# Nitpick the 50 states' movies -- especially your own
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpick-the-50-states-movies-especially-your-own/692366
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [July 4, 2014, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpick-the-50-states-movies-especially-your-own/692366 "2014-07-04T21:05:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2014, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpick-the-50-states-movies-especially-your-own/692366/41 "2014-07-05T04:13:31Z")
Well, of course they picked Raising Arizona…
But, we don’t talk like Texans.
For movies set in Arizona, I offer:
Starman
Tombstone
Little Miss Sunshine
U-turn
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### Author:  [@chicagowhitesox1173](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chicagowhitesox1173)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2014, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpick-the-50-states-movies-especially-your-own/692366/42 "2014-07-05T04:32:54Z")
> [@Mince](#):
>
> Illinois: Blues Brothers
>
> So typical. Easy to guess. But _Ordinary People_ was so much better.
Illinois has tons of good movies to choose from.
Home Alone
Risky Business
The Sting
Waynes World
The Breakfast Club
Ferris Buellers Day Off
Midnight Run
The Untouchables
Eight Men Out
Candyman
Halloween
Childs Play
Blues Brothers
Planes Trains and Automobiles
Weird Science
The Fugitive
A few Batman movies
One of the Superman movies
Spiderman
Meet the Parents
Looking at this list makes me wonder if there’s movies made downstate now
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### Author:  [@chicagowhitesox1173](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chicagowhitesox1173)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2014, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpick-the-50-states-movies-especially-your-own/692366/43 "2014-07-05T04:35:13Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#):
>
> Ya know, I was gonna fact check that before I posted it, but I figured if it was sizeable, it would be better known…that’s what I get I guess.
Yeah besides Chicago, Illinois really doesn’t have many famous cities.
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### Author:  [@MentalGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MentalGuy)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2014, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpick-the-50-states-movies-especially-your-own/692366/44 "2014-07-05T05:12:58Z")
> [@janis\_and\_c0](#):
>
> I got no beef with their pick for West Virginia… exactly what I would have picked…
I like _We Are Marshall_ well enough, but I would have picked _Matewan_. Or if you wanted a movie that people had actually seen, then _October Sky_.
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### Author:  [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2014, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpick-the-50-states-movies-especially-your-own/692366/45 "2014-07-05T06:40:41Z")
For Texas, in addition to the aforementioned _Dazed and Confused_ and _The Last Picture Show_, I’d nominate:
_No Country For Old Men_
_Bernie_
_Office Space_
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### Author:  [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2014, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpick-the-50-states-movies-especially-your-own/692366/46 "2014-07-05T06:45:51Z")
> [@MentalGuy](#):
>
> I like _We Are Marshall_ well enough, but I would have picked _Matewan_.
Awesome movie. Excellent choice for WV.
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### Author:  [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2014, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpick-the-50-states-movies-especially-your-own/692366/47 "2014-07-05T07:18:43Z")
Gone With the Wind is a fine pick for Georgia, but is a little dated. More modern looks at the state might include “Sharky’s Machine” for Atlanta and “Deliverance” for rural Georgia. “Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil” might also work well for non-Atlanta Georgia.
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### Author:  [@chicagowhitesox1173](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chicagowhitesox1173)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2014, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpick-the-50-states-movies-especially-your-own/692366/48 "2014-07-05T07:33:40Z")
New York would have to be The Godfather.
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### Author:  [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2014, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpick-the-50-states-movies-especially-your-own/692366/49 "2014-07-05T07:35:00Z")
_American Graffiti_ is a fine movie, but it isn’t particularly about California. It could have been set in the midwest. I would have chosen something like _Chinatown_ or _L.A. Confidential_ - something that has a real connection to the state.
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### Author:  [@chicagowhitesox1173](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chicagowhitesox1173)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2014, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpick-the-50-states-movies-especially-your-own/692366/50 "2014-07-05T07:56:39Z")
Ohio has got to have something better than Heathers.
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### Author:  [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2014, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpick-the-50-states-movies-especially-your-own/692366/51 "2014-07-05T11:25:46Z")
I think Virginia deserves better than Darko – how about the Jimmy Stewart classic, “Shenandoah”???
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### Author:  [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2014, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpick-the-50-states-movies-especially-your-own/692366/52 "2014-07-05T11:29:47Z")
Perhaps, “Goodbye, Columbus” for Ohio? Hey, -I- liked it.
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### Author:  [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2014, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpick-the-50-states-movies-especially-your-own/692366/53 "2014-07-05T11:39:33Z")
I would pick Stroszek for Wisconsin. A little obscure, and German, for the list probably.
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### Author:  [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2014, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpick-the-50-states-movies-especially-your-own/692366/54 "2014-07-05T11:43:14Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#):
>
> Gone With the Wind is a fine pick for Georgia, but is a little dated. More modern looks at the state might include “Sharky’s Machine” for Atlanta and “Deliverance” for rural Georgia. “Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil” might also work well for non-Atlanta Georgia.
Excellent updates. And you’re right about GWTW, superb as it may be.
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### Author:  [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2014, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpick-the-50-states-movies-especially-your-own/692366/55 "2014-07-05T11:48:51Z")
Or, maybe, something about small town Ohio love for Football! Can’t find a great example, though there have been a number of excellent documentaries.
Bye Bye Birdie was about a small town in Ohio, filmed in Ohio.
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### Author:  [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2014, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpick-the-50-states-movies-especially-your-own/692366/56 "2014-07-05T11:49:58Z")
Why did I think ‘Midnight in the Garden…’ was set in Charleston, SC?
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### Author:  [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2014, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpick-the-50-states-movies-especially-your-own/692366/57 "2014-07-05T11:55:15Z")
> [@crucible](#):
>
> Why did I think ‘Midnight in the Garden…’ was set in Charleston, SC?
Maybe because you’ve been both places and couldn’t tell much difference? Two of the best Deep South icons outside of NOLA! Pitch in Natchez and you’re not far from naming all of them.
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2014, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpick-the-50-states-movies-especially-your-own/692366/58 "2014-07-05T14:03:46Z")
> [@chicagowhitesox1173](#):
>
> Yeah besides Chicago, Illinois really doesn’t have many famous cities.
But I’m in Milwaukee, so I know a handful of NE Illinois cities. Until just know when I looked it up, I didn’t know Aurora was in that corner of the state. But Waukegan, Naperville, Elgin (County?), Joliet County, Dekalb, Libertyville, Antioch etc are all places that most people in my neck of the woods are familiar with just from going down to Chicago or Six Flags or Gurnee. How I managed to not know Aurora was in that area also, I’m not sure.
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### Author:  [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2014, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpick-the-50-states-movies-especially-your-own/692366/59 "2014-07-05T16:19:21Z")
At least they didn’t pick **Blair Witch Project** for Maryland.
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### Author:  [@chicagowhitesox1173](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chicagowhitesox1173)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2014, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpick-the-50-states-movies-especially-your-own/692366/60 "2014-07-05T16:39:20Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#):
>
> But I’m in Milwaukee, so I know a handful of NE Illinois cities. Until just know when I looked it up, I didn’t know Aurora was in that corner of the state. But Waukegan, Naperville, Elgin (County?), Joliet County, Dekalb, Libertyville, Antioch etc are all places that most people in my neck of the woods are familiar with just from going down to Chicago or Six Flags or Gurnee. How I managed to not know Aurora was in that area also, I’m not sure.
Yeah I’d say Aurora is Naperville area. Yeah outside of Chicago you kinda have the big 3…
1. Elgin…North…Primal Fear
2. Aurora…West…Waynes World
3. Joliet…South…Rudy
I always thought of these three cities as being the end of the Chicago suburbs…Also to keep in spirit of the thread I added 3 movies which came out of each city.
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