New Hampshire film on the big screen

Gilford Cinema 8, Gilford, NH

We happened upon this theater en route to the Funspot (which isn’t just the largest video arcade in New Hampshire; according to the Guinness Book of World Records, it’s the largest in the world). But we found this theater, which was obviously either being renovated or being built brand new.

I regularly read predictions of doom and gloom for the movie theater business. People say that grown-ups are waiting to stream their movies on their home theater systems, and kids are watching movies on their phones, and movie theaters are as good as dead.

Then I see places like this, in a rural resort area of New Hampshire where people are not just putting new money into a movie theater, but even maintaining what seems to be a thriving two screen drive-in nearby. And neither of these theaters are owned by the big chains (you can’t have them all, Regal, though I saw you have some of ‘em in NH). I’m sure in a matter of weeks or months all the cardboard boxes will be dealt with, and the carpets will be laid. But for now, I found the whole mess to be a charming sight.

Our viewing options were limited. It was either a horror film (Lights Out or Nerve) which quickly won a veto from Mindy, a film we’d already seen, or one of two retreads: Ghostbusters or the new Bourne film. And now that Jason has his memory back, what’s the point?

Sadly, the film we saw -- the new version of Ghostbusters -- was not charming at all. If you been fortunate enough to miss it, the film has been at the center of an internet controversy. It was blasted, sight unseen, by some internet commentators. Other internet commentators accused those critics of being sexist. You see, these Ghostbusters are women as opposed to the original 1984 set of manly Ghostbusters.

Well, we saw the new Ghostbusters and it is, in fact, awful. I’d read comments from some folks saying that the film was funny until the big CGI mess at the end. The CGI battle at the end was a mess, but the film was awful all the way through. Even the few minutes with the great Bill Murray didn’t do the trick (let alone the fleeting glimpses of Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, Dan Ackroyd and Sigourney Weaver.) And if you think I just hate it because I am sexist, I will let you know that my wife, Mindy, who is, in fact, a woman, also thought it was horrible, but not because the main characters were also women.

Was it bad enough for me to wish for the death of movie theaters? No. Because this year we also saw things like Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Hail Caesar, Finding Dory, Sing Street, Captain America: Civil War, and more that we loved on the big screen. But I sure hope this Ghostbusters doesn’t have a sequel.

New Hampshire films on the small screen

If I was pressed to name my favorite living movie star (RIP Boris Karloff), I’d have to go with Bill Murray. Since I often laugh when I merely see a Murray smirk, the entertainment quotient is most high. I’m happy to kick off this post with a film set in New Hampshire that features one of the legend’s funnier performances: 1991’s What About Bob?

The film tells the story of a psychiatrist, Dr. Leo Marvin  (Richard Dreyfuss), who gets more than he bargains for when he agrees to take on the petri dish of phobias and neurosis that is Bob (Murray). The doctor tries to leave his practice in New York City behind for a vacation at Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. But Bob -- and his fish -- find a way to join him.

There are no churches in the film, but it illustrates the great challenge of loving your neighbor as yourself (not many people in the film do this very well). We watched this film a day after visiting the real Lake Winnipesaukee. It looked nothing like it. The end credits of the film include thanks to Virginia, the true filming location.

Lake Winnipesaukee was also used as a shooting location for the award winning 1981 drama, On Golden Pond. The story of a cranky old man Norman (Henry Fonda’s last performance) and his difficult relationships with his daughter (real life daughter Jane Fonda) and wife, Ethel (Katharine Hepburn, who met Fonda for the first time on the set), the film won Oscars for Best Actor, Actress and Screenplay. Though set in New Hampshire, Ernest Thompson based his screenplay on his experiences in Maine. And scenic footage from the film was used for the CBS sitcom Newhart, which was set in Vermont.

With a name like The Hotel New Hampshire, you probably already guessed that the 1984 film based on John Irving’s odd novel about family comedy and tragedy was filmed in Canada. But another film based on the work of an acclaimed novelist, Russell Banks, 1997’s Affliction, well, it was filmed in Canada as well, even though it tells the story of the troubled relationship of a small town New Hampshire policeman (Nick Nolte) and his father (James Coburn, whose performance won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.) There have been two versions of Vladimir Nabokov’s classic novel about pedophilia, Lolita, but neither Stanley Kubrick’s acclaimed 1962 version nor Adrian Lynn’s not so acclaimed 1997 version filmed the New Hampshire scenes in New Hampshire. The 1940 film version of Thornton Wilder’s play Our Town did include some background shots from New Hampshire.

John Carpenter’s 1994 cult horror film, In the Mouth of Madness, about a writer whose novels come to life, is set in New Hampshire but was filmed in Canada. Joe Johnson’s 1995 kids’ cult film, Jumanji, about a board game that comes to life is set in New Hampshire and (surprise!) was also chiefly filmed in the state (though some of it was filmed in Canada and Maine).

1941’s The Devil and Daniel Webster (aka All That Money Can Buy), based on the Stephen Vincent Benet short story is set in New Hampshire and features one of the state’s most acclaimed historical figures (Webster, not Old Scratch). I couldn’t find where it was filmed, which leads me to believe it was filmed in Hollywood rather than New Hampshire.

John Sayles’s 1980 drama, Return of the Secaucus 7, about the reunion of college classmates, was set and filmed in New Hampshire. The film is widely considered a cornerstone of the modern independent film movement and the model for Lawrence Kasden’s The Big Chill.

New Hampshire native son Adam Sandler has set a number of films in his home state, such as  Click, Mr. Deeds and Eight Crazy Nights, but even he doesn’t actually film in New Hampshire. (Which is at least understandable for Eight Crazy Nights, since it’s animated.)