Although Lady Bird's meticulous documentation of the Sacramento landscape is unprecedented in a major motion picture, Sacramento has provided a backdrop for the filming of many movies over the years.
There are two kinds of movies filmed in and around Sacramento: those actually set here, and those set in another place (and/or time) that presumably looks like Sacramento. Movies ostensibly set in the Midwest, such as "American Beauty" or "Lucky Numbers" might include scenes filmed in Sacramento because of its Midwestern look (underscoring the remark of "Lady Bird's" titular character when she derides the city as the "Midwest of California").
Movies set here, such as "The Ugly Truth" feature place-setting local icons like the Tower Bridge or the State Capitol to denote Sacramento. One film, "The Jane Austen Book Club" is ostensibly set in Sacramento but does not appear to have had any scenes filmed here.
Now, we understand the list is longer and there are some other really, really good movies filmed in this area. So here are a quick few that you might have heard of:
- Cool Hand Luke (1967)
- Pleasantville (1998)
- Magnum Force (1973)
- The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004)
- Life (1999)
- Bad Grandpa (2013)
- Phenomenon (1996)
Now for the good stuff. Here are 10 places in the area immortalized on the silver screen.
1. Almost Famous (2000)
2. American Beauty (1999)
3. Frances Ha (2012)
4. Lucky Numbers (2000)
5. Memoirs of a Geisha
6. The Ugly Truth
