Several scenes in a remake of the classic film Alice’s Restaurant are to be shot in Hartford.
In this version, characters are grappling with how to manage a changing climate and unrelenting virus: do they fight the power, or like the Boomers before them, sell out when the going gets too tough? Will they double down on building mutual aid and creating a world in which they want to live, or will they shrug and take the package that lets them ignore everything except their immediate families, hoping that the coastal flooding and increasing wildfires (they’re doing nothing to prevent) don’t harsh on the mellow of their meager retirements? Will it end with sobering disillusionment, a bang, a whimper?
There’s no intel about other filming locations, though we’ve been tipped that someone gets thrown through a restaurant window for daring to wear a mask in public after those with privilege declared themselves “over” an ongoing health crisis. The purpose to the plot is unclear, but we hear that this new version will also contain a motorcross scene.
As for Hartford’s filming locations, so far they’ve been identified as Keney Park (ravine, paths in Ten Mile Woods, Waverly section), Pope Park (Bankside Grove, Pope Park West), along with the Burns School property and Pope Park Hwy #4.
Here’s a sneak preview:
Above: Keney Park ravine
Above: Near Gully Brook in Waverly section of Keney Park; the motorbike (cover photo) is near this site.
Above: A rug on the Burns School property. This is but one piece of the array of trash that covers the Park Terrace side of the elementary school grounds.
Above: Directly across the street from the Burns School, one can observe this trash heap — and others! — in the Bankside Grove section of Pope Park. This pile has been festering since 2021, when Park Terrace was closed for construction.
Above: Scattered trash can be viewed in Pope Park West.
Get ready for the grand finale. Rumor has it, these are from the scene “And Then The Humans Gave Up On Everything Including Themselves.” This part of the film is scheduled to be shot on Pope Park Hwy #4:
Let’s zoom in a little closer on that one:
For those unfamiliar with the location, it’s the street that runs parallel to Bartholomew Avenue, where one can find a brewery and other trendy spots. In fact, if you walk around the block, it’s just a half a mile from the railroad track (it’s 0.127 miles if you’re a crow).
Note: This is satire. That should have been obvious. Only Hallmark type films are shot in Hartford, and then, only in Downtown and select streets in the Sheldon-Charter Oak neighborhood. There was a crew removing litter from the Keney Park ravine on Saturday; perhaps they took care of that pile of garbage bags. It’s unlikely the other messes in that park were touched. There is a pile of roofing shingles that have been in the Waverly section for over a year. Over in the central park of Hartford, illegal dumping remains an issue at the Burns School and sections of Pope Park. The Bankside Grove section has paths that are used as shooting galleries. Needles and other drug paraphernalia are strewn about. This has been reported to the City of Hartford numerous times, but nothing has been done about it. This is the section of Pope Park directly across from an elementary school. Doing something would look like routine trash collection from this area, installing a few sharps containers and trash bins, and working to create supervised, safe injection sites in Hartford. There is no excuse for trash to accumulate like this in our parks and on our school properties.
