We went to the movies on a rainy Memorial Day — and NJ was everywhere

Memorial Day weekend was cold, rainy and honestly not great for outdoor plans. So Linda and I did what any reasonable New Jersey couple does when the Shore is cold and the trails are wet — we went to a matinee.

Devil Wears Prada 2. Meryl Streep. Anne Hathaway. Emily Blunt. Stanley Tucci. The whole gang back together twenty years later, fighting over a magazine empire while wearing clothes that cost more than my property tax bill.

It was terrific. And sitting in that theater I kept thinking — these are New Jersey people. At one point Miranda Priestly dismisses a prospective estate with her signature icy contempt: "Oh, New Jersey? Long Island." The theater laughed. I laughed. And then I thought — Meryl Streep grew up in Bernardsville. The woman who wrote that line, screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna, grew up in Demarest and Montvale. Anne Hathaway grew up in Millburn.

The film used Newark Liberty for filming a scene where Miranda had to fly coach on United (and not a private jet) due to budget cuts at the magazine she ran — 'Runway'. The film also cast locals as airplane passengers on a United plane.

New Jersey is the punchline and the whole movie at the same time. That is the most New Jersey thing that has ever happened in a Hollywood film.

Which got me thinking about how much New Jersey is on screen right now. Turns out — a lot.

New Jersey is Hollywood East

Netflix purchased nearly 300 acres at the former Fort Monmouth site in Oceanport and Eatontown for a major production complex. A studio in West Orange was approved near the Black Maria replica — a nod to Thomas Edison's original film studio, which was right here in New Jersey. The state has been quietly building the infrastructure of a legitimate film industry for years and the movies are now showing up on screen.

Here is what has been filming in New Jersey recently — and where you can actually go visit.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 — Newark

While set mainly in Manhattan filming took place at Newark Liberty International Airport where locals were cast as airplane passengers. Meryl Streep is from Somerset County. Anne Hathaway is from Millburn. This is as Jersey as a movie gets while pretending to be about New York fashion. Miranda can say what she wants about New Jersey. She lives here.

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere — Asbury Park, Freehold and 14 more NJ towns

This one came out in theaters last October and — I will be honest — flopped at the box office. It grossed $45 million worldwide against a $55 million budget. But then it hit Hulu in January and became a streaming sensation — the most-watched film on the platform, landing in the top ten in multiple countries. New Jersey audiences found it on their couches even if they skipped it in theaters. 

And the New Jersey roots run deep. When studios lobbied to shoot in Pittsburgh, Bruce Springsteen himself said no — his story was only being filmed in New Jersey. The production spent $41.8 million filming across 16 towns including Asbury Park, Freehold, East Rutherford, Montclair, Newark and Jersey City. In Asbury Park specifically the production filmed at the Stone Pony, Convention Hall, the Carousel House and Frank's Deli on Main Street, transforming the city into its 1980s version. The Meadowlands Arena doubled as venues in Cincinnati and Los Angeles. 

If you want to walk the Springsteen trail, Asbury Park and Freehold are your starting points.

SEE ALSO: Netflix 'Big Mistakes" was filmed all over NJ — here's where 

Big Mistakes — all over the state

You already know this one from my earlier piece. Dan Levy's Netflix comedy filmed at Fosterfields Living Historical Farm in Morristown, Crystal Inn in Eatontown, Adam's Fine Clothing and Tuxedo in New Providence and Wyoming Presbyterian Church in Millburn. It hit 26,000 pageviews on my site — New Jersey readers love spotting their state on screen. 

The Bride! — Newark

Directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal this dark reimagining of Bride of Frankenstein is already in theaters. A major scene filmed inside Newark's Washington Street Trolley Tunnel — a long-abandoned landmark revived for the big screen. If you have never heard of the trolley tunnel under Washington Street, you now have a reason to look it up.

Paper Tiger — Teaneck

Scarlett Johansson, Miles Teller and Adam Driver were in Teaneck filming this drama about brotherhood and betrayal. No release date yet but the cast alone suggests this one will arrive with noise. 

Friday the 13th prequel series — Hope Township and Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco

The Friday the 13th prequel series returned to Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco in Hope Township — the actual Boy Scout camp used in the original 1980 film — along with locations in Clifton. Horror fans have been making pilgrimages to that camp in Warren County for 45 years. Now it is back on screen.

Happy Gilmore 2 — Essex County

Adam Sandler filmed all around Essex County for Happy Gilmore 2 including in Montclair. The original is one of the most quoted movies in New Jersey sports bar history. The sequel filming in our backyard feels exactly right. 

Cameron Diaz comeback film — Jersey City, Bloomfield and Perth Amboy

After a nearly decade-long hiatus from acting, Cameron Diaz filmed scenes in Jersey City, Bloomfield and Perth Amboy. The production even shut down a stretch of Route 133 in East Windsor for one day. Whatever this film turns out to be, New Jersey was part of the comeback. 

What this actually means

The state's film tax incentive program has been pulling productions here for years and it is compounding. When Netflix builds a 300-acre studio at Fort Monmouth, productions stop being occasional visitors and start being permanent residents. The crew members, local hires, the restaurants near sets that stay busy during shoots — all of it adds up.

And for the rest of us — next time something flickers past on screen and feels familiar, you will know it. That is our trolley tunnel. That is the Stone Pony. That is the camp from Friday the 13th still sitting out there in Hope Township off Route 521.

Miranda Priestly can dismiss New Jersey all she wants. The woman who wrote that line is from Demarest. The woman who delivered it is from Bernardsville. And they filmed it in Newark.

New Jersey is the punchline. New Jersey is always the punchline. And somehow we keep ending up in every frame.