somebody got it right

A lot of movies are set in San Francisco but sometimes it seems like the scriptwriters have never been to the city... that's right J. Lo, you don't take a cable car to Alamo Square! And Cameron Diaz, George of the Jungle, even the new Star Trek, it's not really that sunny here. But I just saw the newest movie to feature the best city in the world as its home and I must say I like this one.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is not just entertaining, it's one of the few films that accurately portrays San Francisco. I like that the happiest scenes full of sunshine are actually set in the Redwood Forest, in the North Bay. I also like the use of Twin Peaks as a lookout point because Twin Peaks is underused as a great spot to view downtown SF. And I love that when the A-Team of apes got on a cable car to go to the Golden Gate Bridge, it was believable because the Mason-Powell line actually takes riders from Market Street to Ghiradelli Square and back.

But best of all was the film's decision to embrace the fog! The apes use the ubiquitous cloud cover to their advantage and the result is just magical... it reminds me of the end of Gillo Pontecorvo's The Battle of Algiers when the townspeople emerge together from the smoke of an explosion.

But hey, even if you don't give two cents about films portraying real locations faithfully, you should see Rise of the Planet of the Apes at least to watch this little guy grow up:

don't you want a baby chimp?
Image from rocknrollghost.com