It is kind fo annoying that Kevin Bacon abandoned Phila for NYC (one of many) but he's an actor and certainly the opportunities are better up there than here. I do give him credit for not being afraid to admit his roots. You usually don't find that among the NYC transplants. Many of them are quick to forget where they came from and pretend that they spent all their life living in Manhattan. Andy Warhol is a great example. To hear him talk you'd think he spent all his life in New York when in fact he grew up in a ghetto in Pittsburgh and spent some time in Philadelphia.

Sorry to say, but Kevin Bacon would never in a million years have attained the stature he has now if he had stayed in Philadelphia. Major acting careers do not bloom here. They may start here, but they move elsewhere to become big.

Yatesy, I think you're being a little unfair to Shyamalan. My impression is that he has a great deal of affection for the city and the surrounding area (he is a suburban kid, I think). Yes, he said he likes the sense of decay and age here (Terry Gilliam said the same drew him to film "Twelve Monkeys" here), but I don't believe he meant "it's old and crappy". He was responding to the unique aesthetic virtues of an old industrial urban environment. Let's face it, there IS a tremendous amount of decay in many parts of Philadelphia, some of it quite picturesque. That's what makes Eastern State Penitentiary so interesting (though Gilliam actually had to fix up the part he filmed in - it was TOO broken down).

Let's face it, that's the aesthetic niche Philly fills. People have criticized shows like "Hack" for showing the city as dark and menacing too, but I think a lot of these are just keying on the subtle sense of melancholy that this city exudes. Actually, one of the best filmic representations of that blend of beauty & sadness that I think is a Philadelphia trait is the intro to "Philadelphia" - with the Springsteen song. I saw it on a plane back from Europe to Philly a number of years ago, and it actually moved me to tears.

I don't see this as a bad thing, necessarily. I think a lot of people on this blog have expressed a sense of intrigue at the lonely, forgotten relics of the city's past - the North Delaware riverfront, the Reading Viaduct in Callowhill, the Boyd Theater. There's a certain romance to these wrecks. I want to see all of these places brought back to life, don't get me wrong, but there is still that sense of mystery.

Try these numbers: Maybe a dozen or two theater companies in Philadelphia playing in about six theaters. No resident feature film companies (of any size) and no sound stages.

Hundreds of theater companies performing in hundreds of theaters. A number of major film companies with at least two major sound stages.

Philadeelphia vs. NYC.

Then consider theaters and filmmakers in Los Angeles.

Do you really think that Kevin Bacon should have stayed here.

As for Shyamalan (sp.), he certainly seems to like Philadelphia. In addition to his filming all his features here in the area, he has donated more than a million dollars to the neighborhood in which he shot 6th Sense.

Demme also loves Philadelphia. When he was shooting beloved, he and many of his crew took part in a number of Philadelphia events including the Aids Run.

I have a thoery that just about every celebrity or pop culture icon in the US either is from the NYC area or has lived there.

And has worked with Kevin Bacon.

Who is the other Bacon brother besides Kevin and how would I know him?

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