Hiking With Dinosaurs

Previously:

The Adventures of Jurassic Pet  - -  Where the Red Fern Grows  

Possums  - -  Thunderstruck  - -  Bringing Up Bobby

 

 Oklahoma filmmaker Ryan Bellgardt's entry into to the world of cinema in 2018 was the scifi/action film "Jurassic Games."  It takes place in a semi-futuristic world that lets violent criminals have a chance at freedom by taking part in a virtual reality game involving running from dinosaurs in Oklahoma state parks.

Okay, so the plot doesn't involve state parks but the production definitely did.  I spotted Little Sahara and (possibly) Red Rock Canyon being used as locations but one of the most noticeable was Robbers Cave State Park near Wilburton.   

The park is located in the eastern part of the state and used to be a hiding spot for outlaws like Belle Starr and Jesse James but in this movie it was the home of raptors, giant spiders and vicious trilobites.  However the park's unmistakable exposed rock outcrops remained the same.  So, like any normal person I tried to match up some of the rocks to some of the shots in the movie.  Let's see how I did:

One of the game playing convicts is accosted by his fellow bad guys in a little grotto area.  This is not too far from the beginning of the park's main hike and it's a nice little area surrounded by steep rock cliffs.  Notice the slanted crack in the rock behind the character and the two trees.  Those are good markers if you want to find the spot yourself.

These friendly little guys coming to bite the heads off the film's cast were perched atop some fallen boulders found not too far from the first spot.  So if you'd like to hop around pretending to be a computer generated raptor, look for the twin trees.

Near the beginning of the hiking trail there's a narrow crack in the rocks you have to traverse to get to the rest of the trail.  It's gets so tight that some of the more claustrophobic visitors might have some issues.  But it opens up into a wider area after a short walk.  I think I got the location right in my pic based on the curve of the rock but I'm not 100% sure.

So those are the movie star rocks I could find.  Feel free to go on your own rock hunt.  But check out the movie first.  You might be able to find it in a Red Box or maybe just buy the DVD and support Oklahoma film.  The more movies that film here, the more blog entries I can do.  That's win/win.

On Location: Possums

Previously:

The Adventures of Jurassic Pet  - -  Where the Red Fern Grows

Thunderstruck  - -  Bringing Up Bobby

Nowata is the quintessential Oklahoma small town.  Located in the northeast part of the state, it's biggest claim to fame for years was that guy's "bowling ball art" he displayed in his yard.  But fate finally came a' callin' when the 1998 film "Possums" cast the town to play itself.

The movie stars country music singer Mac Davis as the radio announcer for the town's high school football team.  When the school cancels the football program (the "Possums") due to lack of funds, Mac continues to announce imaginary games every Friday night.  The town get swept up in the fake games and wackiness ensues.

Of course, the fun part for me is checking out the town to see how much it has changed from the time of the movie's production.  You can see above that the town's mural has faded since the vibrant 90s.  The town has the standard "small town look" and if you drive around Oklahoma as much as I do, they all start to blend together.  But I was able to match a few buildings I saw.

You can see the Nowata County courthouse in the background in a few scenes.  Most of downtown gets shown off throughout the film.  But since it's a football movie the main location is the High School football field.

So the fake games of the fake team eventually go to the fake State Championship and win!  Since the fake games became so popular, word spreads to the actual State Champs and they're not happy.  So they all pile into the school bus and head to Nowata.  Check out who plays the coach:

Yep, that's legendary OU football coach Barry Switzer as the coach of "Prattville Pirates."  As far as acting goes, he does a pretty good job.  It's a small part but he did well enough that I'm surprised he didn't do more acting.  The only other things I've seen him in include a cameo in Oliver Stone's "Any Given Sunday" (as an announcer) and as himself in an episode of the OKC-based series "Saving Grace."

Well, the Pirates challenge the nonexistent Possums to a game to decide what's what, so Mac Davis and his pals have to scramble to get a team together.  Eventually they play and one of them wins.  It all seems to work out...roll credits.  It's not a bad little movie.  But it's definitely a great claim to fame for a small town.

Scene Inspection: Dillinger

The life and times of mobster John Dillinger was immortalized in the 1973 film, "Dillinger."  The story of the "gangster's gangster" was partially filmed in Oklahoma.  And the town of Ardmore served as one of the movie's locations.  Check out a screencap from this scene:

Never mind what these two are talking about.  The real draw here is the billboard behind the shoe shine chair.  If you're like me, then you're always looking in the background for interesting details...or even "interesting" details.

 For example, old advertisements in the background of old movies are "interesting" to me.  Looks like it's your lucky day!  So let's break down some of the old ads from Dillinger:

"Oil, Cattle and Beautiful Lake Murray"

The middle ad boasts about some of Ardmore's biggest money makers.  Sure cows and oil pay the bills but the town's crown jewel is definitely the lake. It was built over 1935 (a year after Dillinger died) to 1941 and still bills itself as the "most beautiful lake in Oklahoma."  The lake's other claims to fame are the largest state park in Oklahoma and the first Oklahoma state park listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

"Sam P. Hall Ford"

This ad is on the right side toward the bottom (and partially obscured) with red letters and yellow-ish.  The Ardmore Ford dealership did big business in the area for decades.  Sam P. Hale was a Ardmore Rotary Club president and community leader.  And right above that ad is:

"Colverts Fine Dairy Products"

Colverts was another big business in Ardmore for the longest time.  It was mainly known for its tasty ice cream and unique sign outside which, unfortunately was taken down not too long ago.  But, thankfully, it was taken to the Greater Southwest Historical Museum.  Nostalgic milk enthusiasts can also join a Facebook Fan Page about the dairy.

The other ads aren't particularly legible but I haven't given up on them.  I'm just one eBay matchbook auction away from continuing to work my way through the rest of the sign.  Stay tuned...

American Gods in Oklahoma

Previously:

Where the Red Fern Grows  - -  Thunderstruck  - -  Bringing Up Bobby

If you missed out on the first season of American Gods on Starz, you missed seeing a little bit of Oklahoma on the small screen.  The series is based on the novel by the great Neil Gaiman and, while it filmed in a couple of Okie locations, today I'm just going to take a look at a scene that features some of our distinct mountains (yes, there are mountains in Oklahoma).

In the first episode, our moody hero Shadow drives around Anywhere, USA being moody and whatnot.  In the background you can see the Gloss Mountains.  In the real world they're in the northwest part of the state, not too far from Waynoka or the Black Kettle Grasslands.

I didn't quite get my picture lined up with the shot from the episode but you can see the same "notches" in the mountains.  Plus, I took the picture before I saw the show so, all things considered, that's not too bad.

Shadow then takes a pit stop at Gloss Mountain State Park, to check out the scenery and to lament the death of his wife (spoilers...but it's the first episode so give me a break).  The production crew changed the signage to Shakamak State Park which is actually in Indiana.

A little bit later, if you look past Shadow screaming in torment, you can see some classic Oklahoma red dirt.  If you're ever on a road trip in the area, the park is a nice stop.  You can look at the dirt and scream, like our hero.

Like I said earlier, the show shot in one or two other locations in the state and when I track them down I'll deliver the goods.  Stay tuned...

 

Where the Red Fern Grew

Previously:

Thunderstruck  - -  Bringing Up Bobby

If you went to grade school at a certain point in the 80's then wheeling in the projector for "movie day" meant a pull from only a handful of movies.  It seemed like one of the ones that was in the heaviest rotation was 1974's "Where the Red Fern Grows," based on the book by the same name.

The Depression era story is a coming of age tale about a boy growing up in the Ozarks with his two beloved hounds and his quest to hunt raccoons for some reason.  It's a "dog movie" for kids so, of course, the dogs die at the end.  Spoilers, I guess.  Despite the downer of an ending, the film does take advantage of some great Oklahoma scenery for its locations.

Natural Falls State Park in the eastern part of the state, near the Arkansas border, was the filming location for many shots in the film.  Formerly known as Dripping Springs, the park has a 77 foot waterfall that the filmmakers used as a backdrop for a few scenes in the movie.  Here's the view of it from the park's observation platform:

Here's a look at it in the film (it's around the 31 minute mark):

Some other scenes were shot in the nearby town of Tahlequah.  But with a period piece it's always hard to try to match up locations since filmmakers try to stay away from big buildings that might create any anachronisms.  Occasionally some signage will leak through the Hollywood magic though:

So the next time you're in that area maybe stop by the falls to take in some famous scenery.  According to the park's website pets are welcome too so bring the dogs.  Just try not to tree any raccoons.

On Location: Thunderstruck

It's not uncommon for professional athletes to make the transition into acting. Sometimes it turns into a prosperous second career and sometimes...you get movies like Thunderstruck. The 2012 film was legendary baller Kevin Durant's foray into movie stardom and featured the OKC Thunder in all their glory (kind of). So let's pop the top off this can of Pringles:

A fair amount of the movie was shot in Arkansas but since it takes place in Oklahoma City hey made sure to include some obvious local settings.  The most obvious, of course, is Chesapeake Energy Arena.  Plenty of game scenes were shot there:

The story is essentially your basic body-swap-without-a-body-swap story.  Young Brian is an Oklahoma high school student with dreams of being a basketball star but no actual talent.  After getting the opportunity to try to sink a basket from half court during a game, Brian screws it up monumentally and is consoled by KD.  And that's when this Friday gets freaky:

For no apparent reason they switch basketball ability.  Brian becomes incredible talented while Durant starts to play like a high school bench warmer.  As you can imagine, wacky hijinks ensue.  Instead of breaking down the plot (or "plot") let's take a quick look at the few Oklahoma filming locations they used, like this shot outside the Chesapeake Arena exterior:

Later in the film there's a nice establishing shot of downtown that shows crane work being done on the Devon Energy Center.   It was under construction from around 2009 to around 2012 with the cranes arriving around 2010 giving us a nice little time capsule moment for the movie.

Toward the end of the movie our hero Brian hastily heads over the bridge into the Bricktown area on his way to swap back b-ball powers with KD and you get a nice little look at the area:

Once he gets there it's time to de-magic the magic.  But who was the sinister fiend behind the curse this whole time?  It occurs to the guys that the switch first happened after the basketball bounced off Rumble the Mascot's head so they recreate the incident:

Yep, Rumble was apparently (perhaps unknowingly) the mastermind behind this entire voodoo dumpster fire.  At least the guys got their payback.  That monstrous, cheer mongering prairie dweller will think twice before he curses an NBA legend and some rando kid.

So after that, both of the guys win their respective games (spoiler warning, I guess) and we all learned some kind of valuable lesson...The End.  (Also, Jim Belushi was in this movie.)