Verisimilitude in L.A.: The York

THIS from my friend Jesus Sanchez's blog, The Eastsider L.A., about the Lincoln Lawyer and why it works. As we know, finding the "real" L.A. can be a difficult task and trying to make a movie that in some way captures some piece of that essence presents its own challenges. A lot of it came down to the places that people in the neighborhood go, not necessarily the destinations that we bring tourists to -- like this one:

The Lincoln Lawyer - The York - Watch a funny movie here

"The new film “The Lincoln Lawyer” starring Matthew McConaughey and Ryan Phillipe takes advantage of Eastside scenery and some neighborhood venues, including The York, a Highland Park bar and restaurant. The film's crew spent about two days last August in the York Boulevard gastropub to rig up lighting and shoot the scene shown above, said co-owner Ryan Ballinger. Not only did the production company ask to shoot scenes at the bar, they also asked to use The York’s name in the movie, Ballinger said:

Brad Furman, he director, believed very strongly in using Los Angeles locations that he liked in particular. He was really easy to work with. He had asked, ‘Do you mind if we call it The York in the movie?’ and of course I didn’t have a problem with that at all, especially because it wasn’t where Ryan Phillipe’s character was going to pick up hookers … I admit, it was awesome to see the sign for The York in an establishing shot."

For the full post and comments, take a trip over here to Jesus' blog. It's a treasure trove of neighborhood news for Silver Lake, Echo Park, Los Feliz, Highland Park, etc.

-- L.G.