In the film the world of 2018 (referred to in the tagline as "the not too distant future") is a global corporate state, containing entities such as the Energy Corporation, a global energy monopoly based in Houston, which deals with nominally peer corporations controlling access to all transport, luxury, housing, communication, and food on a global basis. According to the tagline, in this world, "wars will no longer exist. But there will be... Rollerball".
Rushmore. I used to live in the area back in the day and recognized much of the flick. They were places I walked to, or rode a bike to, usually with the Wonder Dog. Just a wonderful film, in my opinion.
I came here to post this. I watched it in a Houston cinema, and people were laughing and applauding when that scene happened...
This is a bit of a stretch, but Houston does play a small part. At the end of 10 Cloverfield Lane, Spoiler the protagonist chooses to drive to Houston to take part in what was happening there.
No, but the climax was that DeVito was transporting some supergun to a Houston businessman, so it was partly set there, but just office-building and parking lot scenes so no need to shoot there. The businessman was killed by the hitman who was actually supposed to be transporting it, either because he was refused payment or because "you've seen my face." I've seen that hitman actor in a bunch of other stuff, but never as dark. I'm just remembering at the time how much of a departure that was for Schwarzenegger. Also remember that hip-hop version of Yakety Yak they played when the airplane was landing, because he'd been singing to it in-flight. "Take out the papers (wiki-wiki-wik), take (wki) out (wiki) the (wiki-wiki-wik), take (wiki) take (wiki) out (wiki-wiki-wik) take out the papers and the trash..."
I have family with close ties to the space program, so Apollo 13 will always be the best movie set in Houston for me. The Tom Hanks Special at La Casita in Friendswood was named after Hanks after he visited while filming in Houston for Apollo 13. It's amazing that the ending is as tense as it is despite the fact that everyone knows how the story ends. Spoiler
Kingwood Country Club. Pretty much all of the on-course golf scenes were at the courses there. I had some friends that got to be extras in the gallery. Almost entirely filmed on the Hardy Toll Road and 290. One could make the argument about Dazed and Confused. Final scene was them driving into Houston to get Aerosmith tickets.
Texas or Houston is not referenced once throughout the film. We know Anderson went to school there and filmed there, it's one of my all time favorites; i just don't see it as a quintessentially "Houston" film in any sense of the definition. I guess that puts me on Team Reality Bites, with Boyhood a close second.
That's why I initially asked if Rushmore counted. Houston was just the backdrop, it was never mentioned as the place.
