Next in the West

Next
in the
West
On location
Jeff Foott/Getty Images
Wyoming’s Tetons
nab a starring role.
Forget best actor or actress: At Oscar
time, the Tetons are due a Lifetime Achievement Award. They’ve lent their craggy profiles
to classics like Shane and Dances with Wolves.
Now they’re costarring in Quentin Tarantino’s
homage to spaghetti westerns, Django
Unchained. Like Tom Cruise or Angelina Jolie,
the mountains tend to play themselves—in
their case, strong, silent types. But even if
you’re viewing them in 3-D IMAX, the greater
drama of the Tetons lies beyond the screen.
Delta Lake, in the
Teton range
Sunset February 2013 13
Next
in the
West
How the West won
Hollywood
We’ll always love Noir L.A. and Wild West mesas,
but here are 10 new cinematic hot spots to add
to the list of must-see movie locales.
1 “Hollywood
North” Vancouver,
B.C., earned this moniker
for all the movies shot
here. On Location’s
tours shuttle through
Gastown and Yaletown
for a peek at film sets,
which could include
the new Godzilla.
$100 U.S.; onlocation
toursvancouver.com
2 Portlandia on
the big screen In this
year’s C.O.G., the first
big-screen adaptation of
David Sedaris’s essays,
Sedaris’s character
hawks Oregon-shaped
clocks at a Portland craft
fair. You won’t find
those at the city’s Crafty
Wonderland shop, but
you will find Oregonshaped pillows among
the handmade goods.
craftywonderland.com
3 The Godfather in
wine country The
movie gallery at the
Francis Ford Coppola
Winery in Geyserville,
California, includes two
floors of relics like Don
Corleone’s desk from
The Godfather and
Coppola’s Oscar for the
1972 film. franciscoppola
winery.com
4 May the Force be
in S.F. Get an inside
look at the moviemaker’s craft at the Walt
Disney Family Museum’s
exhibit The Magic Behind
Stop Motion Animation,
which features a replica
of a Star Wars AT-AT.
$20; through Apr 28;
waltdisney.org
5 Deadwood lives
In the oak-dotted hills
of Santa Clarita, about
40 minutes northwest
of Hollywood, movie
ranches provide the
backdrop for westerns
old and new. At Melody
Ranch Studio’s
museum, you can see
cool memorabilia from
Wyatt Earp to the more
recent Deadwood.
melodyranchstudio.com
6 Here’s Stanley!
L.A. County Museum
of Art’s Stanley Kubrick
exhibit includes his
photography from his
Look magazine days,
production sketches,
screenplays, and an
angry letter from a
pastor condemning
Lolita. Through Jun 30;
$20; lacma.org
7 Moviemaking,
Montana-style Add
Glacier National Park
to your summer
road-trip itinerary so
you can catch two of
the glaciers tracked for
the Oscar-buzzy doc
Chasing Ice ... before
they melt. nps.gov/glac
Ranch; the 87-year-old
guest ranch lies within
Grand Teton National
Park and is the only park
lodging open in winter.
From $140; 2-night min.;
trianglex.com
8 Classic western
Experience the Tetons’
movie-worthy winter
grandeur at Triangle X
9 The antiSundance At the
Telluride Film Festival,
aka the Show, you won’t
see red carpets—though
you’ll see plenty of stars.
The nearby campsites fill
up with die-hard movie
purists, and organizers
keep the lineup top
secret to avoid pre-fest
industry frenzy. Pass
from $390; Aug 29–Sep 2;
telluridefilmfestival.org
10 A NEW WILD WEST
This summer, Johnny
Depp’s Lone Ranger stirs
up clouds of dust in
Cimarron Canyon State
Park. Strike out from
Taos; the park is an hour
east along scenic U.S.
64. nmparks.com
Classic movies of the west pictured above Clockwise from upper left: Twilight saga (2008–12), Olympic Peninsula, WA; A River Runs Through It (1992), Yellowstone
River, MT; Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Devils Tower, WY; The Searchers (1956), Monument Valley, UT; Thelma & Louise (1991), Grand Canyon, AZ; Casino (1995),
Las Vegas; The Blue Dahlia (1946), Los Angeles; The Birds (1963), Bodega Bay, CA. Illustrated by Olaf Hajek.
14
Sunset February 2013
Soil––ready for
its close-up
A Sonoma project from
Women in the Dirt
this page, clockwise from top: Jack Coyier/courtesy Pamela Palmer/ARTECHO, Lily films, weeks roses (4)
The green screen
A new crop of farm and garden documentaries is turning plants into
protagonists. The latest shows that even soil can be a sexy screen star.
Symphony of the Soil
Edible City
Women in the Dirt
Deborah Koons Garcia’s upcoming film (see story, far right)
follows eccentric soil scientists
around the world, from Norwegian glaciers to Hawaiian
volcanoes, as they explore how
humanity depends on healthy
soil. A must-see for: sustainableagriculture skeptics. DVD out next
month; symphonyofthesoil.com
This 72-minute doc tracks the
movement toward small-scale
organic farms in the San Francisco Bay Area, and the people
who love to eat what those
growers produce. A must-see for:
urban farmers and foodies. Watch
online at ediblecitythemovie.com
A feature-length primer on seven
influential female landscape
architects from California, whose
range of work includes designing
ritzy residential spaces and
revitalizing inner-city lots.
A must-see for: garden-design
fans and history buffs. Buy the
DVD at womeninthedirt.com
No vampires. No superheroes. San Francisco
Bay Area–based filmmaker Deborah Koons
Garcia made earth the
lead in her feature-length
Symphony of the Soil, set
for release this spring.
In so doing, the widow of
the Grateful Dead’s Jerry
Garcia hopes to “move
people from being soilblind to soil-conscious.”
Her biggest challenge was
to make a complex subject
come to life: “You can’t
just hold a piece of dirt in
your hand and call it soil
any more than you can
cup some water and call
it the sea.” Garcia was
also behind the acclaimed
The Future of Food, so you
might expect her next
movie to be equally ecominded. She has other
plans. “Maybe I’ll do a
romantic comedy. All this
science is fun, but it has to
be accurate—I’m ready
to make up stuff.”
Box-office
blooms
Cultivate a little
show-biz glamour
with these celebrity
hybrid-tea roses.
‘Cary Grant’
With elegant flowers that
glow like fire, this headturner is robust and low
maintenance.
‘Elizabeth Taylor’
Voluptuous and larger
than life, the beauty’s deep
pink blooms draw a crowd.
‘Marilyn Monroe’
Roses are a girl’s best
friend: This has a peachesand-cream complexion
and curvaceous petals.
‘Barbra Streisand’
Hello, gorgeous: Big,
fragrant blossoms with
lavender petals fill a room
with their presence.
Sunset February 2013
15
Next
in the
West
Movie snack
makeover
Our favorite Western-made
picks are an artisanal twist
on the classics.
Instead of
Milk Duds
Lula’s chocolate sea
salt caramels have
a mix of natural salts
sprinkled on top,
like Alaea and Hiwa
Kai crystals from
Hawaii. $13/9-piece
box; lulas.com
Instead of
gummy bears
Fiona’s Sweetshoppe
in San Francisco captures bubbly’s essence
(minus the fizz) in
chewy, delicately
sweet Champagne
Bubbles. $13/14-oz. jar;
fionassweetshoppe.com
or williams-sonoma.com
We pick the best of the big names making bottles.
Kyle
MacLachlan
John
Lasseter
Drew
Bledsoe
Emilio
Estevez
Actor
Pixar cofounder
Former quarterback
Actor, director, writer
First vintage: 2005
What made him do
it? “I met Eric
Dunham [of Dunham
Cellars in Washington] while searching
for a Syrah for my
wedding in 2002,
and my wife, Desiree,
an entrepreneur,
encouraged me.”
Our pick: Baby Bear
2009 Syrah (Columbia
Valley; $48).
What’s it like? Dark
and peppery, with
leafy tobacco and
espresso layered
under blueberries.
First vintage: 2000
What made him do
it? “After we moved
to Sonoma Valley, I
went Zinfandel picking with friends,”
says his wife, Nancy.
“I came home sticky
and splattered with
grapes, and John
said, ‘Next time, I’m
coming too!’ ”
Our pick: Lasseter
2011 Enjoué Rosé
(Sonoma Valley; $24).
What’s it like? A dry,
crisp pink of watermelon and raspberry,
with a lime finish.
First vintage: 2007
What made him do
it? “My wife and I
have a shared passion
for wine after many
trips to wine country.
The business was
a cool way to reconnect with my hometown of Walla Walla
[Washington].”
Our pick: Doubleback
2010 Cabernet Sauvignon (Walla Walla
Valley; $89).
What’s it like? Dark
black tea and licorice
meet plum and olallieberry.
First vintage: 2007
What made him do
it? “I moved to a flat
acre with an enormous lawn and ridiculously high water
bills, and I thought,
I’ll build a vineyard
here and create my
own view.”
Our pick: Casa
Dumetz 2011 Gravitas
Grenache (Santa Ynez
Valley; $28).
What’s it like? Spicy
cherries with white
pepper and chocolate. (That’s Emilio at
age 4 on the label.)
16
Sunset February 2013
Instead of
Junior Mints
Seely Mint’s peppermint patties are handcrafted using mint
oil made from mint
that’s grown on their
family farm in Oregon.
$7.50/5-oz. box; seely
mint.com
Instead of
artificial jellies
Marich Confectionery’s Green Beans jelly
beans are flavored
with fruit juices and
colored with veggie
extracts. Look for
pomegranate and
peach beans. $4.25/5.3oz. bag; marich.com ■
jeffery cross (6)
Celebs take on wine
Instead of stale
theater popcorn
The buttery, saltkissed fleur de sel
caramel kernels from
479° Popcorn are
made of organic corn
and agave nectar.
$16/8-oz. canister;
479degrees.com