CELLULOID STATES

NOMADLAND WILL HAVE YOU ITCHING FOR AN AMERICAN ROAD TRIP, SO GET ON THE TRAIL WITH TOTAL FILM AS WE TAKE A CINEMATIC RIDE THROUGH EVERY US STATE. BRING THE CAR SNACKS AS WE HIT THE ASPHALT VIA 51* EVOCATIVE WANDERLUST FILMS…

TF takes a cine-road trip across the US. Looks like a chance of Purple Rain.

1 CALIFORNIA MOVIE LA LA LAND

ROUTE Let’s start at the Pacific – and while Vertigo and Bullitt sing with the streets of San Francisco and Sideways captures the rolling hills of wine country, LA is the CA city that’s most often captured on film. But has it been done with more nostalgic iridescence than in Damien Chazelle’s postcard-pretty salute, charting its charms from wild parks, magical observatories and buzzing freeways to pastel-hued piers and twinkling bars?

MUST-SEE SPOT The Griffith Observatory – scene of Mia and Seb’s ceiling dance. Their twilight street boogie was in Griffith Park, at Cathy’s Corner.

2 OREGON MOVIE STAND BY ME

ROUTE: Travelling north to the state that gave us the bucolic vistas of The Goonies and Leave No Trace, Oregon offers woozy nostalgia via quaint towns, verdant forests and dazzling rivers as a group of friends take an odyssey in search of a dead body. Yeah, there’s leeches, but this is really a good time. (That trestle train track was filmed in California, though.)

MUST-SEE SPOT: Brownsville is the town to head to if you want to tour ‘Castle Rock’. And the Timberline Lodge in Mount Hood for The Shining’s Overlook Hotel.

3 WASHINGTON MOVIE SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE

ROUTE: Further north, the Evergreen State is known for its above-average precipitation, but that doesn’t dampen the love of Tom Hanks’ Seattle-dwelling widow and Meg Ryan’s swoony radio listener. Who wouldn’t want Hanks when he lives on an idyllic houseboat, eats at Pike Place Market (The Athenian Inn has Hanks’ lunch spot marked) and is never knowingly not standing next to the Space Needle?

MUST-SEE SPOT: Vampire fans should head to stunning Indian Beach in Ecola State Park, ‘La Push’ in Twilight.

4 IDAHO MOVIE NAPOLEON DYNAMITE

ROUTE Turning east, the moonboot-wearing high-schooler’s home state was repped by the small town of Preston – real-life childhood idyll of filmmakers Jared and Jerusha Hess. It may seem featureless and flat, but it’s so worth a visit that a ‘sweet’ Napoleon Dynamite map was created by the Preston Chamber of Commerce.

MUST-SEE SPOT Check out Wallace, the pretty former mining town that’s destroyed by Dante’s Peak in the film of the same name. While the townsfolk played themselves, the volcano did not: it’s CGI.

5 NEVADA MOVIE VANISHING POINT

ROUTE Casino, The Hangover and Ocean’s Eleven have shown the twinkling gem in the silver state’s crown on film, but Vanishing Point gloriously showcases the neon-free desert vistas as a supercharged Dodge Challenger is gunned from Denver to San Francisco via the scorching asphalt and dirt tracks of small-town Nevada.

MUST-SEE SPOT Slip-slide a hire car down Virginia Hill in Austin, NV…

6 ARIZONA MOVIE STAGECOACH

ROUTE Cross the border to take in the mesas and buttes of Monument Valley, John Ford’s favourite location for many of his classic westerns. Use your horsepower to channel your own Ringo Kid through the Navajo parkland where numerous films since have followed Ford’s footsteps.

MUST-SEE SPOT John Ford Point off Highway 42 gives that classic western vista for selfies.

7 NEW MEXICO MOVIE THOR

ROUTE More majestic desert to take in driving through Arizona’s neighbour, the 47th state of the union – so impressive an Asgardian god pitched up here. The fictional town of Puente Antiguo was built from scratch at the Cerro Pelon Ranch in Galisteo (where Silverado, 3:10 To Yuma and Cowboys & Aliens filmed) to make the most of the cinematic landscape.

MUST SEE SPOT Fancy getting Thor-drunk on boilermakers? That bar is the Cheeks strip club in Santa Fe.

8 COLORADO MOVIE DUMB & DUMBER

ROUTE Hop on a tiny motorbike for this portion of the road trip as dimwits Harry and Lloyd do when they drive cross-country to Aspen to return a suitcase. Eye-popping snowy wonderlands are your reward, just don’t go licking any ski poles.

MUST-SEE SPOT The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park is where Harry and Lloyd pitch up in a Lamborghini – and also the inspiration for The Shining after Stephen King stayed there.

9 UTAH MOVIE MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2

ROUTE Head west to hang out in Dead Horse Point Park near Moab. Literally, if you want to make like Tom Cruise in the opening scene of the Mission series’ sophomore effort, which saw him clinging to one of the park’s stunning red-rock formations at 2,000ft.

MUST-SEE SPOT Dead Horse Point is also used by Westworld and the final destination for Thelma & Louise. Let’s just keep going… go.

10 WYOMING MOVIE CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND

ROUTE The state that gave us the romantic vistas of Brokeback Mountain and the icy desolation of Wind River is most famous on film for Devils Tower National Monument, the picturesque butte rising from the Black Hills, that Roy sculpts in mash before meeting up with ETs there. Its national park is easy to visit – just don’t expect UFOs.

MUST-SEE SPOT Fancy a hot dip like Django on his journey to find Broomhilda in Django Unchained? Head to Kelly Warm Springs, north of Jackson.

11 MONTANA MOVIE A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT

ROUTE A reverend teaches his two sons life lessons via fly fishing and you’ll want to strap on the waders to reenact Brad Pitt’s sun-dappled line-casting across a tumbling river lined with lush vegetation and granite cliffs. “Perfection,” notes his onscreen brother. Indeed.

MUST-SEE SPOT The upper Yellowstone, Gallatin and Boulder rivers were used by filmmakers if you want to get paddling.

12 NORTH DAKOTA MOVIE FARGO

ROUTE Take a spin through the stomping ground of Officer Marge Gunderson, on the trail of a kidnapping gone wrong. Flat whiteout views in winter are cheered by those midwestern accents, though the locals maintain that Fargo is ‘north of normal’ rather than the Coen brothers’ parochial depiction. Aw geez!

MUST-SEE SPOT Although the Coens didn’t film in actual Fargo (not enough snow), the real woodchipper from the movie is on display in the Fargo Moorhead Convention Center and Visitors’ Bureau.

13 SOUTH DAKOTA MOVIE DANCES WITH WOLVES

ROUTE Ride south to Sioux lands and take in the lush grasslands, big skies and the thunder of buffalo as experienced by Kevin Costner’s Civil War soldier John Dunbar on the fading frontier. For your own ride to Fort Hays, check out Sage Creek Wilderness in Badlands National Park (and stroke that waist-high grass) and the buffalo at Triple U Buffalo Ranch.

MUST-SEE SPOT The rock formations in Badlands National Park that transfix Fern in Nomadland.

14 NEBRASKA MOVIE ABOUT SCHMIDT

ROUTE Take a drive through Alexander Payne’s home state following the Winnebago tracks of widowed schlub Warren Schmidt (Jack Nicholson) on a morose road trip to visit his daughter. Most of the film (including the Colorado scenes) were filmed in Omaha – Warren’s workplace, Woodman Insurance, is a real business downtown.

MUST-SEE SPOT Order a Vodka Gimlet like Schmidt at Johnny’s Cafe (4702 S 27th St.) in Omaha.

15 KANSAS MOVIE PAPER MOON

ROUTE We all know there’s no place like home, but The Wizard Of Oz never set foot in the Sunflower State. Tatum and Ryan O’Neal filmed their tale of a grifter duo tooling round small-town Kansas on the wide vistas and flat, straight roads of the real state. Don’t forget your Bible if you’re out for a drive in your ’30s convertible...

MUST-SEE SPOT Check out the small towns of McCracken, Wilson and Gorham that haven’t changed since filming.

16 OKLAHOMA MOVIE TWISTER

ROUTE Fancy a bit of F5 tornado hunting like Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt’s storm chasers? Then this is the place to do it. The clash of cold and warm air makes the wide-open plains of Oklahoma the perfect drop-spot for twisters, particularly in the region know as ‘Tornado Alley’.

MUST-SEE SPOT The tiny town of Wakita was taken over by the Twister film crew, and their former production office is now a museum to the movie. That famous water tower is still there, too.

17 TEXAS MOVIE NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

ROUTE Alright, alright, alright… take a spin through Linklater country, a drive-by through There Will Be Blood terrain and a whizz to The Last Picture Show. Texas has been used for countless movies, but the Coens’ bleak take on life in the region really showcased the rugged beauty of the place and those famous big skies.

MUST-SEE SPOT Visit the real-life Texas Chain Saw Massacre House in Kingsland for lunch. It’s now the Grand Central Cafe (the toilets are through Leatherface’s terrifying sliding door).

18 LOUISIANA MOVIE BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD

ROUTE: Pay your respects and take in the history at Felicity Plantation in Vacherie where 12 Years A Slave was filmed, and hit New Orleans’ French Quarter for some Girls Trip hijinks, but the raw beauty of Louisiana’s swamps and parishes are best seen by boat. Benh Zeitlins’ lyrical Bayou trip captures the swaying Spanish moss and broiled crawfish feel – as well as the socio-economic dichotomy – of the place to perfection.

MUST-SEE SPOT Get to NOLA’s Lafayette Cemetery for some Easy Rider ‘relaxation’.

19 ARKANSAS MOVIE MUD

ROUTE Stay on the water to drink in the lush delta lowlands of Jeff Nichols’ home state, another character in his Twainesque tale of two boys discovering the mysterious fugitive, Mud (Matthew McConaughey), hiding out on an idyllic island on the Mississippi River. Bring your fishing rod…

MUST-SEE SPOT The Piggly Wiggly grocery store and Executive Inn featured in the film are in Dumas, if you want some Mud/Juniper action.

20 MISSOURI MOVIE WINTER’S BONE

ROUTE Yep, it’s the home of Mark Twain and his bucolic nostalgia, but the raw trail of Ree (Jennifer Lawrence) in search of her meth-cooking pa in the freezing Ozarks is incredibly evocative of the unforgiving mountain range and its starkly beautiful timber acres.

MUST-SEE SPOT The film was shot in Christian and Taney Counties – perfect for squirrel hunting.

21 IOWA MOVIE FIELD OF DREAMS

ROUTE If you build it, tourists will come. Kevin Costner’s heartwarmer about a farmer who creates a baseball diamond in his corn, only to find ghosts of famous baseballers lurking among the stalks, filmed in pastoral Dyersville. Fans still visit the picturesque farm and field. Is this heaven? No, it’s Iowa...

MUST-SEE SPOT Fancy a blub at another iconic weepie spot? The Roseman Bridge in Winterset is the meaningful covered crossing in The Bridges Of Madison County.

22 MINNESOTA MOVIE PURPLE RAIN

ROUTE Minneapolis’ most famous son, Prince, made his movie debut in this autobiographical rags-to-riches music pic, which filmed in Minnesota’s largest town. Drive downtown by the mirrored IDS Center skyscraper and on to First Avenue nightclub, both of which feature prominently in the movie. Let’s go crazy!

MUST-SEE SPOT First Avenue, where Prince started out – for real and in the film. And where ‘Purple Rain’ was recorded during a benefit concert. Feel like you’re there right now by downloading their Zoom backgrounds from first-avenue.com.

23 WISCONSIN MOVIE PUBLIC ENEMIES

ROUTE Gun your ride to the Badger State where infamous gangster John Dillinger roamed and Michael Mann’s starry biopic committed to filming in the real locations. Those wooded roads and snowy panoramas are authentic WI, and the shootout between Dillinger and the FBI was lensed at the Little Bohemia Lodge in Manitowish Waters where it really went down.

MUST-SEE SPOT The Little Bohemia Lodge has memorabilia from filming, and boasts specialities such as Bohemia Pavos and Old World pork shank.

24 ILLINOIS MOVIE FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF

ROUTE Probably should be driving a red 1961 Ferrari 250GT California when you hit the Prairie State, but if you’re playing hooky from school/work/life then a trip to Chicago is a must to take in Glenbrook High School (also used in The Breakfast Club), the Art Institute Of Chicago and Willis Tower for that vertiginous view. Beatles parade boogie down Dearborn Street optional.

MUST-SEE SPOT Wrigley Field – this legendary baseball ground is a Ferris stop-off, but also features in The Blues Brothers, A League Of Their Own, Only The Lonely, My Best Friend’s Wedding and The Break-Up.

25 INDIANA MOVIE HOOSIERS

ROUTE Time to head south through agricultural idylls of the Hoosier State just like Gene Hackman’s patchy high-school basketball coach needing a second chance as much as his team. Hinkle Fieldhouse on the university of Indianapolis campus is a b-ball mecca, while the small town of New Richmond played the hangout of the Hickory Huskers.

MUST-SEE SPOT Hickory Huskers Gym in Knightstown was the location of the Huskers’ home court and is now a museum to the film.

26 MICHIGAN MOVIE ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE

ROUTE Get some Motown on the stereo or ‘Lose Yourself’ on 8 Mile as you cruise into the Great Lake State. And if you want to live life as a louche vampire, then tour Detroit’s faded architectural beauties, like Adam’s crumbling mansion (82 Alfred Street) or the atmospheric, cavernous ruin of the Michigan Theater car park. Bloody gorgeous.

MUST-SEE SPOT The famous Shelter venue in Detroit (431 E Congress St.) is where Eminem really started out before he fictionally played there in 8 Mile.

27 OHIO MOVIE AVENGERS

ROUTE Head to the Buckeye State to live your inner Avenger. Downtown Cleveland stood in for New York for the climatic battle on the city’s E 9th Street, and also played Stuttgart for Loki’s operatic misdemeanours. Fast & Furious 8 also filmed chase scenes here so, y’know, make sure you bring the family.

MUST-SEE SPOT The Cleveland Museum of Art (www.clevelandart.org) played the interior of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Triskelion Building in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.