The last twenty years have seen a marked increase in film and television production in Chicago, although many suggest a hilarious disregard for the city’s basic geography (e.g. the Kevin Bacon vehicle “Stir of Echoes”).

One beloved movie that takes pains to utilize the city’s unique qualities is “High Fidelity”, which filmed throughout the neighborhood in the summer of 2000.  Chicago native John Cusack was already a familiar sight on the streets; his character’s preserve of record store snobbery, Championship Vinyl, was represented by an appropriately dingy alcove storefront  in the heart of Wicker Park, just beneath the El train trestle, which allowed for a dramatic shot of Cusack venting his angst below the tracks in a rainstorm.

Unfortunately, the facade has since been boarded up, although the attractive vintage six-flat apartment building above it was rehabbed around the time of filming. “Real” records and other accoutrements of the indie-rock lifestyle may be purchased at the well-stocked Reckless Records location about ½ block north.