Didn't end up watching anything last night, so I just finished watching HARDCORE this evening.
Wow. It's still hard to believe I didn't get to this in 1979. It was released very early in the year, and I remember certain things I was involved in at the time, but nothing that would have superseded getting to most any movie I'd want to see. But what an interesting film, and it certainly will bear repeated viewings.
As to L.A. location shots: I am blown away to see that the Holiday Inn still had the original iconic sign standing on Highland Ave. any time near 1978 which is the latest this could have been shot. And I loved the panned shot that holds for a moment on STAR WARS playing at the Chinese. How great is that? That would help in dating when that shot happened, but I guess it's still likely it was there through quite a bit of 1978. There was another thing or two which escape me at the moment.
Let's see, what else? It sounds like the "Cinema Motel" actually exists (or did) in the Valley, but I haven't checked it out yet. I hardly ever got to know San Diego, but I did recognize a couple of the buildings there near the waterfront. And it's always great to see S.F. in the 1970s, even though I never got up there as often as I wish I had.