There was an X Files episode where Sculley went to DC's Chinatown, which was full of opium dens, rickshaws, and Chinese.

A recent episode of Bones had David Boreanaz running through a Mount Pleasant in DC where the streets were lined with palm trees.

Two of my favorites are the oft-discussed Georgetown Metro station chase in "No Way Out," and a similarly silly chase in "The Jackal" (the Bruce Willis remake of "Day of the Jackal"), in which Richard Gere chases Willis through the Metro tunnels by foot and it takes all of 2 minutes to get from Metro Center to Capitol Heights. Apparently it was actually filmed in the Montreal subway.

while we all want to our District to be shed in an accurate light, who really cares if those mistakes are made, I guess I mean to say..., why should we care?

she could have been taking rock creek park to beach drive, then adams mill rd to porter st to get to cleveland park. there's a tunnel on beach drive. if connecticut is backed up, this is probably faster than getting off rcp in adams morgan.

if Brad Pitt is going to be filming a movie here, that probably means that Angelina and their brood will be around DC. Should make for some fun sightings.

"The Man with One Red Shoe" (Classic District Movie)

In the scene where Tom Hanks' character is biking to the dentist appointment, he is seen biking along the C&O Canal in Maryland but once he is entering D.C. he is shown entering from Virginia which is not possible.

guest #9. I didn't see the movie, but if Freeman was "running" then there is your answer right there. D.C. Metro will not allow filming of any kind that involves chasing, running, violence, or passing on the left.

There is a scene early on in the film In the Line of Fire where Clint Eastwood tracks John Malkovich to an apartment at 3155 Mount Pleasant Street. Incredibly, this is an actual address, and happens to be the building that houses Tonic and Radius Pizza. Of course the film's exterior establishing shot depicts a different building entirely, but-- again, incredibly-- the interior shots of the hallway are of the actual building.

How about mission impossible 3? One second they're on a bridge spanning countless miles of water, then the attack happens that frees the bad guy, and then tom cruise hops in a car, turns around and the next thing we know he's crossing I-66 towards E St. I found that fairly amusing.

The best scenes I love are how any trip through dc seems to require an inexplicable out-of-the-way trip across the memorial bridge.

Breach was pretty good, except that part when he comes up the Archives metro into the middle of Federal Triangle.

But the reason this stuff happens is because they don't care. They want to make the most visually impressive movie on the cheapest budget they can, continuity be damned. DC gets tragically victimized over and over again in the process. Did anyone see the new Die Hard movie? That was the absolute worst!

Don't forget the scene in "True Lies" where Arnold rides a horse from Georgetown and winds up going across the Mall and then loses the bad guy who jumps a motorcycle from the roof of a hotel (I think it's supposed to be the JW Marriott) into a rooftop pool across the street.

Or in Enemy of the State when the guy from My Name is Earl runs through Chef Ike's Mambo room right into Dupont Circle before getting hit by a firetruck.

The book 40 Signs of Rain by Kim Stanley Robinson has a quite accurate (and obsessively detailed) grasp of District and suburb geography. It's also really good, so you should definitely pick it up the next time you hit a bookstore.

One thing I wish actually existed was that excellent flower market they set up in the front arcade of Union Station in Wedding Crashers.

Or in Enemy of the State when the guy from My Name is Earl runs through Chef Ike's Mambo room right into Dupont Circle before getting hit by a firetruck

I also liked how they called it "Captain Ike's" in the movie.

Another one is "Wedding Crashers." I think they show them driving back into DC across the Potomac after leaving the church, which is in Dupont Circle.

Least Accurate Thread Ever

Innacuracy on purpose -- the FBI's Hoover Building standing in for the lobbyist headquarters in "Thank you for Smoking." Hilarious.

At least the movie re DC is actually being filmed in DC. So many movies (and television shows) that are set in American cities are actually filmed in Canadian ones.

Well Dc has a better track record than Alaska when it comes to representation in the movies. They won't even film in the same country when they base something in AK.

My favorite has to be the scene from that classic action flick Navy SEALs (starring Michael Biehn and Charlie Sheen!) where they're eating dinner in a restaurant that, from the view of the Jefferson, has to be located in the middle of the Tidal Basin.

No Way Out's Georgetown Metro station is way up there, though.

As is the fact that the producers of the show Criminal Minds apparently believe that Quantico is actually located at Bolling AFB. And that you can take Metro there.

I've read only a little Pelacanos and it was almost like he was trying to hard to get the DC streets right. It read like Mapquest directions.

A throwback inaccurate movie is The Day the Earth Stood still. First of all, they give an address for the house, which turns out to be a block up in Columbia Heights (Harvard St. I think), one that doesn't look anything like the studio set they used. Then in one scene the little boy follows the alien when he walks from Harvard St. to the Ellipse. The movie doesn't try to give you an impression that it was a short walk, but still, it sure doesn't indicate how long of a walk that would be. Finally, in the car chase at the end, you can see them go around Dupont Circle like 10 times, before the immediately jump down to Penn Ave.

All stupid petty things to notice, but it just goes to show nothing's changed much.

In Minority Report there's a sign in front of a building for the "Department of Precrime," an agency that DOESN'T EVEN EXIST!!!!

I don't mind. I just think of them as taking the same sort of liberties Neil Gaiman takes with London in "Neverwhere".

It's very Moby Dickesque: "It is not down on any map; true places never are."

Not that the movies we're discussing hold a candle to Gaiman or Melville.

Isn't anyone going to mention "Suspect." Best. DC. Movie. Ever.

Mike B:

I believe at the end of Wedding Crashers they are driving east on Independence over the Tidal Basin. If they left a church at Dupont Circle (I didn't catch that that was the location but will take your word for it) and drove south on Connecticut to 17th Street, they could get looped around onto Independence going eastbound pretty easily and end up right where that shot was filmed. I'm not sure what their destination would be (reception somewhere on the Eastern Shore?)... just saying it's plausible!

Jennx, I'll have to go back and watch it again. I remember seeing it in the theater and thinking there was something wrong with either that or another scene after they leave the Dupont church (the one at the corner of Florida and P St, just before Florida becomes 23rd).

I truly, madly, deeply loved the West Wing. Not sure I'll ever find another drama on TV that matches it for sheer depth of characters, and the writing (for the first four seasons at least) was exceptional.

That being said, I distinctly recall (season 2?) when President Bartlett was shot outside the Newseum in Arlington, he is ostensibly being taken to GWU medical center, only the motorcade is clearly driving *away* from GW on the Key Bridge.

Sorry, misread your comment as sort of disputing my recollection of the series. Upon further review it was not. But yes, the Newseum was end of Season 1 and opening of Season 2.

That Day of the Jackal scene was actually shot in Richmond, Virginia, in front of what is now called the Landmark Theater (we called it The Mosque). I know because I blundered right through the set on my way to student health.

The famous "drive by the National Cathedral" West Wing moment is perhaps the most hilarious of all THE WEST WING gaffes. Though I also liked the episode where Josh Lyman is asked how he came to work (protesters had gummed up the city) and he replied "I took Dupont." Really? Wouldn't you STILL BE THERE? Circling endlessly?

Also, the rampant mispronunciation of Rosslyn during the assassination attempt episodes. (Rahs-linn instead of Roz-linn). Plus, you try to figure out where Bartlett's limo was headed after the shooting, and explain why it needed to bust a U-Turn on a bridge five minutes after speeding away from Rosslyn.

Also, I was excited that Iota got a mention on The West Wing (Lyman: "Let's go to Iota. I hear it's cool.") Of course, when you got there, there were fancified tables with pretty ass candles and wait service (and Jill Sobule was playing (?!?)).

And let's not forget the SECOND Die Hard movie, which got Northern Virginia and, basically, everything having to do with AIRPORTS entirely wrong. (Terrorists force planes to circle Dulles, endlessly, having used powerful mind-erase beams that caused every pilot to forget about the existence of BWI, National, Bolling abd Andrews AFB...) And let's not forget: SNOWMOBILING! IN HERNDON! Yeah...we did that EVERY WINTER!

Still, the best Hollywood/DC gaffe I ever encountered was in an old X-Files episode guide book. In a margin sidebar, it was written: "Crystal City is not an actual place. It was invented by Chris Carter."

Yeah! I WISH!

What about Donnie Darko though? That was EXACTLY what Bethesda was like in the 1980s even though the film was supposed to be like in Fairfax.

I gotta tell ya, when I first moved here I did a LOT of the driving-home-(to-Alexandria)-from-Pentagon-(area)-through-Georgetown by-way-of-Dupont kind of routes.
And one night my husband is late coming back from a meeting in Herndon ("Is that near Mclean? Google it, cuz I've never heard of it..."), so when he is an hour overdue, I ring him on his cell and he tells me that he's in Maryland, but not to worry, he re-found the Beltway and figured if he drove long enough, he'd find our exit eventually.

Maybe somebody from Hollywood actually thinks some of these routes ARE the best way to go.

(Guest 57: I didn't get that it was sarcastic, either. Thanks, 61, get it now.)

I wanted to mention Live Free or Die Hard and the Jackal as those irked me the most but those have already been mentioned. So I will mention Chain Reaction with Keanu Reeves and Morgan Freeman which was shot in Madison, Wisconsin. Apparently the Wisconsin Capitol building is quite similar to the Nation's Capitol. Apparently lots of movies are shot there for that reason. There are a lot of movies that really use metro and DC sites but I can't think of the names right now. I did give Live Free or Die Hard credit for actually showing the 12th Street tunnel but I had to make a conscious effort to watch the movie in spite of everything else being so wrong.

I've even noticed that some of the reenactments on Court TV, A&E, etc. have been in completely different cities because of things like the police cars or landmarks in the background. It's pretty hilarious to me.

#63, I wasn't aware that Willis' character was a local in the die hard series.

Not that I don't think this is all very idiotic, but in that same scene, it was pretty surprising seeing the Los Angeles river running through Pigtown. But it did bring back fond memories of Chips.

there's never been a movie in DC that was very satisfying. for some reason producers can't cope with us not having vendors in the metro, skyscrapers, toll booths, or nice clear roads.
well i guess if you think about it you couldn't ever have a high-speed car chase through DC that ends up with some guy flying off a parking lot into a 50 story building.

also i dont like how people assume that it's like 20 minutes to get to baltimore, but like 45 to get to the white house from like georgetown.

66: Det. McClane is supposed to be from NYC. No "the" on interstates there, either.

#70: Regardless. It would be unlikely that a New York cop would be familiar with Baltimorean traffic lingo.

Also regardless, all the examples that are being cited here are over-the-top action adventure movies... and one revoltingly idealistic and unrealistic television drama about a presidential administration that is trying to make the world a better place.

#39 is probably my favorite comment here. We’re talking about a movie about alien zombies, people. And another movie where a new york detective saves the world from international terrorists... for the fourth time. Another movie that is being cited is one where an alien ship lands on the mall. And one about talking robot cars and airplanes.

Perspective, people.

Now, if we were talking about semiserious, character driven movies, then I would empathize somewhat. Like, say, how the locals in Heartburn were portrayed as southerners with georgian accents. Now, THAT was annoying. Insignificant traffic details don’t bother me at all in movies with big explosions, pod people and “we-really-care-about-the-people” Cabinet fantasies.

mrdeadhead-> I own a DC Cab DVD and it is pretty accurate. There are even some cool shots of U Street in it and some funny ones of the riduclousness of driving on Dupont Circle. I think the only one that bothered me was that the movie made it seem like it took no time to get from dc to that stip club in pentagon or crystal city??? OH, and I think dc cab is based on Diamond Cab given their hub's location.

Actually, downtown rez, movies about DC crime would still be better in my mind than another stoopid movie about White House staffers or FBI agents. For instance, the Wire is all about crime, but it's written with such love for and knowledge of Baltimore that it's hard not to walk away feeling some fondness for the place, despite the fact the show portrays such awful violence and crime. Movies about Federal Washington make DC into some characterless brick and marble backdrop. It's impossible to develop any fondness for the city of Washington watching things like the West Wing.

Oy, 77. I'm the original "the 695" poster. My point was that putting "the" in front of your interstate is a specifically Southern California thing rather than "not a DC/Baltimore/NYC" thing. It was just one of those little things that movie people forget to think about when placing their action outside of Southern California, like the fact that we don't have 50-story buildings or tunnel tolls or palm trees.

And I've gotta say for the West Wing fans, I am one too, but you'd think that a show that spends so much time in DC and has staff who actually worked here would get simple geography right. It's all of 7 blocks from the White House to the State Department, and the National Cathedral is no on the way.

I hear you, Reid. I like the Wire very much. But I'm glad Baltimore (not DC) got the nod for being the location.

But why pick DC as a location, besides the extensive federal presence or crime? What other unique, well known, geographic, architectural, or social features might Hollywood think it worth capitalizing on?

Breach made an error driving through Arlington. The car is clearly on Rt. 50 (Arlington Blvd.) but they say they're on Wilson Blvd.

there's never been a movie in DC that was very satisfying.

Peter Sellers, anyone? Being There? Remember that scene when he walks down North Capitol and stands there on the median in front of the New York Avenue overpass? I was in Columbia Heights yesterday, and I swear I saw his employer's mansion. There has never been a more accurate (non-bureaucratic) depiction of DC in the movies.

Also--in The Day the Earth Stood Still, the Army guys exclaim that the protagonists are "headed west on 14th Street." Obviously, for the most part, unless you're New York or LA, these details are insignificant.

The thing I liked about the filming of the Pelican Brief was Julia Roberts hanging out in Bethesda for like a week. She was nice to all the old ladies.

Here's another one - National Treasure. When Nicholas Cage and his sidekick first go to the FBI to tell them about the plot to steal the Declaration of Independence, they walk out of the building in mid-sentence. They complete that sentence one second later, sitting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, as if it's next door.

There was another one in "The Sentinel" that wasn't obvious, but if you did the route in your head you'd realise it was impossible. I can't remember the specifics, but Michael Douglas is getting instructions via cell phone to make a meeting. He's at the Mayflower. They tell him to go up Connecticut Ave., then take a left and a right and said You'll be at 18th and L - or whatever, I can't remember specifically, but when I traced the route in my head, as someone who works at 18 and K, I realised those directions were totally wrong

Actually, State of Play filmed in the city last spring (set to come out in Spring 09). And it starred Russel Crowe and Rachel McAdams. Brad Pitt was originally slated to be in it but dropped out - Crowe replaced him. I worked on one of the scenes in front of the Scottish Rite Temple on 16th street last March.

Must be another Brad Pitt movie filming in DC this fall.