The last Wednesday of every month is a "Weird Wednesday" on Absolute Michigan, when Linda Godfrey gives you a sample of what's weird in the Wolverine State. You can listen to Linda's latest podcasts and report your own strange encounters at weirdmichigan.com, follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/lindasgodfrey and also check out her books including Weird Michigan & Strange Michigan.

In honor of Absolute Michigan's film fest theme this week, Linda has assembled an octoplex of Weird Michigan movie trivia:

1. The first Robocop movie, starring Peter Weller in 1987, was set in Detroit on the premise that a ruthless police-killer was on the loose there.

2. Otto Preminger's 1959 Oscar-winning film Anatomy of a Murder was based on a novel about a murder trial held in Big Bay in the early 1950s. The novel was written by the judge of the actual case.

3. Die Hard 2, or "Die Harder," the 1990 film starring Bruce Willis, filmed winter action scenes in Alpena and Sault Ste. Marie.

4. Lily Tomlin, comedienne and star of films like The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981), was born in Detroit in 1939 on the day Germany invaded Poland.

5. Lunatics: A Love Story, a 1991 movie about a poet who seldom leaves his apartment in Los Angeles, was filmed in Pontiac and Pontiac Hills.

6. Wes Craven's Scream 4, scheduled for release in 2011, brings back the ghost-faced killer, was shot on locations in Ann Arbor and Detroit and features "Cougar" and "Friends" star Courteney Cox.

7. The 1980 time travel movie Somewhere in Time, starring Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeve, was shot at the Grand Hotel on Mackinaw Island. The hotel is reputed to be haunted. Also, in parts of the film that are set in 1912, producers didn't bother to edit a modern water tower from the background.

8. Downtown and church scenes in the 1989 film about Santa's reindeer, Prancer, were shot in picturesque Three Oaks. The town's United Methodist church choir was tapped to sing Hark the Herald Angels Sing for the movie and their faces made the final cut but their actual voices did not. Also, the church's pastor wasn't old or bald enough to play himself in the movie but his gray robe was worn by the actor who portrayed him.

Because it's so tremendously awesome, we're including the trailer to the Michigan film classic Anatomy of a Murder. Probably one of the best trailers ever. Enjoy!

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