Your Day 12 Extravaganza: List 2 of 12

On the twelfth day of Gheorghemas, Big Gheorghe gave to me

Twelve Lists of Twelve
Eleven Months of Magic

Top Ten Reasons to Read a Book

Nine More Questionable Predictions

Eight Amazing Quotes from Barbie (A Shlara Joint)
Seven Weeks of Sobriety*

Six Random Items

Five Golden Auctions

Four Teams for Bitching

Three Tiny Scrappers
Two books for your Gheorghemas wish list
And a doofus to lead this country

List #2: 12 Places I Visited in 2023... and My Favorite Movie That Was Filmed in Each

Ah, to reminisce about last year... now that we're nearly into February! Well, in 2023 I was graced with the privilege of a bit of travel, both domestic and abroad. I saw the world, and the world saw me. One of us was impressed.

To have walked the streets with familiar backdrops to fine cinema! And lowbrow comedies! How does it all synch up?

Here are a dozen of the places I journeyed last year, as paired with the corresponding film location, ordered from least favorite movie to most beloved. 

[Note: I have never seen Nights in Rodanthe, which is apparently pretty much the only movie filmed in the Outer Banks. A shame, since Dave and I wrote a screenplay 22 years ago that was set in Kill Devil Hills. Called Kill Devil Hills. Still available for you would-be filmmakers!]

12. Columbia, SC - The Waterboy (1998)

Visited my girls at the original USC a few times last year. Always a blast. But I never could stand the one-joke pony of Bobby Boucher. 

Down East

11. Boothbay Harbor, ME - Little Children (2006)

Went to see my mom and stepdad in Vacationland. The Pine Tree State. Down East. And the site where some of this adaptation of a Tom Perrotta novel was shot. My trip was more memorable.

10. Delray Beach, FL - Body Heat (1981)

Went to see my dad and stepmom in the Sunshine State. The Alligator State. Or, as Patton Oswalt quipped in the ridiculous bit below... well, just listen to it. (Not at work.) Jimmy Buffett's Frank took his gal Lola this movie called Body Heat, she said, "The Junior Mints were mushy and the sex was neat." Decent song. Decent movie. Kathleen Turner's sexiest work. 

9. Saratoga Springs, NY - The Other Guys (2010)

I thought this film would be lousy. It totally surprised me - way better than expected. Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg and Steve Coogan and good, solid, silly comedy. I'd see it again. I thought this town... well, I didn't know what to expect when I went to my cousin's wedding in November. It was a fun town I'd like to see again. During race season.

8. New Orleans, LA - The Big Easy (1986)

My favorite American town. Got to visit twice in '23, once for work, and once because I have a super sweet missus who likes Jason Isbell's music. I'll be back in '24, Good lord willin' and the levees hold. This film is good fun with the right NOLA flair. Lots of people can't get past Dennis Quaid and his Hollywood Cajun (awww, chere). I can.

7. Chicago, IL - Next of Kin (1989)

Great town, even in January. Saw Bulls/Warriors. Curry! Green! Thompson! LaVine! Vučević! Great film, even though I haven't seen it in many years. Swayze! Neeson! Hunt! Paxton! Stiller! I need to go find that movie.

Name the album cover

6. Barcelona, Spain - The Bourne Identity (2002)

This is a film I have seen many times, and I'm still a sucker for it. This is a town that I have been to once, last spring to see my daughter... and must get back there when I can. Holy cow, what a cool place. 

5. Washington, DC - No Way Out (1987)

I always love getting back to the nation's capital, especially my old haunts downtown. And I still enjoy flipping this movie on -- it's got excellent shots of 1980's downtown DC, including a crazy scene on the Whitehurst Freeway. And a bit of a twist, nyet?

4. Edinburgh, Scotland - Trainspotting (1996)

A Baker Street's dozen (Gerry Rafferty is Scottish!) of us took Scotland by storm last March for a Six Nations rugby match. 'Twas glorious. The Scots were wonderful, as always, even if Renton told us they were all colonized by English wankers. Such a fine film, with a soundtrack worth puppin' on anon. Such a perfect day...

3. Austin, TX - Dazed and Confused (1993)

Catch me on a different day, and this movie could notch the top spot. It's just right, well beyond Wooderson and O'Bannion. Slater, Donnie, and Mitchy Mitchy Mitchy good, Darla, Carl, and Clint bad. Yes. Austin, Texas was all new to me, but it was good fun, great brisket, and as for music... we're talkin' some fuckin' muscle. I'd like to get back there again soon.

2. Providence, RI - Dumb and Dumber (1994)

Catch me on many days, and this movie was in the top spot. I enjoyed the camaraderie I've derived from it with rob and others even more than the film. Meanwhile, Prov-town crossed my radar due to a deposition the missus had there, so I put 2 and 2 together and tagged along. Great town! A New England treasure these days, as opposed to its mobbed-up grime of a generation ago. I'm talking about a little place called... Providence. 

1. Amagansett, NY - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Meet me in Montauk. My uncle spends his summer days up there, and he and my aunt hosted a family reunion in July. Antics ensued, as they always do. Like me being publicly weighed, challenged against my beefy young cousin. Despite that, there isn't a moment from the weekend or a member of the family I'd like to forget. Speaking of which, this is probably my favorite movie of all time. I saw it in the theater in Georgetown 20 years ago, and I distinctly remember thinking, "I hope this isn't the end. I hope there's more. I love this fucking thing."

Here's to a dozen more places to go, many more people to meet, and film locations to coincide.