I think that John Sayles’ Lone Star would have been far better than either.
I’m happy to have the Coen brothers’ Fargo on the list, but i’d put it in for Minnesota, considering that the vast majority of the story takes place there, and most of the movie was also filmed there. I’ve never seen Purple Rain, so i don’t know if Fargo would be a better choice for Minnesota or not.
Actually, the novel on which the film was based is set in Delaware, there are clues in the film that support this, and it’s actually relevant to the story. Delaware, with its corporate-friendly laws, is home to a disproportionate number of financial institutions, especially credit card providers. This makes it an ideal location for a movie (or book) with Fight Club’s nominally anti-consumerist and anti-capitalist message, and especially the destructive finale.
Most of the movie, though, follows the Rockford Peaches, based in Illinois.
Still, some of it’s in Wisconsin, and i think it’s at least as good a choice for that state as Lars and the Real Girl. I might nominate Wisconsin Death Trip, a low-budget indie film from 1999, based on the cult classic book from the 1970s.
And therein lies a key question about the list itself: should the movie be iconic, or is it preferable that it’s truly representative?
I’ve nominated Lone Star for Texas. It’s hardly an iconic film in the manner of Giant or The Alamo, but i think it does at least as good a job of representing important aspects of Texas history and culture.
For upstate New York, i like You Can Count on Me as a fairly unvarnished look at small-town life. If you want to emphasize the post-industrial decline of Great Lakes cities, maybe something like Buffalo '66.
Paper Moon would have been a good one for Kansas. If not for the misleading title, so could Birdman of Alcatraz, since Stroud did all, ALL of his birding stuff while he spent 30 years in the Federal Penitentary in Leavenworth, KS. He wasn’t allowed to keep birds after he was transferred to Alcatraz. <grumble grumble>
I’ll take your word on that. I haven’t seen that movie since nearly when it came out. Then, went to school in the Racine/Kenosha area and used to drive past where the Belles played on a regular basis. That always made the movie stick in my head as a Wisconsin movie.
Looking at wiki for movies that take place in WI, how about The Great Outdoors.
And if you’re sick of hearing about The Blues Brothers for Illinois (chicago), you could nominate Wayne’s World, though, again, that really could take place in any small town, but it’s such an iconic movie and it’s not The Blues Brothers…again.
I went back and looked at the original link. The list does not mention “iconic” as a criteria. So as long as it’s (subjectively) great it would qualify.
Several have been mentioned: Bruce Almighty, Buffalo 66, Canadian Bacon, Nobody’s Fool, and You Can Count on Me. I’d add Dirty Dancing, Down to the Bone, Freak Talks About Sex, Ironweed, Julian Po, Kicking and Screaming (the 1995 one not the 2005 one), The Place Beyond the Pines, A Walk on the Moon, and You Kill Me. But my pick would be It’s a Wonderful Life.
Nebraska, the location for Election is described as a town just large enough to have two sides of the tracks. While we are not New York or Los Angeles, the local metro area population (2013) is 895,151.
I just sorta give up on movies/shows/anything about Connecticut. Everyone thinks that all there is to Connecticut is the “old money suburbs” and Fairfield County. But, there aren’t a lot of movies set in Connecticut that I know of, anyway. At least they didn’t pick Revolutionary Road (which I HATED) or the Stepford Wives.
Urban Cowboy or Friday Night Lights feel more like my experience of living in Texas. Mostly Houston area for me. Yeah, even tho FNL was set in West Texas, it pretty describes all of Texas High School. Even Dazed and Confused works for my experience of my Texas youth.
For West Texas, The Last Picture Show feels like being there. If I were being mean, I would nominates Manos: Hands of Fate for West Texas.
Isn’t It’s a Wonderful Life set in upstate New York?
And I’m fine with A River Runs Through It for Montana, but what the heck is Heathers, for Ohio? OK, so I can’t think of too many Ohio movies… Major League, maybe?
