That's Christian Bale at 18 singing about how he needs to leave New York City for warmer climes in "Newsies." If you've followed the weather in NYC recently, we're thinking a lot of people will be joining him.
Remember, Bale's paper boy found love, and you can too--try a special delivery to one of these hot spots.
Ten Thousand Waves -- This Japanese-inspired mountain spa is the perfect place to unwind after that sixteen-hour paper route and meet someone in the tub -- or "meet them again."3451 Hyde Park Rd.
Ark Bookstore -- All that horse-wranglin' and paper-tossin' and union-organizin' leaves a man very little time to develop his mind or his soul. Luckily there's the Ark, a spiritual bookstore with hotties. 133 Romero St.
If you're a Coen brothers fan, you're in luck this week. Today's pick, No Country for Old Men, is one of theirs and tells the story of a hunter (Tommy Lee Jones) who stumbles upon a bunch of dead guys near the Rio Grande. Sound familiar already? Yes, it's based on the Cormac McCarthy novel.
Does the hunter walk away and tell the cops? Um, no... Because the bodies have $2 million cash and a bunch of heroin on them. The hunter decides to keep it all and the craziness ensues.
As this one was shot mainly in Texas and New Mexico, we offer you some interesting things to check out down south in NM. Just be sure you report any bodies and drugs to the authorities. With the cash, you be the judge!
Where To Stay:American Artists Gallery House, Taos Those with a taste for local arts and crafts can check into one of ten distinct rooms at Gallery House, most with nice adobe-style fireplaces. Be sure to keep an eye out for the inn's resident peacock who roams the grounds. Rumor is he goes by the name George. Book one of their special packages and get a gas card for your drive or tickets to area art museums.
Where To Eat:Four and Twenty Blackbirds, Santa Fe Step back in time when you step into this tiny, converted 1920s grocery store-turned-cafe. Dig into one of their famous pies or the raved about lunch fare, including roast beef sandwiches with tomatoes and blue cheese coleslaw. Bring a few extra bucks for the kitschy souvenirs you'll find throughout.
What to See:Rio Grande Nature Center State Park, Albuquerque Get up close and personal with the Rio Grande at this nature center and park, where you'll be smack in the center of a cottonwood forest, surrounded by 270 acres of indigenous plants and animals. Borrow the complimentary binoculars from the center and keep an eye out for coyotes or pocket gophers.
You don't have to stay at home just because the leaves are changing. Follow along on our Fall Culture Map to discover what's happening this autumn.
Visitors to Santa Fe, New Mexico, may not realize movies like "3:10 to Yuma" and television shows like "Kid Nation" have been filmed in and around the city. But this fall's Santa Fe Film Festival, from November 28th to December 2nd, ought to remedy that, or at least draw in cineastes to see Rutger Hauer accept a lifetime achievement award, as well as sneak previews of prestige films to be announced.
Last year's showcase films included the highly acclaimed "Pan's Labyrinth" and "Venus." If you missed Toronto and don't have the dough (or the boots) for Sundance, get to this fest before it gets big. As Christian Bale sings in the most important musical of our time, "Dreams come true, yes they do in Santa Fe."
Socorro, New Mexico's UFO cred comes in both fiction and shaky unverified nonfiction flavors. Besides being high desert--ideal for spotting unusual night sky activity--Socorro boasts the oft-filmed extraterrestrial-hunting Very Large Array. It's also the site of a well-documented close encounter.
In 1964, a local policeman investigated a bright flash on the outskirts of town, coming upon metallic oval shaped craft. Small men in white coveralls were wandering around outside the ship, and hopped back in and took off when startled. The incident is notable for the media frenzy that followed and the physical evidence it produced: burned bushes, fused sand glass and small footprints around the area. There's not much around Socorro today to memorialize the incident but it remains one of the best documented UFO sightings on record.
A slightly more tangible tourist attraction is the Very Large Array cluster of radio telescopes. An active part of the SETI alien hunt, this field of dishes has been featured in "Contact," "Independence Day" and "2010: The Year We Make Contact." Bon Jovi also stopped by to shoot the video for "Everyday." The VLA is open year round during daylight hours and there's even a gift shop, though there's no guarantee of an alien sighting of your own.
With the third episode coming tonight, the young citizens of "Kid Nation" are settling in, killing chickens like pros and having a good ol' time yelling at each other in the desert. (Where exactly? We managed to track down Bonanza City.) And, as if we'd expect anything different, the early success of the show has producers ready to expand the series.
But there's that little hang-up about the child labor laws in New Mexico. As in, is it legal to have these kids on set all day? Rather than figure it out, says TMZ.com, the minds behind Kid Nation are scouting international locations for their next production. CBS says they haven't made any final decisions yet, but wouldn't it be great to see the kids on a sunny tropical island instead of a dusty old ranch?
We may get the chance: CBS is already taking applications for season 2. If you're ready to sell out your kid, your sibling or that brat down the block, make sure they have a good answer for question 37: "List 3 items you would take with you to a deserted island."
When we were in eighth grade, we were forced to read William Golding's classic novel Lord of the Flies, in which a society of marooned boys falls spectacularly apart because being cruel is more fun than being nice. Apparently the honchos over at CBS never read it, because their latest reality TV offering, "Kid Nation," attempts to replicate that experiment tonight at 8 pm, only with monetary rewards for not killing each other.
CBS brought 40 kids to a movie-set ranch in New Mexico and had them choose leaders, divide up chores and basically take over as they saw fit for 40 days during the school year. The location is important, because until July 1st the state had some of the laxest child-labor laws in the nation (a loophole since closed). No teachers, no parents, just EMTs--who were called on at least four separate occasions, although no one was killed.
The result? Well, watch the preview video. There will probably be even more crying on this show than in most reality TV, except maybe "America's Next Top Model." On the other hand, the children who have been allowed to talk to the press said they would happily do it over again, so maybe they enjoyed that, just like Ralph liked talking to the dead pig's head. (Spoiler?)
There's no crying in premiere season! Check out our TV Premiere Map to see where else fictional tears might be shed.
Hankering for a little authentic Western outlaw action? Check out 3:10 to Yuma this weekend. Christian Bale plays a cash-poor farmer who's in need of some fast money to save his land, and in turn takes on the responsibility of getting a murderer (Russell Crowe) to court on--yep, you guessed it--the 3:10 to Yuma.
Of course Crowe has his own gang of thugs in hot pursuit and doesn't waste time playing mind games and various other disappearing acts on Bale. There's tons of pretty scenery, shoot-em-ups and chase scenes. We hear this has the potential to be the surprise action movie of the summer.
3:10 to Yuma was shot in stunning Santa Fe, NM; here's some interesting things to check out in SF:
Where To Stay:The Inn of Five Graces -- Seep into the Far East-meets-Old West feel of this renovated, cozy inn. Each of the 22 suites has something unique, be it furnishings or a thatched ceiling. We hear the personal touches are pretty memorable: Think Dream Catchers on your pillow and an amazing breakfast. But what are the Five Graces? Basically, the five senses, which they claim to gratify completely.
Where To Eat:Harry's Roadhouse -- Get a little crazy and head to this offbeat, wacky looking spot where you can dig into New Mexican inspired favorites like smoked chicken nachos and or corn turkey enchiladas. There's a little ambiance lacking, but a photo in front of the colorful main sign makes a nice postcard.
Where To Visit:Santa Fe National Forest -- Scenes from the film were shot here for good reason. The 1.5 million acres provide some of the most gorgeous scenery in the west, including the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and Truchas Peak. Call ahead of time as many areas of the park are often shut down due to dry conditions and forest fires.
While lawyers for the stars and production company behind CBS's Kid Nation wait with lawsuit-filing breath for the public's reaction to the September 19th debut of the show, New Mexico Tourism is already looking at this as a win-win.
Kid Nation was filmed at the dusty old Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe New Mexico. The ranch was briefly made famous back in 1980 when "Legend of the Lone Ranger" shot there. The terrain is full of hills, prairies, ponds, culverts, corrals, and a wide variety of props that can be rented. Off and on over the years, there have been various movies, videos, commercials, and catalog shoots at the ranch, but nothing like the buzz Kid Nation is creating.
New Mexico tourism is hoping their recent reality TV experience, and the subsequent media attention, may draw in a new lot of curious location scouts from Hollywood.
Film Office's director, Lisa Strout talking to the LA Times about the situation:
''This was our first experience with reality TV,'' said Strout, who said it was ''questionable'' whether the production complied with applicable state laws. ''There's not any precedent to rely on. ... It's a breed unto itself that the whole industry is really looking at.''
Kid Nation may have become the subject of several official investigations, but, hey, maybe New Mexico will get a bit of a film location boost -- and filming locations beget tourism boosts, right?
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by egw
