USA 2011

When we planned our holiday around Utah this year we didn't intend it to be particularly film-centric, we honestly didn't realise how many movies had taken advantage of the amazing scenery. We had been invited to a wedding in Houston, Texas; but thinking there wasn't really anything interesting to see in Texas (and judging by our 25 hour train journey through it, we were right) we decided to do a bit of a tour of the National Parks in Utah beforehand. Like I say, it wasn't meant to be so cinema related.

Having picked up the hire car in Salt Lake City, we immediately left and drove straight to Moab. Our first port of call was Arches National Park where amongst other things the beginning of this was filmed:

There were also some Thelma and Louise scenes filmed in Arches, but the famous driving off a cliff scene was filmed under Dead Horse Point; the view from which looks like this:

This viewpoint also features in 127 Hours as a brief sunrise scene. The cliffs under this viewpoint are also the cliffs that Tom Cruise climbed in the opening scenes of Mission Impossible 2, but you don't get to walk under there, so I don't have any photos.

After Dead Horse Point we did Canyonlands National Park, which hasn't appeared so much on the silver screen, but some of 127 Hours was filmed (on account of Aron Ralston getting his hand stuck under a rock in another part of Canyonlands), and some of The Greatest Story Ever Told was shot at Green River Overlook:

Next we headed off down to Monument Valley. Now it really would be unrealistic of me to try and list all of the films that have been shot here. If you have ever seen a couple of westerns in your life, there is a good chance that at least one of them was shot here; especially if it had John Wayne in it, or made by John Ford. In fact this is the view from what is known as John Ford's Point:

Now, I have never seen a John Ford film, or a John Wayne film for that matter (hides head in shame); but it's not like John Ford had the exclusive rights to this view. This is Once Upon a Time in the West:

Sergio Leone obviously also a fan of this scenery.

Of course this isn't just restricted to Westerns, just stick a DeLorean in front of those Buttes and Mesas:

And for those of you with a British sci-fi leaning, this is where the Doctor meets Amy, Rory, and River at the beginning of the last series of Doctor Who:

Then just after we'd taken this picture (or one similar), we turned around, got back into the car and saw this:

We weren't even trying, and the movie locations kept ambushing us!
Following Monument Valley we headed to Zion; not much filmed there, though Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was filmed not too far away. Next stop was Bryce Canyon, and then Grand Canyon. Nothing terribly much was filmed at either of these locations, and I've wittered on far too long already.
I hope that you liked my photos, and if anyone wants to go to the States but doesn't know whereabouts to go, or anyone who lives in the States and has never been, I thoroughly recommend visiting south Utah, it is truly spectacular.

Moon

Sam Rockwell is Sam Bell, the lone crew member on a Lunar Industries moonbase; a human presence to ensure that the largely automated operations all run smoothly. The company is mining Helium-3 which is abundant on the moon, but also happens to be the magic bullet to solve Earth’s energy crisis. His only company is the on-board computer GERTY (voiced by Kevin Spacey), as there is no working communications link with Earth. Sam has a three year contract to work alone on this isolated moon-base; so what happens if he is seriously injured, or gets ill? Not a problem, because as it turns out, Sam is a clone and there are plenty of copies of him waiting in stasis to carry on operation of the mining facility. Of course, he doesn’t know this.

So, Sam has an accident while driving one of the lunar Rovers and a new Sam is woken up, told he’s recovering from an accident and his memory has been affected. We find out about the clones when new Sam goes to investigate the Rover crash site and finds old Sam in a bad way, but still alive. Sam(s) then embark on a journey of self-discovery, helped along the way by GERTY. Although he is initially keeping up the ruse that Sam is human (and, we discover, has been doing so for many years and through several Sam clones); with the clone’s increasing self-awareness GERTY actively helps Sam escape back to Earth, just as a rescue ship arrives to investigate the crash involving old Sam.

This really is Sam Rockwell’s film. Apart from a few video messages from Lunar Industries executives (including the fantastic Matt Berry), recorded messages from his wife and a call to his daughter, there is really no other cast. He plays the role of Sam in a very calm way. Compared to, for example 127 Hours, (also a one-man film), Sam Bell is very accepting of the situations he finds himself in (apart from when he crashes); presumably all traits that would be selected for when considering applicants for a three-year solo contract on the moon. Even when the two Sams are trying to figure out what the hell is going on, he rarely freaks out. I’m reminded of Morpheus telling Neo that he accepts what he’s seeing because he expects to wake from a dream at any moment. Though Sam Rockwell is excellent, his performance is very understated; it’s quite different from the dynamic performance of James Franco in 127 Hours, or Daniel Day Lewis in There Will be Blood, both of which I would consider are “their” films; just as Moon is Sam Rockwell’s film.

Moon takes a lot of inspiration from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Sam (Dave) is alone on the moon (orbiting Jupiter) with no way to communicate with Earth. His only companion is GERTY (HAL), though where HAL takes control of Discovery forcing Dave to disconnect him, GERTY is very benign (though initially I wasn't sure). Orchestral music is played over some of the exterior moon shots, and there is even a homage to Dave entering the obelisk on Sam’s returns to Earth when everything gets really trippy. None of this detracts from the movie at all, rather it enhances it.

                                              HAL never had a holder for coffee cups

A great film, and very impressive given that it was Duncan Jones’ first film (Source Code is his second); I can’t think of anything I disliked about it at all. A very interesting story, all of the special effects look fab, and Sam Rockwell is great (did I say that already?).

127 Hours

Aron Ralston's story of having to hack his own arm off after he became trapped in the Utah Canyonlands was presumably very well known, even before the great Danny Boyle got hold of the story to make into a film. The plot doesn't really need that much explaining, but I must stress that my view is based on the film, as I haven't read Aron's book "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" yet.

Essentially, Aron went away for a weekend to go mountain biking, hiking and climbing in Canyonlands in Utah. After having spent an afternoon with two girls he met while hiking they head off their way and Aron continues on his way to a big "Drop-off", where a smaller canyon opens out into a much larger canyon.  However, as he quickly descends into a narrow gorge he slips, dislodges a large rock which, when he lands on the canyon floor, traps his right hand against the canyon wall. Aron is stuck, completely isolated, low on food and water and unable to free his hand. So after 5 soul-searching days (127 hours in fact) of trying one way or another to shift the rock, he finally amputates his own arm so that he can get home.

The majority of the film is just Aron (James Franco), in a canyon, experiencing various emotions from disbelief, through anger, frustration, despair, desperation, and finally determination. Wow! James Franco is fantastic. There isn't a minute when you don't believe that he is there experiencing all of this. I thought the film-making was also phenomenal to make this story so gripping (a man stuck in a hole for 5 days!), and I don't think there was a single camera angle that Danny Boyle didn't use!

The story was well spaced out with flashbacks of family, past girlfriend, and how he feels he has let people down; perhaps that's too strong but certainly the impression is that he feels he has not given those close to him the love that he can give. Finally it is the thought of his family, and the desire to start his own family that cements in his head that he must amputate himself to get out of there. I think I have heard of some people feeling very sick and grossed-out by the amputation scene. Maybe I've seen too much horror, but I thought is was subtly done, far worse for me was before he fell into the canyon knowing that something awful was going to happen. Much like Touching the Void.

The other very similar part to Touching the Void was Aron getting the music to Scooby Doo in his head! This is because the girls he had met on the first day had mentioned that they were throwing a party that night and there would be a huge inflatable Scooby Doo there. So part of the delirium Aron experience was having the Scooby Doo music going round and round his head. Very much like Joe Simpson thinking he was going to die to "Brown Girl in the Ring" by Boney M!

Anyway, I thought the film was great, brilliantly made, a great example of how filming one man in isolation can still be gripping. I've heard great things about Buried as well, and if it's half as good as this is, it must be a good film.