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Films of the fifty states: Virginia through Washington D.C.
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We start out in Virginia and then make our way through the W's. Its the end of the line, but there's still so much to see when America is on film!
Virginia
Q'orianka Kilcher plays Pocahontas-Mataoka
The famed commonwealth of Virginia has a lot of subject matter featuring it on film. Jimmy Stewart stars in Shenandoah, a 1965 film about a Virginia farmer who finds his family stuck in the middle of the Civil War conflict. The film was Katherine Ross' debut and went on to become a Tony-award winning Broadway musical in 1975.
Two famous films try to recreate the first days of the Jamestown settlement. The completely anachronistic Disney film Pocahontas was intended to give Native America girls a Disney princess of their own. More accurate is the 2005 film The New World, which stars Colin Farrell, Q'orianka Kilcher, Christopher Plummer, Christian Bale, and David Thewlis. Pocahontas, who's real name was Mataoka, is never called Pocahontas during the entire film. In fact, no Native American character is ever referred to by name.
The cult classic film Donnie Darko is set in Virginia. The film is about troubled teenager Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) who is plagued by a giant silver rabbit named Frank (James Duval) who informs him that it is up for him to save the earth from apocalypse in 28 days 6 hours 42 minutes and 12 seconds. 28 is a number that repeats throughout the film and the production, which took 28 days and has 28 original scenes. The film also stars Maggie Gyllenhaal, Daveigh Chase, Mary McDonnell, and Patrick Swayze.
Remember the Titans is another film set in Virgina, dealing with a struggling football team in the midst of their high school's first year after intergration. Black coach Herman Boone (Denzel Washington) teaches the players and community to come together in this 2000 sports film. Hayden Panettiere, Kate Bosworth, and Ryan Gosling are also in the film.
Washington
Film poster for Say Anything
Washington state utilizes its gorgeous Pacific landscapes as a great background for film. The rom-com Sleepless in Seattle takes place in this Pacific Northwest state. Tom Hanks is a recently widowed man who's son (Ross Malinger) calls up a local nightime radio station in order to find someone to cure his father's loneliness. Meg Ryan plays the woman who hears the radio and falls in love with a man she's never met. Rita Wilson, Victor Garber, Bill Pullman, and David Hyde Pierce also star.
Cameron Crowe's Washington set film Say Anything... is about a teenage girl (Ione Skye) who falls in love with a slacker (John Cusack) while her father (John Mahoney) is under investigation by the IRS. The film deals with telling the truth and being able to trust the people who love. Another Crowe film set in Washington state is Singles, about a group of twentysomethings in the same apartment complex during the grunge area, looking for love. The film stars Bridget Fonda, Campbell Scott, Kyra Sedgwick, Sheila Kelley, Jim True-Frost, Matt Dillon, Bill Pullman, and James LeGros.
The film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is about an FBI agent's disapperance in Washington, investigating the murder of a girl named Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee). The last days of Laura Palmer are profiled in the film. David Bowie, Moira Kelly, and Miguel Ferrer also appear in the film.
West Virginia
Friends in rocket science
The state of West Virginia has a few films to call its own. Set in a small coal mining town, the film October Sky is based on the biography of rocket scientist Homer H. Hickam Jr.. The film talks about Homer (Jake Gyllenhaal) and his friends (Chris Cooper, Chris Owen, William Lee Scott, and Chad Lindberg), inspired by the Sputnik rocket and a teacher (Laura Dern) to learn rocket science.
Also set in West Virginia is the film Matewan, is also about the mining communities in West Virginia. The film is about a labor organizer (Chris Cooper) who tries to help a local community of miners fight against the domineering mining company. The film also features James Earl Jones, Mary McDonnell, and David Strathairn.
Wisconsin
Poster of the cult zombie film.
Home of the Green Bay Packers and America's dairy capital, Wisconsin has a lot to offer in film. The Great Outdoors is a film written by John Hughes and set in the Wisconsin woods. The film is about a Chicago man (Dan Aykroyd) who wants a great vaction for his family when his brother and sister-in-law (John Candy and Stephanie Faracy) decide to come along. The woodland comedy is a great family film, also starring Annette Bening.
American Film is an indie film about a bumbling Wisconsin filmmaker (Mark Borchardt) who is trying to produce a horror film called Coven. This is a hilarious indie film about the pitfalls and pratfalls of being an indie horror director, dealing with parents as well as confused actors and crew members.
A real horror film set in Wisconsin is Dawn of the Dead is about an assorted group of people who are trying to survive a zombie invasion by hiding out in a Wisconsin megamall. The Zack Snyder film has become one of the biggest cult zombie film.
Wyoming
Cage passes himself off as a hitman
In the state of Wyoming, is the home of varied cowboy films. The 1992 film Unforgiven was directed by and stars Clint Eastwood. About a retiring cowboy who goes along with a young gunslinger on a final mission, the film also features Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, and Richard Harris.
In Red Rock West, a Texan (Nicolas Cage) who's promised job falls through, finds himself mistaken for a hitman trying to kill the cheating wife (Lara Flynn Boyle) of a prominent citizen (J.T. Walsh). After taking the money and trying to run, he encounters the real hitman (Dennis Hopper), who isn't too pleased.
The Ang Lee film, based on the Annie Proulx story, Brokeback Mountain is a tale of the love between two cowboys (Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal) despite the rigid codes of the society where they live. The film also deals with the alienated women they leave behind. The film also stars Anne Hathaway, Michelle Williams, and Randy Quaid.
Washington D.C.
As a bonus for all of you faithful readers, I'm going to give one more film for the nation's capital of Washintgon D.C. The Jimmy Stewart film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is about a naive man elected to the senate who takes his duty solemnly, dealing 
Jimmy Stewart goes to Washington D.C.with all of the corruption in politics and trying to remind his fellow senators what America is supposed to stand for. The Frank Capra film also stars Claude Rains and Jean Arthur.
Jimmy Stewart goes to Washington D.C.
I hope it's been a fun trip as we have explored America on film!
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