More on the movies. (I almost feel like Siskel & Ebert.)

Okay, okay. I’m not reviewing movies, so I I’m really not entitled to feel like Siskel or Ebert. Like Pauline Kael. Like Rex Reed. Or Anthony Lane.

Still, for a former regular moviegoer to have two back-to-back posts about movies, well, this is heady stuff.

Yesterday, Pink Slip riffed on the top grossing movies set in New England. Today we take on Business Insiders take on the the most famous movies set in every state.

Not wanting to be 100% arbitrary in what is pretty much an subjective choice, the insiders came up with some criteria:

To pick the most famous, we evaluated the state's prominence in the movie and considered whether it was filmed in that state or not. The movie's lifetime gross, its critical acclaim, and testimonials by our geographically diverse staff also influenced our decisions.

There were some pretty obvious choices:

Georgia: Gone with the Wind

Iowa: Field of Dreams

Kansas: The Wizard of Oz

Others less so:

New York: Taxi Driver

Not The Godfather? Good Fellas? The Naked City? Lots of Woody Allen flicks? Midnight Cowboy? Travis Bickle, eh?

(Aside to Illinois relations: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. I would have said Home Alone, and you?)

Since I am a pure homer, I am most interested in New England. So here goes:

Connecticut: The Stepford Wives. With apologies to my cousin Mary Beth and friend Kyung, both of who lived in Connecticut for many years, I think that The Stepford Wives is a perfect representation of a certain category of woman, in a certain class, in a certain kind of Connecticut town. Admittedly, I haven’t seen the movie since 1975 when it came out, and I’m betting that it’s plenty dated. And I never saw the 2004 remake with Nicole Kidman. But spot on!

Maine: Shawshank Redemption. Any most famous movie set in the State of Maine is bound to be one based on a novel by Stephen King. And so it is. I haven’t seen Shawshank in years, but remember liking it well enough. But when I think of Maine prisons, I always come back to the Maine State Prison Showroom, which is right there in Thomaston on Route 1 – the Maine/main drag to picturesque and charming Camden – which sells prisoner-made goods.

I’ve shopped there a couple of times, and a pair of wooden toast tongs graces my kitchen.

I can’t remember what, if anything, Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman did by way of crafts. Tim, I believe, was too busy tunneling out of prison…

Massachusetts: Good Will Hunting. I really liked this movie, and my husband was especially fond of it. So I’ve seen it a million times. And, yes, it is a reasonably good representation of the state of the state. Bonus points in that most of the accents – thanks to locals-extraordinaire Matt, Ben and Casey – are flawless. And the reference to Carlton Fisk’s 1975 World Series homerun is just plain sweet. But most famous movie set in Massachusetts? The Departed, however famous and/or infamous, shouldn’t get it because most of the accents – especially Jack Nicholson’s -  are truly terrible. And I’d really have to think about whether Spotlight should take pride (or shame) of place. But in the end, I’d have to give it up for The Friends of Eddie Coyle, grim as it is. That said, Good Will Hunting is a good choice.

New Hampshire: Jumanji. All I know about Jumanji is that there are chimps jumping around, and – as of yesterday – that it was filmed in Keene, NH. But since I know so little about films set in New Hampshire – I thought – as of yesterday – that On Golden Pond was set there. But, no, set in Maine; filmed in NH (on Squam Lake). So for the most famous film set in NH, at least the most famous film set in NH that I’ve seen, I’d go with To Die For, the mordantly funny movie based on NH teacher Pam Smart, who enlisted the help of some of her students (one was her 15-year-old lover) to kill her husband. I know it’s hard to believe that a movie about someone killing her husband can be laugh-out-loud funny at times, but this one is. And it so gets something about the New Hampshire zeitgeist.  It deserves to be famous.

Rhode Island: Witches of Eastwick. All I remember about this film is that I liked it. What’s not to like about Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer and Susan Sarandon? (Okay, these days there’s plenty to not like about Susan Sarandon…) Looking it up, I learned – thank you, Wikipedia – that the film was originally supposed to be made in Little Compton, Rhode Island,

Warner Brothers instead turned to Cohasset, Massachusetts, after controversy erupted in Little Compton over whether or not its Congregational church should be involved with the film's production.

I know Little Compton well, as my late friend Marie had a place there, and her husband has retired to LC. But what I really love about this bit is that a controversy that involves a Congregational church has to be the echtest of the echt New England

Vermont: Super Troopers. Forget poor little Rhode Island. When it comes to the movies, it’s poor little Vermont. The top grossing movie set there was What Lies Beneath. And the most famous movie set there is something called Super Troopers, which kind of sounds like a poor man’s Fargo. Or the film about the mall cop. And how can it be that famous if I’ve never heard of it? To add to the indignities, while Super Troopers is set in Vermont, it was actually filmed in New York State. If you’re going to go by that, I vote the corny and ridiculous White Christmas as the most famous movie set in Vermont. Forget every bad thing I said about White Christmas yesterday.

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Happy Birthday to my sister Kath!