"in washington, you're innocent until investigated"

I saw Syriana this afternoon at the Los Feliz 3. I love that theater. You freeze your butt off, but matinees are only $4.50! Good movie and it fuels my oil conspiracy theories even more.

Here's what I got a kick out of: George Clooney's character encouraging his son to go to the University of Maryland because he has residency there. I seriously did a thumbs-up in the theater.

There is a scene involving George Clooney and William Hurt that supposedly takes place in Rockville, Maryland (it's labeled as such), but I assure you that was not Rockville! They walk into the parking lot and it's clearly a mall with a Macy's and an IKEA across the street. My money is on the mall and now massive shopping complex at White Marsh, which is north of Baltimore. Further evidence to suggest this includes a shot of Clooney driving on a highway, which appears to be I-695 (Baltimore's Beltway). I can't be certain about that, but I know it's in the Baltimore area rather than D.C. because one of the signs said Route 1 (Bel Air Rd.). Yeah, that's Baltimore's territory. But my god I got giddy seeing my (homeland) metropolitan area on the screen.