Favorite Film Locations from Award Winning Movies

Fargo, North Dakota may not seem quite as interesting as Paris, France may, however, it does hit the spot in the movie aptly named "Fargo." The accents and dialect as in " oh geez" made we want to sit in a Fargo coffee shop like a fly on the wall just to listen. The desolate snowy by-ways and the matter-of- fact demeanor of the people especially the star performers in this movie all made me intrigued with Fargo, a place that never would have made it on my bucket list of places to visit were it not for the movie. That is what a great film location should accomplish. It should be intriguing, promoting the desire to meet the people and see the land. It should be as close to real as possible in all its demographics.

Another newer film rumored to be a contender for the Oscar, having already won the IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards, is " Winter's Bone ". "Winter's Bone" primarily filmed in Branson Missouri and Forsyth Missouri in the Ozarks made this movie come to life. Now, I will admit that I have wanted to go to the Ozarks after visiting about 350 other places I may never get to visit. Without exception, this movie raised it up on my queue to possibly the 100^th place I would like to see.

"New York is where I'd rather stay... Dah-ling I love you but give me Park Avenue". I seem to hum these immortalized words sung by Eva Gabor whenever I see a movie about New York. I have been to NYC a couple of times, short trips really. Nevertheless, I would love to go back and spend a month or three really getting to know it, from NYC to the outskirts of little towns barely noted in the movies. Most recently, I have seen several movies that filled me with that very desire. Among these films "Julie & Julia" made me wish for a tiny Queens' apartment, overcrowded, filled with cookbooks and unbearably adorable. It also made me wish to eat with wild abandon in France like Julia Child.

One of my favorite movies, "Crazy Heart," made me want to hit the road to see all the places depicted in this movie primarily filmed in New Mexico. "Crazy Heart" for all its wonderful scenes with both beautiful and lonely locations that I will never forget from the broken down old bowling alley to the lake where Jeff Bridges and Robert Duvall fished moved me in many ways including my desire to see the film locations first hand.

Perhaps all of these places are more enjoyable in a movie than actually being there but someday I intend to find out.