THE 49TH STATE: ALASKA ON TV & THE BIG SCREEN
I am
headed to
in a few weeks, so I’ve been doing my usual vacation pre-production (packing
lists, itineraries, reservations, maps & guidebooks). Don’t laugh; in my
experience, the more prepared you are in advance, the more relaxed you’ll be when
the time comes. Anyway, I’ve been thinking about the
movies, of course.
the first season of Men in Trees, but as much as I enjoy the show, I just can’t
get past Anne Heche. Her fair-weather days with Ellen and current relationship
with her Men in Trees co-star totally affect my opinion of her as an actress. Regardless,
the series features
and the fictional small town of
is almost a character itself. I never watched Northern Exposure regularly, but
I’m certainly familiar with pseudo-city
have been many movies that take place in
but I’ve only seen a handful. And looking at this list…none were that
successful or memorable.
30 Days
of Night (2007)
Will be
released in October 2007. No thanks: it’s a vampire movie, and it stars Josh
Hartnett.
Stars a
very young Thora Birch (American Beauty) and Vincent Kartheiser (Mad Men)
An
Oscar-nominated documentary short film.
(1995)
Animated
movie voiced by Kevin Bacon, Bob Hoskins, Bridget Fonda…and Phil Collins.
The Edge
(1997)
An
unbelievably bad film, considering the screenwriter (David Mamet) and cast
(Anthony Hopkins, Alec Baldwin). Wait, I take that back. The female lead was
supermodel Elle McPherson.
Rush (1925)
Written,
directed and starring Charlie Chaplin.
Man (2005)
Controversial
documentary from writer/director Warner Herzog; the bear activists in the film died
after being attacked by a bear while living in
(2002)
Psychological
thriller starring Oscar winners Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hilary Swank.
Director Chris Nolan’s follow-up to Memento. Underrated. Add it to your Netflix
queue.
(1999)
From
writer/director John Sayles. Starring Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, David
Strathairn and Kris Kristofferson.
Entertaining hockey
comedy written by TV producer/writer David E. Kelley (Boston Legal, The
Practice, Ally McBeal, Chicago Hope). Great cast, including Russell Crowe, Hank
Azaria and Burt Reynolds.
Wolf (1983)
Disney
film about government researcher who bonds with wolves. Starring Charles Martin
Smith and Brian Dennehy.
Train (1985)
Random
but true facts about this film: Jon Voight received a nomination for Best Actor,
and Eric Roberts was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Really? Wow.
(1991)
A very
slow but beautifully filmed movie notable only for the lead performance by kd
lang.
Simpsons Movie (2007)
Ok, so
the family only moves there briefly. But even in the seemingly archaic style of The
Simpsons animation,
looked appealing and fun.
Snow Dogs
(2002)
Oh
Jr. You won the Oscar for Jerry Maguire and stole the show in As Good as It
Gets. How do you explain Chill Factor? Rat Race? Boat Trip? As for this one…at
least the sled dogs are cute. I mean, they have to share the screen with Thong
Song master Sisqo and Michael Bolton. So there’s that.
Fang (1991)
Disney’s
take on Jack London’s classic. Starring a young Ethan Hawke.