Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Visiting Where Kevin Costner was Inspired....


Springbreak we traveled north into Wyoming and then east into South Dakota. Stopping in Deadwood, South Dakota for the night, in search of some family history, my husband's great grandfather had brought a team of horse and help grade the path for the railroad between Deadwood and Leads the next mining town up the canyon in 1890.
I'm sorry, but Deadwood is a very "yucky" town. Historical yes, with hype from the shooting of Wild Bill Hickcock and for where he and other famous characters of the West like Calamity Jane are buried up in the Mount Moriah Cemetery. You can see the grave for a $1.00 and the trolley will take you up there if you are too tired from gambling. But the town is full of slot machines and old people wasting away their social security checks.  It was off season, maybe it would be more interesting in the high season and without kids in tow.....No I hate gambling.

But what was interesting, about the town, was the connection to Kevin Costner, who discovered it while filming Dances with Wolves....


 
Filmed a little bit in Wyoming, it was mostly filmed in the grasslands of South Dakota and while there or soon after Costner became interested in Deadwood.
 
Well, we did find some refuge from the smoke and ding ding of the casinos in his sportbar, part of The Midnight Star, Costner's very own, Western style casino, complete with memorabilia.
 
from The Untouchables...

 
 
Saw it, I think, but that Era of movies isn't something I go back to watch again.
 
The Bodyguard...
 
 
So reflects the early 90's, I got married and tried to figure out how to be an adult and The Bodyguard reminds me of that world that was so long ago!
 
 
The Postman...
 
 
A Western in the Future, Postman was not received well, but I always like watching it when it comes up on Netflix.
 
Open Range...
 
 
Open Range, with Robert Duvall is a slow moving, setting the scene of the West at a slow pace with not that much of a story line, come to think of it, I can't remember what the story line was, but I do remember there was a probably very accurate, if not boring shoot out, where a lot of wood chips flew around the shots, but no one could hit much of what they were aiming at with their pistols. But it is a beautifully filmed movie.
 
 and of course quite a bit from Dances With Wolves...
 
I didn't see any memorabilia from my favorite Costner movie...
 
 
I have probably seen most of Costners movies, his most recent effort on the History Channels Miniseries Hatfields and the McCoys, still available on Netflix.Com download.