Tuesday, July 17, 2007

30 Days of Night: Alaskan Realism

Andrew in Barrow, AlaskaI'm enough of a movie freak that I have Apple's site of the latest movie trailers on my RSS feeds and will occasionally check the upcoming movies for things to anticipate. I found this synopsis for the movie 30 Days of Night, and I quote:

For 30 days every winter, the isolated town of Barrow, Alaska is plunged into a state of complete darkness. It’s a bitter time when most of the inhabitants head south. This winter, a mysterious group of strangers appear: bloodthirsty vampires, ready to take advantage of the uninterrupted darkness to feed on the remaining town residents. Barrow’s Sheriff Eben (Josh Hartnett), his wife Stella (Melissa George), and an ever-shrinking group of survivors must do anything they can to last until daylight.

Barrow, AlaskaOh that's going to be rich. I'm okay with the vampire scenario--that could happen [sarcasm]--what bugs me are the Gross Unacceptable Errors relative to the setting. Did they even bother to Google "Barrow"? When is it NOT a bitter time there?--it rarely gets above freezing. Who's leaving to go south? And where on earth did they get the name "Eben"? They must think this is Fargo, North Dakota--I'm guessing it was filmed there anyway. At least the paragraph provided me with a good chuckle for the evening.

Those pictures? They're from the first time Andrew went up there and he never mentioned the part about the town being overrun by vacationing vampires. They must have blended in with all the oil workers. Oh and for the record, one of my high school friends moved to Barrow when her father got a job as a police officer (they don't have sheriffs). He worked there for years without busting a single vampire. At least I think he did . . . I haven't heard from them in years . . . maybe I ought to check . . .

Blood-sucking demons preying on Norwegian-named male models. I smell Oscar.

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Congratulations to Susan from Olathe, Kansas who won the Rolling Stones DVD set and to Cindy from Sarasota, Florida who won The Frantic Woman's Guide to Feeding Family and Friends. I hope you enjoy their prizes! Thanks to all who entered, try your luck again this Saturday with another giveaway.

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16 comments:

Scribbit said...

Oops. Slight correction: Andrew saw the photo and said, "Great, but that's not Barrow, that's me at Deadhorse. They don't have a BP building in Barrow."

I guess you see one snow-covered village you've seen 'em all.

Jenn in Holland said...

hahahahahaa! Great post scribbit. I smell Oscar for sure on this! Vampire movies, oh, my. Vampire movies set in Alaska? Well, I'll be.

Deadhorse, Barrow... whatever.

Ice Cream said...

I wonder if the cold temp makes the blood thicker? Do the vamps have to suck harder? I hope they don't migrate your way.

Anonymous said...

I like my unreality unreal, but my reality very accurate. So this movie might make me crazy if they've made the vampires more accurate than the setting. (Somehow this comment sounds rather nuts now that I write it. Oh well.)

Jenn in Holland said...

Uh... turn about is fair play. I gave you something today. Come on over and see.

Anonymous said...

This sounds like the kind of movie my husband will be so very eager to see. Not me so much. I'm afraid of vampires. I had a roommate in college that I'm pretty sure was one...that was a long semester.

Anonymous said...

hehe sounds like a made for the SciFi channel!

Maddy said...

I wonder if the original 'settlers' came from Barrow in Furness [UK]
I think perhaps I ought to attend my children's history/geography classes out here.
Cheers

Anonymous said...

I love Alaska stories. I love vampire stories, too. Must-see movie for me.


Mike
http://somethingaboutparenting.typepad.com/

http://www.mikeleonen.com/

Anonymous said...

Not surprising really, considering that they even take artistic-license with "historical" movies. If Hollywood is willing to blithely alter history, then these fictional movies stand no chance at all.

Actually we should just be happy that they got the name of the town and state right. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the opening scene said "In the country of Alaska, in a town named Marrow..."

I've known a handful of people over the years who had no idea Alaska was part of the US.

Unknown said...

Or at least a Golden Globe nod....

Michelle Alley said...

What a funn post! I love it. Especially your comment at the end, very clever!

la bellina mammina said...

That's one movie I won't be watching. I don't like horror movies!

Anonymous said...

The vampires on preying on your exact sense of doubt. Oh ho ho, they got you good.

my4kids said...

I love it when they take a town and create a story like that about it. Usually they don't get enough things right about the town to make it beleivable. They've filmed a few movies here in Oregon and change things around. It drives me nuts.

Eben huh? Oookay...........

Anonymous said...

I wasn't sure if you knew this or not, but it's based on a comic book written by Steve Niles. My Hubby is kind of a nerd and has been keeping me updated on this project for awhile. I guess it was a pretty popular comic, hence the movie. However I don't know that any vampire should consider moving to an Alaskan native village - they're a tough crowd and might kick some vampire butt!