Good morning, at least for you… but just another “nothin’ to report day” for me. Sort of like the lonely ol’ Maytag repairman, who never has anything to do. When I first started this column, I figured they’d issue me a cape and some tights, for the superhero- like duty of reporting on thrills and dangers of the road conditions (and, I have assumed that this gave me license to drive faster than a speeding bullet)… turns out, instead, they’ve had a set of overalls waiting for me. I never even knew that “olive drab brownish tannish blue” was a thing… but at least my name is embroidered on the front. That’s a bucket list item I can check off!
Today is Friday, though… FRIDAY THE 13th!!! Now, as I see it, there are TWO rabbit holes to choose from here… we could either spend some time discussing superstition, or we could discuss movies (the whole, “Friday the Thirteenth” series being used as my vehicle to transition to some mildly interesting movie stuff). So…let’s pick the movie category, Alex!
A lot of movies have been filmed around here… we are in a geographical position in which we’re close enough to Hollywood that a crew can commute here in a day, by land vehicle, shoot some footage, and be back home in the same day… expensive air travel and long- distance trucking is not required. In fact, our proximity to Hollywood is exactly why some scenes from, “City of Angels” were shot on Old Mill Road, in Crestline. MOST of the film had been shot around the Lake Tahoe area… they wrapped, went home, and began to edit, when they discovered that one scene needed to be reshot. However, instead of sending the whole crew all the way back to Tahoe (BIG money), they were able to utilize Crestline for that pick- up scene. There’s a scene in that movie in which Meg Ryan tries to take on a logging truck (test your physics knowledge here, and try to determine who wins). Nic Cage shows up, too…
And, speaking of Nic, the movie “Next” was shot at the Cliffhanger (Now called, “Hortencia’s Awesomely Delicious Mexican Food Served by Really Fast, Efficient, and Helpful Staff….” I think that’s the name of it). The movie practically centers around the building itself.
Even VOE has its movie history… “The Fighting Trooper” was filmed at Camp Seely in 1934… but more recently (1998) a little girl named Lindsay Lohan (pre- meltdown era) filmed “The Parent Trap” there (and at Lake Gregory). And, VOE, Crestline, and Blue Jay were used extensively for, “Small Town Saturday Night,” Starring Chris Pine, his dad, Robert, and even Reggie Bannister.
Reggie Bannister, you say? Yep… neighbor and friend. NBD… the star of “Phantasm” lives right here among us mortals. He and his wife film locally when they can, wearing every hat from actor to producer to craft services. The most recent of the aforementioned series, “Phantasm V,” was partially filmed here. If you don’t mind some irreverence, check out their, “Bloody Bloody Bible Camp,” which even includes Mr. Ron Jeremy. Yes, THAT Ron Jeremy, but not THAT kind of movie… although sharp- eyed viewers may spot a bouncing breast or two… NBD.
Now, there’s a producer, actor, writer, every- hat- imaginable guy who has apparently taken a great liking to Crestline… his name is Mark Duplass. This guy has an amazing portfolio! I first noticed his local connection with, “Creep,” and since then, have learned that he’s done a LOT of work around here. In interviews, he has even publicly professed his love for Crestline… he really wants to put this place on the map! The man has worked with pretty much everybody who is anybody in Hollywood, but most commonly with his own brother, Jay. Anyhow… keep an eye out for him, and if you happen to see him around, tell him that Kdog says, “Hi!”
Marissa Tomei and Timothy Olyphant were in the Crestline Café a year or so ago, shooting a film… I have yet to see it. The name of the project was, “Behold My Heart,” but since movie project names often change over time, it may not still be that same… I just don’t know. But: MARISSA TOMEI!!!
Then there are the little projects: A few years ago, Mrs. Kdog and I hosted a scouting mission for a Hollywood producer of low- budget horror movies. We took him all over the mountain, showing him locations that seemed to meet his requirements. However, he expressed some disdain… apathy and indifference at best. He finally told us that nothing here would work… and he decided to not even pay us for our time (that’s NOT how it works!). Anyhow, about a year later, I was perusing Netflix’s menu, and stumbled across a movie by THAT guy. Out of curiosity, I gave the movie a whirl. The movie was awful (it was called, “Volcano Zombies,” so the chance of Oscarworthiness wasn’t high… but now the movie’s name has been changed to, “The Burning Dead,” so, who knows… maybe Oscars are still in the works!)… although it did have Danny Trejo! Notable, however, was the fact that every single location that we had shown to the guy was used in the movie! Wow… I guess THAT’S how it works…
My first exposure to movie filming was in Cedarpines Park… back in the early 80s, a movie called, “The Hand” was filmed there… in the story, a comic book artist gets his hand cut off in an accident, and for the rest of the movie, the detached hand itself runs around doing horrible things to people. It’s based on a true story, in the same way that superstitions are based in reality! Anyhow, it starred Michael Caine, and was directed by some newcomer to the movie industry, a young fella named Oliver Stone. They filmed at a little tiny old- timey cabin in Cedarpines Park (my best friend’s house, at the time, which gave us special access to the goings on!). Since then, I’ll confess to some level of fascination about the movies filmed here.
The movies I’ve given a tip o’ the hat to here are by no means even the tip o’ the iceberg… check out www.imdb.com if you want to see more of the 70 or so films just from the Crestline area alone. Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear probably have even more credits than does Crestline, too, for you higher- elevation folks.
Aaaaaaaand… that’s your road report, folks!