My dad loves the movie Home Alone.
It's not the satirical, witty plot that captures my father's attention, but where the movie was filmed.
A majority of the 1990 comedy was filmed in Evanston, Illinois – where my dad grew up. If you ask him about the scenery, he would elaborate on the familiar store fronts and street corners in the film.
Seeing familiar faces or settings on the silver screen allows our brains to ascend into a network of pathos. It's the mundane nature and comfort of seeing what we already know that hooks us as an audience.
With all that being said, what would you do if you saw your school on the big screen?
As a matter of fact, The University of Illinois has been featured in a multitude of films. From witty one-liners all the way to a basketball court backdrop, the U of I has made it big in Hollywood a few times.
Here are a handful of time Illinois has been featured in films:
1. "Hoop Dreams"
This 1994 American documentary was filmed on campus and depicts the real-life tail about two African-American basketball players from Chicago that dream of going pro someday.
2. "With Honors"
The University of Illinois played an ever-believable backdrop that alluded to none other than Harvard. Obviously our campus is beautiful, but little do most know its "Ivy League"-look-a-like stature. This movie elaborates on the college experience through the lives of three radically-different roommates.
3. M*A*S*H
Alluding to the good ol' U of I is "Lt. Colonel Henry Blake" on MASH in the late 1970s. You may or may not have seen this sweater in the bookstore, but nothing says you're an Illini like the giant orange block I.
4. "Risky Business"
Brad Pitt, who plays a Chicago teenager home alone, scoffs during the film, "Looks like the University of Illinois".
5. "2001 (Space Odyssey)"
The high-tech computer operating system in the film, HAL states, "I am a HAL 9000 computer. I became operational at the H.A.L. Plant in Urbana, Illinois, on the 12th of January, 1992. My instructor was Mr. Langly, and he taught me to sing a song ... ".
6. "Consumed"
This http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2015-05-20/top-morning-may-20-2015.html film premiered at the LA Film Festival in 2015. It depicts the horrors of genetically modified food in a fictional-esk story line. The backdrop for the film is none other than Champaign-Urbana.
7. "One Fine Day"
The film "follows the lives of six RAs and their significant others as they deal with everyday college life and the issues that surround it," according to IMDb.com. A majority of movies filmed on campus worship typical "college" lifestyles.
8. "A Certain Point of View"
This thriller illustrates the ambiguous lives of five murder victims that hailed from a midwest college town. According to IMDb.com, "a struggling writer, a television cooking show host and her emotionally frazzled assistant, a romantically tragic bartender, and a depressed veterinary professor explore their lives through their own points of view."
9. "The Acrobatic Illini"
In 1948, short film makers aimed at exploring life as a gymnast at the University of Illinois. The film was only 10 minutes long.
10. "Football Fanfare"
Another short film made in the 1940s, the movie glimpses at various football highlights from the 1945 season. The film's purpose was to document the previous 15 years of Illini football.
Also...
11. "Leatherheads"
Rene Zellweger's character in "Leatherheads" is from Champaign.
12. "Any Given Sunday"
Before Pacino's "Inches" speech in Any Given Sunday, there's a brief clip of Red Grange at Memorial Stadium.
13. "Wherever I May Roam"
Here's the video to Metallica's Wherever I May Roam, which includes a U of I backdrop.
14. "Man in the Mirror"
Scenes from FarmAid (1985) at Memorial Stadium from Michael Jackson's Man In The Mirror.
