Thursday 4 September 2014

Thursday Movie Picks #8: Movies Set Locally

The creative Wanderer at Wandering through the Shelves has been running a blogging series for a while now called Thursday Movie Picks which, funnily enough, takes place every Thursday. I've been meaning for weeks now to take part but this week is finally my time. Today's theme is Movies Set Locally.

thursday-movie-picks

Now, I live in a little town a few miles away from Birmingham in the UK, so as you can imagine, there aren't many blockbuster movies set down the road from my house. Not that I've watched at least! However, I'm going to stay as local as I can for my 3 choices.

nativity!-2009

Nativity! (2009) starring the wonderful Martin Freeman rapidly became one of my favourite Christmas movies. Even the sequel, starring David Tennant was great. Even better, Nativity! was filmed and set in Coventry, which genuinely is in my local area, just the other side of Birmingham.

locke-birmingham

Much more recently, Locke (2013) was released, starring Tom Hardy. It's a brilliant film which entails Ivan Locke driving home from his construction job in Birmingham, and I've actually reviewed it here. Funnily enough, the première took place a 5 minute walk from my place of work, and I'm still kicking myself now for not just turning up.

harry-potter-oxford

I realise I'm pushing it now, but the Harry Potter movies were set in the UK, and some of the sets in particular aren't that far from where I live. About 9 years ago I visited Oxford (just over an hour on the train) to see the great hall at Christ Church College, and the library and infirmary at Bodleian Library.

Hopefully this won't be my first and last contribution to this fantastic series, and I look forward to taking part in the upcoming themes. Thanks to Wanderer for hosting!

10 comments:

  1. Glad you got in on this. Love the picks, too. Been hearing a lot about Locke, lately. Hopefully, I'll see it soon. Surprisingly , I've not seen one Harry Potter flick, either. Never even heard of The Nativity but now it's on my radar. Great post.

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    1. I can't believe I didn't sooner! Locke is definitely worth a watch, just ignore the taglines for it though because I think they're misleading. The Nativity is a must-watch, but you should probably wait until November at least!
      But wait just a second, did you just say you haven't seen a single Harry Potter film?!
      - Allie

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  2. Great list, I thoroughly enjoyed Locke, Tom Hardy's got a future in acting if he chooses to take it. I couldn't get into the Harry Potter movies, my daughter has read every single book and likes all the movies(except the last one), but for some reason I only found them useful to put me to sleep (no offense intended).

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    1. Thank you :) I thought Tom Hardy was a great actor before, but since Locke he's really upped his game. I don't think Harry Potter is for everyone really. I followed the books when I was younger so I've always felt an attachment to them :)
      - Allie

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  3. Huh, interesting idea for a topic. I actually just saw Locke last week, and I thought it was very impressive myself. Also, heh, I guess it's gotta be a bit cool that you can kinda sorta in a way say that the Harry Potter movies take place in your home town (or at least close to it). :P

    As for me, hell, I can't think of any movies that actually take place in my hometown, though the character Tallahassee from Zombieland took his name from my home city, and the American version of The Office also had a season that partially took place in my home city as well (though as anyone actually from here could tell you, they clearly didn't actually FILM here, heh).

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    1. I think those are great claims to fame, especially Tallahassee! You should check out Wanderer's blog, there's a whole series of these Thursday Picks planned for the rest of the year :)
      - Allie

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  4. Hi Allie! You didn't go to the Locke's premiere though it was close to your house?? Shame on you!! :D I was so impressed by Hardy in that film, boy I'd have loved to have seen him.

    This is a great idea for a blog series, I really should participate one of these weeks!

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    1. I knowwww, I knowww! I'm still kicking myself! What was worse was when I was at work the next day, I could hear fans screaming as he left his hotel :( If you ever stumble across a time machine let me know because I need to re-do that day!
      - Allie

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  5. Hey, glad you joined us this week. I don't think I've heard of Locke before today, sounds interesting. Clever of you to add Harry Potter, it's such a big film I'm sure it's filmed in a lot of locations in the UK :)
    Wandering through the Shelves

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    1. I'm so sorry it's taken me so long! I've been following the other's posts since it started and keep forgetting to take part myself :(
      - Allie

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