MUSEYON GUIDES » Southern USA

David Lynch’s America

Heather C — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:38:58 +0000

This clip of David Foster Wallace on Charlie Rose inspired us to revisit David Lynch’s 1986 surrealist noir thriller ‘Blue Velvet‘. In the film a young Kyle MacLachlan finds himself in the seedy underbelly of Lumberton, his seemingly idyllic America town. Along the way he encounters a steamy chanteuse played by Isabella Rossellini, and a violent, twisted thug with a penchant for amyl nitrite played by Dennis Hopper in the performance that revitalized his career. To capture his disturbed vision of All-American life, the director headed to Wilmington, North Carolina…

David Lynch’s script was so controversial that director had trouble finding a studio to produce it; finally he teamed with Italian director Dino de Laurentiis’ independent studio, De Laurentiis Entertainment Group. The now-defunct studio was located in Wilmington, North Carolina (at 1223 North 23rd Street, Wilmington, North Carolina) the perfect place to capture Lynch’s signature picture of America–equal parts visually stunning, unnervingly familiar and always creepy. In fact, with its quiet charm, the Southern town is a mecca for film production, having played the background for ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles‘, ‘The Crow‘, and perhaps most famously the TV teen drama, ‘Dawson’s Creek‘.

Some of the real-life locations in the film include the local high school at (1307 Market St.) and the police headquarters (115 Redcross St., Wilmington, North Carolina). But one of the most famous sites from the film are the dreary Deep River apartments, home to Rossellini’s singer Dorothy Vallens. In the film, the apartments are located on Lincoln Street — a running theme throughout the plot, as MacLachlan’s naive Jeffrey Beaumont is warned to stay away from Lincoln, and the drug-addled villain played by Dennis Hopper is named Booth, after the infamous assassin. There, Vallens lives in a sprawling plum apartment on the seventh floor. But in a classic Lynchian twist, the Carolina Apartments (420 Market St., Wilmington, North Carolina) are only six-stories high.

If you’re looking for Arlene’s Restaurant, the place where Beaumont and the police officer’s daughter Sandy (Laura Dern) decide to investigate a mystery on their own, you won’t find it in Wilmington. But you too can embark on a mystery over coffee at the same place — now it’s a location of the Port City Java chain. Afterward you can stop for a drink at the Barbary Coast Bar (116 S Front St., Wilmington, North Carolina; 910-762-8996), which lent its exteriors to the brothel in the film. If someone sidles up and asks you, “What kind of beer do you like to drink, neighbor?” Remember, the correct answer is Pabst Blue Ribbon, not Heineken.

Museyon Live: Meakin Armstrong

Heather C — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:52:32 +0000

Our Museyon Guides are some very interesting folks, so it should be no surprise that they’re always got something interesting going on. Tomorrow night, Meakin Armstong, our guide to film in the U.S. South takes the stage at Downstairs at the Cornelia Street Cafe’s 6 p.m. Writers’ Room, hosted by Liz Sherman. It’s a night of fiction featuring novelist Kathleen Lawrence (’Maud Gone’, ‘The Last Room in Manhattan’) and screenwriter Patricia Crevits, as well as Meakin, who cuts his literary chops daily as fiction editor of the acclaimed lit journal Guernica.

A Potter Paradise

Heather C — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:33:55 +0000

You still can’t book a trip to Hogwarts, but it’ll soon be possible to visit the world of Harry Potter. That’s because Universal Studios Orlando and Warner Bros. have announced plans for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter — a 22-acre theme park based on the hugely popular series of films and books in Universal’s Islands of Adventure. Visitors to the park will be able to check out Hogwarts Castle, shop for magic supplies at Dervish and Banges, and dine Potter-style at the The Three Broomsticks and Hog’s Head pub where there’s even Butterbeer on tap. The park opens next spring, so get ready to brush off your broomstick and step up your Quidditch game.

[Source io9]

Munchin’ in Memphis at The Arcade

Heather C — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:00:25 +0000

The Arcade Restaurant, Memphis, Tennessee

Feelin’ hungry for some stick-to-your-bones Southern grub? Then step on down to Arcade Restaurant, located in the heart of Memphis’ historic South Main District at the corner of South Main and Calhoun Avenue. It’s the oldest restaurant in Memphis, and a city landmark, so it should come as no surprise that the Arcade has appeared in its fair share of Memphis movies — from ‘The Client‘ to ‘Walk the Line‘. Click for more…

Built in 1919, but refurbished in the 50s, the old-school diner also makes a cameo on the cover of Jim Jarmusch’s 1989 film ‘Mystery Train‘, which features scenes shot at the Arcade. And the restaurant where Norah Jones slings coffee in Wong Kar-wai’s ‘My Blueberry Nights‘? The Arcade. Again. Feel like a drink after dinner? Then head around the corner to another Memphis favorite, Earnestine & Hazel’s. The neighboring bar is Jones’ character works the night shift in ‘My Blueberry Nights.’

540 South Main St., Memphis, TN 38103; 901-526-5757;arcaderestaurant.com

img: Tavallai/Flickr

‘Dirty Dancing’ in Lake Lure (and Virginia, too)

Heather C — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:07:58 +0000

When the end of summer comes, we can’t help but think of one of the all-time summertime classics — ‘Dirty Dancing.’

In ‘Dirty Dancing’, all the drama takes place in New York’s famous Catskill Borscht Belt, but in real life, it was all shot in the South. In Lake Lure, North Carolina, near Chimney Rock, you can still stay at campsite featured in the film — including the famous ballroom. To reach the quaint resort of the Four Seasons Cottages and Cabins, take Boys Camp Road to Chapel Point Road, and you’ll end up right where the naïve New Yorker Baby Houseman (Jennifer Grey) and suave dance instructor Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze) had the time of their lives You can even stay in You can even stay in room 323, the place where Swayze’s Johnny slept. Filming for the movie also took place in Virginia at the Mountain Lake Resort in Pembroke, not far from Roanoke. The resort stood in for several major locations in the film, including the Houseman family cabin (interior and exterior), the resort grounds, gazebo and lake.

Lake Lure, North Carolina

During production, conditions were not ideal, and frankly downright uncomfortable for the cast and crew. Shooting in the South in the height of summer, the temperature reached well over 105 degrees. Not only that, but the young actors — mostly unknown names about to make it big with the film — were forbidden from acting upon any of the (abundant) built up sexual tension during the shoot. By the time they were filming the end-of-summer scenes, though, it was October and changing autumn leaves had to be painted green. In fact, that famous lake scene where Baby and Johnny practice their lift was filmed in 40-degree weather.

Road Rules

Heather C — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:45:42 +0000

In Museyon’s guide to North and South America, Meakin Armstrong takes you on a tour of the American South. Frankly, we don’t think there’s a better way to explore the good ol’ US of A than an old-fashioned road trip. If you follow Armstrong’s trail from Atlanta, Georgia, to Natchitoches, Louisiana, you’re going to have to pack wisely. And that’s why we love this handy guide to Road Trip Snacks. Find out from a veteran road tripper how Krispy Kreme stacks up against the classic Wendy’s Frosty and more, all rated by taste, texture and road-trip friendliness.

Our favorite road trip flicks of all time, after the jump…

Thelma & Louise, 1991

Two ladies hit the open road trying to find freedom and escape the law en route to Mexico. While we’re down for cutting loose on vacation, this film has one iconic ending we wouldn’t recommend recreating.

Dumb & Dumber, 1994

Well-meaning, yet simple-minded friends Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) and Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels) head cross-country, from Rhode Island to Aspen, Colorado, when limo-driver Christmas falls in love with a passenger. Their vehicle of choice? A 1984 Ford Econoline van-cum-sheepdog.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles, 1987

Steve Martin is a stressed-out adman in this John Hughes classic, about a journey from New York to Chicago during the worst travel time of the year — Thanksgiving. If that weren’t bad enough, he gets stuck with John Candy as his travel companion.

National Lampoon’s Vacation, 1983

It doesn’t get more awkward, more uncomfortable, or more hilarious than the Griswalds ill-fated station-wagon road trip to Wallyworld. Another John Hughes classic, Vacation paved the day for later-day family road-trip flicks like ‘Little Miss Sunshine,’ and started a mini-franchise of its own hilarious ‘Vacation’ flicks.

Easy Rider, 1969

It doesn’t get much better than this ’60s counterculture classic that follows bikers Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda on a drugged-up oddessey from LA to New Orleans. Some 40 years later its soundtrack is still the ultimate album for the open road for those who were Born to Be Wild.

image: iStock

An Imaginary South: Southern USA

Heather C — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:27:24 +0000

The American South is deeply tied-up in mythology. While onscreen it’s immortalized in classics like Gone With The Wind — a film shot in California and starring a British actress — the real South is as complex as the wide variety of films that have tried to capture it. Join Meakin Armstrong as he travels the South from Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia, through South Carolina, Mississippi and North Carolina. End up in Natchitoches, Louisiana, the setting for two vastly different interpretations of the South, Steel Magnolias and John Wayne’s The Horse Soldiers.

About Your Guide: Meakin Armstrong is fiction editor of Guernica and a freelance writer working on his first novel. He is additionally a contributor to the anthology New York Calling: From Blackout to Bloomberg. Among the awards and grants he’s recieved is a 2007 fiction scholarship to the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference.

photo: iStock