Take 43: Collateral Beauty

Tuesday:  My "take" on a film.

Collateral Beauty (2016)

We are all connected.

One of my sisters died in May, and ever since her death it seems like everything I select to read, watch, or listen to, includes something about grief. A flash-flood of tears nearly washed me off the highway when R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts" came on the radio while driving.

I'm not consciously selecting things with that topic, but apparently my subconscious knows I need it--so, I shouldn't be surprised when a movie I placed on the Netflix "My List" awhile back, and just recently decided to watch, turned out to be about...grief, of course.

On the film's website, Warner Bros. describes: "When a successful New York ad executive suffers a personal tragedy and retreats from life, his friends devise a drastic plan to reach him before he loses everything. ...  [T]his thought-provoking drama explores how even the deepest tragedy can reveal moments of beauty."

In one of the scenes, a woman (Naomie Harris) who facilitates grief therapy meetings shares:

MADELINE

...something started to happen to me, you know. I would be walking or on the subway, whatever, and I would just burst into tears. But these weren't Olivia tears. These were tears born from something else, from this... from this kind of profound connection to everything. And I realized it was the collateral beauty.

HOWARD (Will Smith)

There's no such thing as collateral beauty.

MADELINE

There is Howard. There really is. It'll never bring her back. And it will never ever make it okay. But I promise you, it's there.

What a beautiful movie! Intriguing and original. I love the concept of collateral beauty--blessed moments accompanying or following painful events--and as I reflect on the heart-breaking days spent next to my sister's deathbed, I recognize many of those beautiful moments.

I originally added the movie to My List because I figured with such big names in the cast (e.g. Will Smith, Kate Winslet, Helen Mirren, Kiera Knightley) it ought to be good, right? I've seen most of Will Smith's films, so I'm not sure how I missed this one when it was released, but I certainly needed to see it now.

Warner Bros. Trailer: Collateral Beauty

Notes on content:

• No sex or nudity, but there are some references to adultery.
• One F-word, and infrequent mild swearing.
• Some anger portrayed, but no violence.

Movies filmed solely in these states.

I've been on several road trips in the past couple months, traveling mostly on secondary roads. The landscapes varied greatly... mountains, gorges, valleys, red rocks, prairies, desert...

Blue Mesa, Petrified Forest National Park (Arizona)

Moseying through the ever-changing scenery, I couldn't help but think of the lyrics to America the Beautiful...

Oh, beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!

Of course I spotted a lot of areas that seemed ideal for film locations! And since it's time to celebrate this country's Independence Day, I decided to re-publish a post from four years ago.

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(originally posted on July 4, 2017)

The 50 United States of Filming

In honor of Independence Day, I created a list of movies filmed in each state. I have visited all 50 of the United States and each one has its own beauty and charm... and filming locations.

Except where noted, these movies were filmed entirely in that particular state according to IMDb (I linked each title to the listed filming locations).

So if you see these films, know that the scenery really is from the state it was filmed in. For instance, if you watch Runaway Bride, all locations are in Maryland (think that's NYC? Nope, it's Baltimore posing). Whereas if you watch Dances with Wolves, you'll see lots of South Dakota, but also Nebraska, Wyoming, and Kansas (thus the movie did not make this list).

As much as possible,  I selected feature-length narrative films that showed in theaters rather than documentaries and small independent flicks.

And of course, this is not perfect or all-incluseive. Sometimes I found copious films to choose from so I limited the selection to three or four, and other times it seemed like scraping the bottom of the barrel to find one or two (a good indication those particular states don't offer decent film incentives).

(NOTE: Many of these movies contain content I would not recommend.)

Alabama:

• Norma Rae (1979)
• Constellation (2005)
• USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage (2016) (Except for museum scene.)

Alaska:

• White Fang (1991)
• Big Miracle (2012)
• The Frozen Ground (2013)

Arizona:  

(Popular state for filming!)

• Oklahoma! (1955) I listed this one for fun, since Oklahoma was not filmed in Oklahoma at all... 9 of the 10 filming locations were in Arizona, (and one studio location in CA).
• McLintock (1963)
• Raising Arizona (1987)
• Aces: Iron Eagle III (1992)

Arkansas:

• Boxcar Bertha (1972)
• White Lightning (1973)
• Biloxi Blues (1988)

California: 

(No surprise... there are pages and pages of movies filmed exclusively in California, so I selected some with plots linked to the movie industry.)

• Sunset Boulevard (1950)
• The Player (1992)
• Bowfinger (1999)

Colorado:

• Across the Wide Missouri (1951)
• Ladybugs (1992)
• Return of the Ghostbusters (2007)

Connecticut:

• The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972)
• Afterschool (2008)
• Hope Springs (2012)

Delaware: 

(This state only recently formed a film commission, so maybe we'll see more films there in the future.)

• Emmy of Stork's Nest (1915)
• Dead Poets Society (1989)

Florida:

• Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)
• Rosewood (1997)
• Big Trouble (2002)

Georgia:

• My Cousin Vinny (1992)
• Footloose (2011) 
• The Blind Side (2009)
• Allegiant (2016)

Hawaii:

• Blue Hawaii (1961)
• Six Days Seven Nights (1998)
• Soul Surfer (2011)

Idaho:

• Ski Party (1965) (mostly)
• Breakfast of Champions (1999)

Illinois:

• The Breakfast Club (1985)
• Home Alone (1990) (Except for Paris scene)
• At Any Price (2012)

Indiana:

• Hoosiers (1986)
• Diving In (1990)
• A Piece of Eden (2000)

Iowa:

• Cold Turkey (1971)
• The Bridges of Madison County (1995)
• Peacock (2010)

Kansas:

• Up the Academy (1980)
• Americana (1981)
• Jayhawkers (2014)

Louisiana:

• The Toy (1982) (mostly)
• Steel Magnolias (1989)
• 21 Jump Street (2012)

Maine:

• Head Above Water (1996)
• The Myth of Fingerprints (1997)
• In the Bedroom (2001)

Maryland:

• He Said, She Said (1991)
• Runaway Bride (1999)
• The Blair Witch Project (1999) 

Massachusetts:

• Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009)
• Joy (2015)
• The Finest Hours (2016)

Michigan:

• Gran Torino (2008)
• Cedar Rapids (2011)
• Into the Storm (2014)

Minnesota:

• The Mighty Ducks (1992)
• Untamed Heart (1993)
• Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)

Mississippi:

• Tomorrow (1972)
• Cookie's Fortune (1999)
• The Help (2011)

Missouri:

• Huck and Tom (1918)
• Tom Sawyer (1973)
• Saving Grace B. Jones (2009)

Montana:

• Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)
• Rancho Deluxe (1975)
• Big Eden (2000)

Nebraska:

• Cheers for Miss Bishop (1941)
• California Dreaming (2007)
• Lovely, Still (2008)

Nevada:

• Desert Hearts (1985)
• Far from Home (1989)

New Hampshire:

• On Golden Pond (1981)
• Mystery Team (2009)
• Before I Sleep (2013)

New Jersey:

• Lean on Me (1989)
• Clerks (1994)
• According to Greta (2009)

New Mexico:

• The Gatling Gun (1971)
• Sunshine Cleaning (2008)
• Sweetwater (2013)

New York: 

(Many, many movies filmed in New York, so I selected three with themes of Broadway.)

• The Producers (1967)
• The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)
• Bullets Over Broadway (1994)

North Carolina:

• A Walk to Remember (2002)
• The Secret Life of Bees (2008)
• The Hunger Games (2012)

North Dakota: 

• Northern Lights (1978)

Ohio:

• Brubaker (1980)
• Marauders (2016)
• Goat (2016)

Oklahoma:

• Passing of the Oklahoma Outlaws (1915)
• The Outsiders (1983)
• Bringing Up Bobby (2011)
• Cowgirls 'n Angels (2012)

Oregon: 

(Popular state for filming with many filmed exclusively in Oregon.)

• Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
• Mr. Holland's Opus (1995)
• Gone (2012)

Pennsylvania:

• Witness (1985)
• Unbreakable (2000)
• Jack Reacher (2012)

Rhode Island:

• American Buffalo (1996)
• Underdog (2007)
• Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

South Carolina:

• Staying Together (1989)
• Rich in Love (1992)
• Radio (2003)

South Dakota:

• Ski Troop Attack (1960)
• Hex (1973)

Tennessee:

• Walking Tall (1973)
• Country Strong (2010)
• Boulevard (2014)

Texas:

• Leap of Faith (1992)
• Secondhand Lions (2003)
• Friday Night Lights (2004) (except the opening shot of trailer)

Utah:

• The Sandlot (1993) (except for the Dodger Stadium shots)
• High School Musical (2006)
• 127 Hours (2010)

Vermont:

• Funny Farm (1988) (except for opening scenes in New York)
• Time Chasers (1994)
• The Spitfire Grill (1996)

Virginia:

• Brother Rat (1938)
• Sommersby (1993) (except opening scene)
• First Kid (1996)
• Lincoln (2012)

Washington:

• Cinderella Liberty (1973)
• 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
• Your Sister's Sister (2011)
• 7 Minutes (2014)

West Virginia:

• Fool's Parade (1971)
• Matewan (1987)
• Burning Annie (2004)

Wisconsin:

• The Giant Spider Invasion (1975)
• No God, No Master (2013)
• The Surface (2014)

Wyoming:

• The Mountain Men (1980)
• Prison (1987)

Well? Did the list hold any surprises for you?