In 1988, a little movie called Mystic Pizza made its premiere in the U.S. and thoroughly charmed its audiences. The movie centers around the lives of three young women coming of age in a picturesque New England coastal town. The film was shot on location in Mystic, Stonington and Groton, Connecticut, with a few scenes filmed in Watch Hill, Rhode Island.
Since the movie’s opening 23 years ago, tourists from all over the world have visited Mystic and the real life Mystic Pizza restaurant made famous by the movie. Everyone wants to relive a bit of movie magic and to try their very own “slice of heaven.”
Since its opening weekend on August 10, 2011, The Help, a Dreamworks Pictures film, continues to sweep the box office, staying in the No. 2 spot as recent as this past weekend (it was at No. 1 before then). Based on the novel of the same name by Kathryn Stockett, The Help is about the relationship between white families and their black maids in 1960s Jackson.
Remember The Abyss, a 1989 science fiction film that takes place in the deep dark ocean? The movie was directed by James Cameron (Avatar), starring Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Michael Biehn.
Once in a while, a few movies vividly stand out in our mind. We remember it long after the film is over, not just because the plot is interesting or the acting is top-notch, but because visually ... we just can’t get it out of our head.
Before Super 8, most of us had never heard of Weirton, West Virginia. Since the movie’s opening a few weeks ago amidst “critical buzz that’s getting louder by the hour,” Weirton has been on the forefront of the film location radar. The small West Virginia town was made famous when it starred as the fictitious town of Lillian, Ohio, in J. J. Abrams’ latest sci-fi thriller. How famous? Weirton was recently named one of the top five summer movie location-destinations movie-lovers would most likely want to visit.
“It is the passions of Jane Eyre that are the passion of her legions of fans, or at least many of them.”
Having read Jane Eyre as a teen and again as an adult, whenever a movie version of the book comes out - on television or on the big screen - I always try to catch it. From 1934 to present day, there have been at least 13 film adaptations of the novel. The latest Jane Eyre film directed by Cary Fukunaga is - for me - the best Jane Eyre yet because of two reasons. Mia Wasikowska is my favorite Jane, and Fukunaga’s authentic, film locations for Jane Eyre truly make me believe in Jane’s world.
Last month, we published Part 1 of A Haunting in Montana, a story about The Gibson House, a historic Victorian mansion in Great Falls, Montana, once belonged to Paris Gibson, Great Falls’ founder and first mayor. With rumors that it’s one of the most haunted locations in town, The Gibson House will be featured this Fall on The Travel Channel’s new series “Dead Files.”
The current owner of The Gibson House is Great Falls realtor, Kelly Parks. Ms. Parks bought the house, located at 400 4th Avenue North, in early 2009. Last year, she received a Historic Preservation Award from the city for her work in restoring the historic mansion.
This is Part 1 of our story on the mysterious Gibson House.
If you’re a fan of ghost tales and movies, you may find this next filming location fascinating. The location is the Gibson House in Great Falls, Montana. For their new television show “Dead Files,” The Travel Channel conducts a series of investigations to find out whether the Gibson House (and several other locations in town) is indeed haunted.
I’m a huge fan of Emily Blunt. Love her in Devil Wears Prada,The Young Victoria, Sunshine Cleaning, and most recently ... The Adjustment Bureau (which is so far my most favorite film in 2011).
Having just seen Adjustment Bureau a few weeks ago, I was surprised and excited to hear that Emily Blunt has already inked to make another movie. This time it’s a romantic comedy with Jason Segel as her co-star. The movie is Universal Pictures’ The Five-Year Engagement, slated to film in Ann Arbor, Michigan, possibly starting as early as next month.
This year’s verdict is out! Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his warm home this morning and could not find his shadow. And yes, that means spring is just around the corner for the rest of us. Hard to imagine when we’ve been bombarded with so many snow and ice storms lately.
In honor of Punxsutawney Phil and Groundhog Day, we’ve gathered for you a few interesting details on the filming locations of our belovedGroundhog Day movie (1992-93), starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell.
Are you feeling a bit restless on this cold, blustery day in January? Wouldn’t it be nice to be somewhere warmer and sunnier - even if just for a few hours?
We’ve lined up three movies that guarantee to transport you to the tropics and keep you happy there for a while. All filmed on location in beautiful Hawaii, they’ll charm your winter socks off and make you forget the chill outside.
The three movies are 50 First Dates, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and Blue Crush.If you’re a Netflix member,Blue Crushis currently on Instant Watch and you can stream it directly onto your television. For the other two flicks, a quick trip to your local video store will do.
It’s that time of the year again! The 2011 Oscar nominations were announced earlier this morning in Los Angeles. We’re thrilled to see a few of our favorite movies on the list: Winter’s Bone, Inception, Black Swan, The Social Network and 127 Hours. But topping it all is The King’s Speechwith 12 nominations, including for Best Picture and Director.
By now, you’ve probably heard all the buzz about the first feature film made entirely on an iPhone 4.
The movie is Paranmanjang or Night Fishing, made with a super-modest budget of under $135,000.
The director is Park Chan-Wook, one of South Korea’s most commercially successful young filmmakers. A few of his well-known movies are Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy (which won the Grand Prix award at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival), and Thirst (which won the Jury Prize at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival).
Reel-Scout has just partnered with “one of best hands-on film school in the world,” the New York Film Academy.
With campuses in both Los Angeles and New York City, NYFA offers an impressive list of programs for their students, including Filmmaking, Acting, Producing, Screenwriting, Documentary and Cinematography.
We blogged about Perfectly Prudence filming on location in a private Michigan home earlier last month. Tonight, Saturday, January 8, 2011, this charming movie is premiering on the Hallmark Channel at 9/8c.
I love independent films! They’re produced by smaller film studios, have smaller budgets and limited releases, and yet often leave me with hauntingly deep impressions for days afterward (Memento, Donnie Darko, The Usual Suspects, Brokeback Mountain ... to name just a few).
Earlier this year, we wrote about The Bunny Lady, a movie filmed entirely in Michigan, directed by West Michigan native Tom Seidman, starring the beloved Florence Henderson. We recently heard that the movie has been renamed The Christmas Bunny, and will be showing at The Knickerbocker Theatre in Holland, Michigan, on December 21, 2010, in time for the Holidays.
I have a riddle for you. What does a public high school, a fine foods store, and a 160-year old mansion - located in Georgia - have in common?
You guessed it! They’re all filming locations.
I love family movies. They’re far and few in between these days. But tonight, December 3, 2010, we have a great family movie lined-up for you. Tune in to NBC at 8 p.m. and watch A Walk In My Shoes, starring Nancy Travis (The Jane Austen Book Club, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, 3 Men and a Little Lady), Philip Winchester and Yara Martinez.
The movie is a joint production sponsored by Proctor & Gamble and Walmart. It’s the “third installment of their Family Movie Night Initiative, which was launched last April in direct response to research which revealed that parents across America are seeking more family-oriented entertainment to enjoy together.” (Quote taken from a recent press release.)
Movies are usually elaborate productions involving an extensive list of filming locations to provide the right settings and moods required for each scene. So when I heard that it is possible to film an entire movie in one location, well one house in this case, I was pleasantly surprised.
Jane Seymour’s latest project, a Hallmark Channel movie called Perfectly Prudence (formerly called Prudence, Again), was filmed entirely in a private home of a physician in Grand Rapids, Michigan, as confirmed by West Michigan Film Office’s Rick Hert. The house was also the former residence of the DeVos family.
