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One of the great movies of the 1980s, "Flashdance," was set in Pittsburgh and took a little shot at Altoona when the lead character was asked where she's from.

"Altoona, Pennsylvania," wannabe dancer Alex, played by Jennifer Beals, said.

"Altoona?" replied Michael Nouri's character, Nick. "I was thinking more along the lines of Jupiter."

"Actually, they're very close," Alex said. "It's just the next lifeless planet over. Really, it was pretty boring."

Boring? Hey, that's not nice. Our little neck of the woods is a great place to live.

There must be something neat about the area, too, given that Hollywood frequently has decided to mention it during movies and TV shows.

Denzel Washington's "Unstoppable" became one of the few major motion pictures to actually film in Blair County last week when it stopped in Tyrone. Looking back through entertainment history, here are some other notable projects that recognized our region:

* "Groundhog Day" - There are four references to Altoona in Bill Murray's 1993 classic, which was filmed in Woodstock, Ill., and not Punxsutawney. All of the references - three verbal and one on a weather map - center around a blizzard that is expected to hit Altoona.

* "Frankie and Johnny" - This 1991 love story starring Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer prominently features Altoona, though no scenes were filmed here. Pfeiffer's character hails from Altoona, and Pacino's character was serving a prison sentence in the town. The movie begins with Pfeiffer's character arriving by train in Altoona.

* "Fugitive Lovers" - If you search for "Altoona, Pennsylvania" at imdb.com, this 1934 film is the only one that comes up in the exact matches category. Parts of the comedy were filmed in Altoona. The interesting trivia about this movie is that it features the Three Stooges in one of their earliest performances, and they are playing actual characters as opposed to the goofball trio they so famously became later on.

* "Diamond Men" - This 2000 movie originally was to be called "The Altoona Riding Club," which would have been fascinating since no other film in history has included Altoona in its title. It's probably a good thing the title was changed because in the movie, the Altoona Riding Club is a brothel. Robert Forster stars as a veteran diamond salesman teaching a new kid, Donnie Wahlberg, the ropes.

* "Scrubs" - Dr. Robert Kelso claims he once was a star minor league shortstop who played for Altoona in the Eastern League. That's not only funny, it's impossible, since the Kelso character was born in 1943 and the Curve didn't arrive until 1999.

* "The Simpsons" - A 2006 episode mentioned a marching band from Altoona playing in a Thanksgiving Day parade.

* "Just Shoot Me" and "Mad About You" - Altoona native Moses Port wrote for both of these hit sitcoms, and occasionally towns from this region would come up in conversation on the shows.

* "Without a Trace" - A 2004 episode of the procedural drama featured a bank robbery that was said to have taken place in Tyrone.

* "Road Trip" - This 2000 cult-classic comedy references Bedford, and not exactly in a good way as it pretty much makes the townspeople seem like rednecks. Four college boys driving to Texas have their car break down. They end up staying at the Bedford Motel, where Andy Dick is an obnoxious desk clerk. The next morning, they eat at a restaurant where former "Saturday Night Live" regular Horatio Sanz does some disgusting things with an order of French toast. Gross!

* "Saturday Night Live" - Earlier this year, the show had a hilarious skit featuring a legendary football player named Billy "The Gun" Van Goff, who played for the fictional Altoona Quarrymen in the Pennsylvania Valley Football Association. Steve Martin played the quarterback. "They called me 'The Gun' for two reasons," he said. "One, I had the best arm in the league." It then showed a picture of him holding a gun, and he added, "And the second reason was, I always brought a gun on the field."

* "Slap Shot" and "All the Right Moves" - These two classic sports movies were filmed in Johnstown. "Slap Shot," a 1977 film about a minor league hockey team, stars Paul Newman and is considered by many to be one of the best sports movies ever made. "All the Right Moves," a 1983 film, stars Tom Cruise and tells a poignant story about a kid trying to work his way out of a small town through football.

* "Hoffa" - The sea-plane landing scene in this 1992 Jack Nicholson film about the late Jimmy Hoffa was shot at Raystown Lake.

* George Burns - The great comedian wrote a book called "Living It Up: Or, They Still Love Me in Altoona!" Burns did his vaudeville act at The Mishler Theatre.

* "The Road" - Some scenes in this Charlize Theron-Viggo Mortensen movie, which will be released later this month, were filmed in abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike tunnels in Breezewood.

Mirror Staff Writer Cory Giger can be reached at 949-7031 and cgsports12@aol.com.