imdb.com)