I love movies! One of my favorite times of year is the lead-up to the Oscars in February, when I catch up on films just in time for the big showdown. This past September, I went to the Venice Film Festival, where the movie "Joker" had its premiere, and where Julia Andrews received her Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement Award! It'll be interesting to see what the film festivals and Oscars look like THIS year, after the abrupt slow-down of movie production that has occurred due to the pandemic.
With perhaps a tad more time at home than usual, many of us are catching up on new movies, and enjoying the sentimentality of watching some of our old favorites. In the spirit of storylines that intertwine with travel, I've picked three favorites to share with you.
One of my favorite destinations for a cultural experience is Japan. Such beauty and detail are put into even the simplest of daily tasks, transforming these plain chores into rituals that feel special to undertake. For example, during my first tea ceremony there, I immediately recognized the importance of "the details"; and of "being present in the moment", even with something seemingly so routine as preparing and drinking tea. The 2003 movie "Lost in Translation" perfectly captures this notion, as well as the sometimes perplexing and mystifying view of Japan when seen through the eyes of Westerners looking in. Both Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson portray characters who enter the film weary and a bit lost, but come to learn about themselves through life in Japan, as well as through each other.
Those of you who like food, comedy and improvisation should definitely sit down with the 2010 film, "The Trip". This is the first in a series of episodes/films featuring the amazing chemistry and ad-libbing between British actors/comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, as fictionalized versions of themselves. Here the two mid-forties comedians, who never really made it, head out on a restaurant tour of northern England. While sampling some amazing cuisine at acclaimed restaurants (https://moviemaps.org/movies/9i), they deal with middle age, relationships, and career struggles in the funniest way possible. Writer Lincoln Michel (GQ) described this wonderful film as "the funniest sad movie on Netflix. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll hear about four thousand different impressions."
Lastly, no favorite travel movie list would be complete without the hilarious 1983 classic "National Lampoon's Vacation", directed by Harold Ramis, and starring Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo. Interestingly, the screenplay was written by a young John Hughes, of "Pretty in Pink" and "The Breakfast Club" fame. The story tracks Clark Griswold and his family's disastrous cross-country road trip from the suburbs of Chicago to a famous Southern California amusement park. A green hotel pool with ducks living in it; the car breaking down in the desert and Clark getting lost in the sand going for help; and the amusement park being closed for two weeks of repairs upon their arrival there: these are just a few of the mishaps in store for the Griswold family. Richard Rayner (Time Out) described the film as "not so much a comedy about American values, as a 2,500 mile skid on a banana skin".