This is an exciting time of year for movie buffs. Awards season is all about glamor, the red carpet and the statuettes. Anticipation and anxiety plague us while we wait to see if our Oscar bets have paid off. Will Leo finally win? Will Meryl get back in the race again after missing a year? And what film will snag the coveted Best Picture?
To prove that Oscar nominated films are more than just fluff, let’s explore a few places made famous by the movies. The Squire has compiled a list of several that would have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame if they allowed the settings. Maybe these will inspire your next trip?
Ait Benhaddou, Morocco
When you think of the Middle East, what do you see? The red desert, the crowded cities, walls made of clay? You imagine Ait Benhaddou, a 17th century citadel, and the embodiment of an ancient Islamic city. Built by traditional methods, the city is the perfect setting for a film involving sheiks, magic lanterns or camels. It’s no wonder that you might recognize it in movies like the Gladiator (2000), Alexander (2004), The Mummy (1999), and Lawrence of Arabia (1962).
http://wikitravel.org/en/A%C3%AFt-Benhaddou
Hatfield House, England
What would a movie about a wealthy vigilante be without a mansion to match? Hatfield House in Hertfordshire, England was chosen to be the setting for Bruce Wayne’s mansion in Batman Begins (2005) and you can understand why. The grand scale of the halls and their décor are the perfect backdrop for a home of a wealthy aristocrat and the owner of a Batmobile (if you don’t believe me, an English nobleman currently lives there). The childhood home of Elizabeth I, the house has been in The King’s Speech(2010), My Week with Marilyn (2011), Vanity Fair (2004), and even Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001).
http://www.hatfield-house.co.uk/index.asp
Monument Valley, Utah & Arizona
You might want to bring a cowboy hat, leather boots, and spurs on a trip to MonumentValley. It’s hard to think of a Western without the rust-colored sandstone hills of the valley in the background. Hollywood has made the hills that tower over the Colorado Plateau synonymous with the American West. John Ford made them famous in films like Stagecoach (1939), My Darling Clementine (1946), and How the West Was Won (1962). Since then MonumentValley has been the setting for The Lone Ranger (2013), Wild Wild West (1999), and Forest Gump (1994).
http://www.navajonationparks.org/htm/monumentvalley.htm
Brooklyn Bridge, New York
Are you coming to New York (pronounced Noo Yawk) and not planning to walk over the BrooklynBridge? Forget ’bout it! Completed in 1883, its allure goes way beyond its architecture and construction. Suspended over the East River, its iconic arches and cables connect Brooklyn to Manhattan. You can’t make a movie about New York without a shot of the bridge. It can be seen in Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), Click (2006), I Am Legend (2007), and (of course) Saturday Night Fever (1977).
http://www.nycgo.com/venues/brooklyn-bridge
Old Royal Naval College, England
Ladies in giant dresses and elaborate wigs belong in the courtyard of the OldRoyalNavalCollege in London where columns and domes are the norm. The architecture of this structure is just what you’d imagine a city square in Renaissance Europe would look like. The College consists of a combination of 17th and 18th century buildings, which you may recognize from a scene with an elephant in Les Miserables (2012). Numerous films with a historical theme were filmed here like Sherlock Holmes (2011), Pirates of the Caribbean (2011), The Mummy Returns (2001), and the Iron Lady (2011).
These places have popped up on so many movie reels that visitors to any one of them would feel like a movie star. Just don’t go overboard with the glitz and glam and yell, “Cut!” after snapping a photo. It might get you some strange looks!