Location, Location, Location

[Мастер]

An actual architect, not George Costanza pretending to be one?

[Heid the Ba]

The character is an actual architect, though his career is secondary to the film plot.

[Heid the Ba]

He could have been any mild mannered white collar worker at the start of the film.

[Lianachan]

Hmmm. The first film that leaps to mind where an architect goes shit-nuts about something is Deathwish - so I offer you that as my guess. And remind me to tell you about the time I saw Michael Winner in Helmsdale sometime.

[Heid the Ba]

And your guess is correct.

Didn't you once see Michael Winner in Helmsdale? I'd love to hear a witty anecdote about that.

[Lianachan]

It's not that witty an anecdote, but here's what I posted on the IMDB forum in 2004:
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I saw Michael Winner in a little village in the Scottish Highlands a few months ago. He was lost. He spent ages driving around this little village, stopping and frowning down roads. He eventually asked a passing local for directions (I'd been going to go over and offer to help if he was there much longer, although I'm not a native of that village).

I thought it was extremely funny that I was watching a director who quite clearly had no sense of direction.
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In this view, I was in the car park on the left, sitting in my car and consuming a hard earned fish supper (was on my way north, and home). He kept re-appearing at and stopping on that roundabout, assessing his options.

[Heid the Ba]

Excellent! It is much better than my "I saw Sean Connery in a restaurant once, he was eating pasta" story. He has a surprisingly large head.

[Lianachan]

Next up - what film used this location?

Seeing James Bond eating pasta is pretty cool anyway. I've never seen James Bond doing anything.

[Heid the Ba]

The white jeans just happened to drift into the shot . . . I don't recognise it.

My Connery sighting was long after he was Bond, probably in the Brosnan era. Maybe just into the Craig.

[Lianachan]

Holy Christ. I never even noticed the jeans.

The location is in Germany, but it's pretending to be in a different, fictional, country (and there's a Bond link!).

[Heid the Ba]

Vampiresylvania?

[Lianachan]

No vampires in it. Not a horror.

[Heid the Ba]

Ah, I have just got the Bond link, which is actually a double link if you include an actor. Chitty chitty bang bang.

[Lianachan]

Yup! Fucking awful film, but that doesn't make your answer any less correct. I forgot about Gert Fröbe being another Bondian link.

[Heid the Ba]

I was a very literal child and didn't get the whole fantasy thing. "But can the car fly or not?"

[Heid the Ba]

Who shot up a phone box here?

[Lance]

Is there a super hero?

And, um, there are people that don't like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang? My heart breaks. I hate you all.

[Heid the Ba]

No superhero, another mild mannered white collar worker.

I don't hate it, I didn't understand it when I was a child.

[Arneb]

Not Michal Douglas ion, what was it? Crash? Downfall?

Ah, yes: Falling Down?

[Heid the Ba]

Correct! Crash and downfall are very different films.

[Arneb]

I know But I had this image of Douglas with his broken glasses going on a rampage and couldn't quite remember the film title. so I fumbled around, then allowed myself to Google "Michael Douglas freakout film". I hope that was within the rules...

Who walked along this corner after buying a newspaper?

[Heid the Ba]

Well within the rules are far as I am concerned.

[Heid the Ba]

I think we need a clue.

[Arneb]

Maybe to put it in a "film" context is unfair, although the scene I am thinking of does appear in one - originally, however, it was part of a TV broadcast.

A funny broadcast.

[Heid the Ba]

Aha! And "walked" was a clue already?