Pittsburgh, PA (aka Thunderdome)

From the NY Times, on the filming locations for the adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel, “The Road”:

“The Road” began filming in late February, mostly in and around Pittsburgh, with a later stop in New Orleans and a postproduction visit planned to Mount St. Helens. The producers chose Pennsylvania, one of them, Nick Wechsler, explained, because it’s one of the many states that give tax breaks and rebates to film companies and, not incidentally, because it offered such a pleasing array of post-apocalyptic scenery: deserted coalfields, run-down parts of Pittsburgh, windswept dunes.

Now I understand why every sports bar in California on NFL Sundays is filled with Steeler fans: they’ve all moved to escape the post-apocalyptic landscapes.

(Full disclosure: I’m a Seahawks fan. Yes. Still bitter.)

(Photographs by Macall Polay/Dimension Film)

Trailer for H.S.T. Documentary, “Gonzo”

Well the Cool Kids beat me to it again. No bother. Here’s the trailer for the creatively-titled Hunter S. Thompson documentary by Academy Award-winning director, Alex Gibney (Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room, Taxi to the Dark Side). Anyone with “intense pretensions to the literary arts” is invited to join me at the theater when it comes out.

A Letter to Woody Allen from Henry Rollins

Henry Rollins is not a Quiet American.  He’s loud.  He’s opinionated.  He’s a little scary.  And he’s always interesting.  I don’t always agree with his opinion, but his facial expressions are entertaining in their own right.

My favorite part of “The Henry Rollin’s Show” on IFC are his “Letters From Henry” segments, in which he usually lambastes some public figure (see his Letter to Ann Coulter for the best example).  In this letter to Woody Allen, Rollins shares his opinion on the current state of Hollywood studio films and the multiplex.  After my recent visit to the movies this weekend, I wholeheartedly agree.  Thank god for independent theaters (and Netflix).