Cinematic States by Gareth Higgins

Cinematic States by Gareth Higgins is a delightful book. Higgins takes the novel (no pun intended) idea of reviewing movies based on their location. He reviews a series of movies which have associations from all fifty states of the United States. In the process, he explores how each movie reveals the culture and mood of each state. Sometimes these movies do this intentionally, while at other times, they seemed to integrate into the movie with ease. At times, spiritual themes come up in the movie, which the culture of the state helps to explain.

Higgins explains that his interest in writing this kind of book comes from his first experience watching a film – The Black Hole. This personal style and real interest in the movies he reviews comes across to the reader as a person who really cares about the movies he reviews.

I was surprised that many of the movies were not stereotypical. As a native Texan in exile, I was quite surprised that he used the Zapruder homemade film of the Kennedy assassination as one of his examples. As someone who lives in the Ozarks, I would add Winter’s Bone to the list for Missouri.

I would recommend this book for anyone who loves movies, and especially anyone who loves how movies represent and reflect American culture.

Twitter: #SpeakeasyCinematicStates

Higgins reviews films and blogs about cinema and spirituality.

This book review was made for Speakeasy.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author and/or publisher through the Speakeasy blogging book review network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR,Part 255.