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What Is the Best Movie Set and/or Filmed in Your State?
Yesterday in the GLoP cast there was a discussion of the best New York City film. It is not an easy choice, just as picking the best Los Angeles film or the best Chicago film isn’t easy.
Last year my wife and I traveled to every state. There were a number of things we did in every state, along with going to a church, a bar and to a movie theater. We also watched a movie that was set or filmed in that state. The DVD folder we travelled with covered most states, but not all — and sometimes we didn’t have a DVD for a state or access to a DVD player, so we needed to stream. Sometimes it was hard to pick the film because there were so many choices (see above). Sometimes, in places like Delaware and West Virginia it was difficult because the choices were so limited. And some places we felt we had no choice. We had to watch Oklahoma in Oklahoma. But we persevered, and here are the films that represented each state (and the District of Columbia):
- Nevada – Lost in America (1985)
- Arizona – Raising Arizona (1987)
- New Mexico – Silverado (1985)
- Texas – Office Space (1999)
- Oklahoma – Oklahoma (1955)
- Kansas – Elmer Gantry (1960)
- Missouri – Paper Moon (1973)
- Arkansas – True Grit (1969)
- Louisiana – Miller’s Crossing (1990)
- Mississippi – My Dog Skip (2000)
- Alabama – My Cousin Vinny (1992)
- Florida – Matinee (1993)
- Georgia – The General (1926)
- South Carolina – The Great Santini (1979)
- North Carolina – Bull Durham (1988)
- Tennessee – Starman (1984)
- Kentucky – Goldfinger (1964)
- West Virginia – A Killing Affair (1977)
- Virginia – The Littlest Rebel (1935)
- Maryland – Broadcast News (1987)
- Delaware – Clean and Sober (1988)
- Pennsylvania – Rocky (1976)
- New Jersey – The Station Agent (2003)
- New York – When Harry Met Sally (1989)
- Alaska – The Gold Rush (1925)
- Hawaii – Lilo and Stitch (2002)
- Washington – House of Games (1987)
- Connecticut – Beetlejuice (1988)
- Rhode Island – Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
- Massachusetts – The Crucible (1996)
- New Hampshire – What About Bob? (1991)
- Maine – The Iron Giant (1999)
- Vermont – Nothing Sacred (1937)
- Ohio – The Kings of Summer (2013)
- Michigan – Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)
- Indiana – Hoosiers (1986)
- Illinois – The Untouchables (1987)
- Wisconsin – Wayne’s World (1992)
- Minnesota – A Serious Man (2009)
- Iowa – Field of Dreams (1989)
- Nebraska – About Schmidt (2002)
- South Dakota – North by Northwest (1959)
- North Dakota – Fargo (1996)
- Colorado – The Prestige (2006)
- Utah – Fletch (1985)
- Wyoming – Unforgiven (1992)
- Montana – Little Big Man (1970)
- Idaho – Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
- Oregon – Meek’s Cutoff (2010)
- California – Die Hard (1988)
District of Columbia bonus – The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
So did we pick the right film for your state? Where did we go wrong?
(The states are listed in the order of our travels with the exception of D.C. which fell between Virginia and Maryland)
Published in Entertainment
That is not what the former Governor of the state referred to this entire section of his state.
Detractors remind the public that, in the winter of 1991, Gov. Schaefer compared Maryland’s Eastern Shore to an outhouse (he referred to the region as a “shithouse”[18] ). When the remark circulated, Eastern Shore residents erupted in protest.
Yes; “Sergeant York” is the best movie set in Tennessee.
I think it was all filmed in California.
I was surprised that Eustace C.S. had not picked “Nashville” for TN. It had substantial portions filmed in Nashville.
“I Walk the Line” is both set in Tennessee, and was filmed there (in Baxter).
When I was a kid, my little sisters and I got evicted from the Cades Cove set of “A Walk in the Spring Rain” because the Sad Blisters were making noise that annoyed Ingrid Bergman.
I never thought of either of those flicks as particularly good movies.
Since @fakejohnjanegalt has already mentioned Stripes for Kentucky, I have to throw in Coal Miner’s Daughter and Elizabethtown.
The final award for irony goes to the Producers of the movie Annapolis. A movie set in and about the midshipmen at the Naval Academy, and in a fit of pique filmed it 125 miles away in Philadelphia, because it was a unrealistic portrayal of standards by which the Navy prepares America’s naval officers. No Top Gun treatment for those folks.
Nuh-nuh.
The best movie set in Kentucky is Goldfinger.
“You start out hugging a tree, next thing you know you’re biting a pillow.”
Or something like that.
Boat drinks.
Pull my Goldfinger.
Buckwheats
A Christmas Story was set in Indiana but filmed entirely on location in Cleveland. Ralphie’s house is now a museum, complete with leg lamp in the window.
The store scenes were filmed at Higbees Department Store downtown. New ownership saw a name change and then closure in 2002. The building is now a casino. It is an unverified rumor that bettors are warned that, when flinging the dice at the craps table, “You’ll put your eye out, kid!”
Elizabethtown really is a charming movie, with a good soundtrack, too.
Nebraska?
Good choice. Another good one was Gran Torino.
The entire series of Justified was set in Kentucky though much of it was filmed elsewhere.
I’ll suggest We Are Marshall for West Virginia. Forest Gump for Alabama.
Oh yes in Florida – Matinee (1993) is mine also. However that could be because it was filmed in my hometown of Cocoa,FL , 10 minuets from were my parents still live.
True story my Piano teacher had booked the Cocoa Playhouse like over a year ahead of time for a recital for her students. The production company then came in like only three months before the recital and booked the theater for the movie (Cocoa Playhouse). Not sure why a major Hollywood studio was booking the central landmark ,so last minute, that so much of the story plot of their movie revolved around . She was upset and even thought about getting a Lawyer for breach of contract if I remember correctly.
Okdokie … I still pick Unforgiven as the best film shot in Alberta…
@miffedwhitemale pointed out “Cool Runnings” was better that “Superman iii” – I cannot disagree. For more recent films shot in Alberta there is “Broke Back Mountain” — which I have not seen, but its supposed to be good. and “The Revenant” – which was mostly shot in Alberta, but a Chinook forced them to move shooting to Argentina to get snow on the ground – and also caused the budget to go from $60 million to $135 million.
No planning for Alberta weather…
Planes, Trains and Automobiles for Missouri, although there are Kansas, Illinois, and New York parts too.
Up in the Air was also filmed at the St. Louis airport.
Escape from New York was largely filmed in St. Louis.
The Outlaw Josey Wales was apparently partially set in Missouri.
October Sky
So was the Auto Rental Counter scene in Planes Trains and Automobiles (“you can start by wiping that [redacted] smile off your [redacted] face”). My girlfriend-at-the-time’s brother was travelling through when they were filming an can be briefly seen in the crowd.
Station Agent, bah.
A few scenes of The Subject Was Roses (1968) were filmed at the Oakland Inn, Oakland, NJ.
If Joe Biden was in Oakland in 1968, which he wasn’t, he would have called that a Big F@@@@@ Deal. Which it kinda was.
Didn’t know that was shot in Alberta, but agree it has to win. Of course, Alberta’s not a state, not unless something happened recently that the media hasn’t found room for with their coverage of DT, Jr.
The OP is either – any one who calls you on it should put it in their hat.
There are so few Canadians here, that I dont expect an invitational inclusion, its a fun topic to jump in on.
Because of the dollar exchange rate, tax rebates, and an easier permitting process, many TV shows and movies are filmed in Canada. X Files, Stargate, (both in Vancouver) Star Trek:Discovery (Toronto)
Best movie filmed in Maryland: Avalon
Illinois is definitely either “The Blues Brothers” or “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”. Probably the former by a hair since it’s about more than just Chicago.
I’m really surprised by the terrible California choices. I think hands down it has to be “Vertigo” (clearly inferior to “Vertigo” for this list, but probably my second choice for the list, is “China Town”). But, that’s for the Republican, before everything went to crap, phase in California’s history.
For contemporary California, I don’t know; it’s a much harder call. Someone should propose something set in the last twenty-five years or so. Maybe “Clueless”? Or “The Breakfast Club” or something else like that from the eighties or nineties?
There really isn’t a good movie showing the hell-hole that is California today. “Silicon Valley” skewers part of it, but no one has done a movie about all of the third-world anarchy in California, because of course Hollywood won’t assault itself by looking at the inconvenient results of its terrible political ideas.
Being Kentucky about any horse movie involves us. Seabiscuit and Secretariat being a couple.
Being Indiana we tend to get Basketball. Hoosiers and Blue Chips being an example. Also get a lot of racing mentions because of the 500.
LA Confidential. On the QT and strictly, hush hush.
And I just inadvertently substituted made in for set in.
How about the L.A. of the future?
Blade Runner