Fight Club

Fight Club is actually set in Wilmington, Delaware, home to many credit card companies. Funny, then, that much of it (at least, all four of these locations) was filmed in Wilmington, California (which was named by Phineas Banning, a native of Wilmington, Delaware).


The workplace of Raymond K. Hessel was a liquor store on Harry Bridges Blvd. (formerly B St.), somewhere between Figueroa and Neptune (where two other Fight Club locations were)(Possibly on Wilmington Blvd., I'm still not sure). It was also seen in The Rose.

The "Lou's Tavern" building (shown previously) was on the corner of Harry Bridges and Figueroa. It was Shipwreck Joey's, a former topless bar.

Tyler Durden's house, which served as the base of operations for Project Mayhem, was built for the production on the corner of Harry Bridges and Neptune Ave. It was known as the "Paper Street house", but not refered to as such in the movie.










The tire shop is on the corner of Avalon and E St., and it's the only one of these locations still standing.
Interestingly for such an "anti-consumerist" movie, there are several product placements, including the Goodyear banner seen here, and the coke machine in the back of Raymond K. Hessel's store. (Think about it, when have you ever seen a coke machine outside a liquor store? Much less behind one??)

Suggestions?

I'm almost out of screencaps, but I'll be doing more soon. I gotta go out and take some pictures now!

Are there any comments, questions, suggestions? Yes, you over there. In the back. No, not you, you.

Heat

"I just saw Heat!" No, not really... Heat was directed by the guy who should have directed To Live and Die in L.A., Michael Mann. In fact, there was a lawsuit between the two with Mann accusing Friedkin of stealing his whole Miami Vice concept. Mann lost.

The first pic shows Robert Deniro pointing at the Vincent Thomas Bridge. He and his cohorts Val Kilmer & Tom Sizemore (porn star name!) are discussing getaway plans. They are at berth 159, Rio Doce Pasha terminal, in Wilmington, facing south (pretty much). Deniro's pointing west, which would be ok, except this cap was taken as the words "St. Vincent Thomas Bridge" were coming out of his mouth. Aaarrrgghh! I'm never sure if his character really thinks that's the name of the bridge or if it's all part of the misdirection to throw Al Pacino (next pic) off the scent. Speaking of scents, the third pic shows an enormous pile of sulfur that's in east Wilmington. Mmm!

The last two images are a great shot of the YTI shipping facility on Terminal Island (across the water from RDP, Mann keeps his geography straight!) and a poorly stitched-together image of Deniro, Kilmer and Sizemore walking-and-talking.

To Live And Die In L.A. part 5

Okay, this is the last of these pics, I swear. The first two are from Wilmington. They show what I believe are supposed to be two different locations in the movie, but the distinctive T-shaped 140 ton vertical test tower of Coordinated Wire Rope and Equipment is visible. The next two pics are from a stupid-ridiculous climactic car-chase scene which was for some reason reversed. That is, the "hero car" and the guys he was chasing were dirving in the correct direction on the right side of the road, but the "background cars", i.e. everyone else, were driving on the wrong side of the road, British-style. I have no idea why. I heard the director try to explain it on the dvd commentary, but it made no sense. (I think he said something like, "It was more exciting that way", or some such nonsense.)
Finally, a nice pic of the good ol' Vincent Thomas, as seen through the closing credits. The credit sequence actually involves a single shot that goes from Gaffey street to halfway up the bridge. Pretty cool.

To Live And Die In L.A. part 4

Here are some more pictures of places that no longer exist, as they appeared in To Live And Die In L.A. The backyard (with bleachers!) of Utro's Crest Cafe, and the inside and outside of Shipwreck Joey's Topless Cabaret (open 11 am!). There were a couple more angles of Shipwreck Joey's in the movie, but they were just too depressing.

To Live And Die In L.A. part 3

Burning off the rest of the To Live And Die In L.A. screencaps. This is Chance driving up to see his "girlfriend", who lives on Knoll Hill.
Things in these photos that are gone: Paul's Fishing Tackle (moved about a month ago)
the big BAIT sign (taken down a while back)
All of those ships (that area is now part of China Shipping Terminals Pier 100, and is mostly paved)
Almost every single house on Knoll Hill (including the "girlfriend's" house. There is an off-leash dog park, though.)
Todd Shipyard
Things that are still there:
Sylvia's Bail Bonds
That billboard
The light pole in front of the billboard