With all the Hollywood names roaming around the Electric City lately, including a visit yesterday by former Sopranos star Vincent Pastore (a.k.a. Big Pussy) to shoot scenes for a low-budget flick, it got me wondering what other films have used Schenectady as a backdrop.  You know you were wondering the same thing.

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It started with Ryan and Bradley, then the Big P. was in town one day and gone the next. It all got me thinking about who will be the next familiar face from the big and small screen we see wandering the streets of Schenectady?  That or who else has been here that we've already missed out on?

We still have another year or two to go before getting a glimpse of the local landmarks on the big screen in Place Beyond the Pines, but film crews have been recording in Schenectady since as early as 1973. So, if you want bragging rights about your hometown sooner than later, you can always check these out from your local Blockbuster or Netflix streams.

The Way We Were (1973) - Everyone knows the song, if not the exact story. This is the one with the love connection between Barbara Streisand and Robert Redford before politics killed their love. And they say money is the root of all evil.

The Time Machine (2002) - The title really gives you all the information you need to know, but Guy Pearce (yes, that guy from Memento) goes on another time trip in this significantly less mind-blowing feature about a 19th century inventor looking to change the past, but instead winds up in the future (yeah, watch the movie to try and figure that one out) and witnesses human society devolve.

Synecdoche, New York (2008) - Philip Seymour Huffman and Michelle Williams star in this elusive movie, so you know it's bound to be both Oscar worthy and HUGELY depressing. A theater director has personal and professional issues he tries to deal with while making a life-size replica of New York in a warehouse for his next play. Obviously!

Winter of Frozen Dreams (2009) - Probably the only film on this list to satisfy everyone's internal Nancy Drew (or Hardy Boy). Thora Birch and that guy that played the boyfriend of Deb/detective Frank on Dexter puts his detective hat back on (typecasting anyone?) to prove Ms. Birch is a naughty girl outside her job at the massage parlor. Mystery or porn? You decide.

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