National Lampoon’s Vacation. This film has so much to teach such as there are advantages to growing up on a farm, that it rains in Phoenix at the most inconvenient times, and that you should never, ever tie a dog to a bumper. If you follow the sequels, you will wonder why Audrey and Rusty keep changing, but not be the least bit surprised that Cousin Vicki turns out the way she does. Don’t forget to notice the plight!

Planes, Trains & Automobiles. For anyone who has worked in a customer service position and has been on the receiving end of an irate customer’s verbal abuse, Edie McClurg’s two-word response to Steve Martin’s f-word carpet bombing is wonderful vindication. Just temporarily suspend your disbelief and try not to think too hard about how anyone could be employed to sell nothing but shower curtain rings.

La Gloire de mon père and Le Château de ma mère. As delightful and uplifting as the first film was, the second film is dark and occasionally disturbing. What begins as delightful getaways to a country house sadly become the setting for many unpleasant experiences. The films remind us that travel presents us with a variety of experiences, some wonderful, some bittersweet, some downright awful.

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Traveling Back in Time: Goodbye Lenin! for a taste of old East Berlin before and after the Wall came down.

And of course for The Perfect Charming Locale: Amelie. Besides beautiful movies, I think Yann Tiersen’s music transcends time and place and never ceases to make me feel homesick for the places I am experiencing for the first time.

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Cool list.

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Michaela–Good Bye Lenin! and The Edukators are two of my desert island films. Maybe it’s Daniel Bruhl.

And a funny story for the Bourne supporters (of which I also count myself): A friend of the family worked on the Bourne movies and DJed the wrap party for Bourne Supremacy. He took pride in the fact that throughout shooting, there wasn’t a single injury. Until the wrap party when people were moshing to his mixing.

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I agree with Gallipoli, have been planning a trip there since I seen it.

French Kiss makes me realize what I missed in Paris.

Under the Tuscon Sun is a fave, who wouldn’t want to buy a villa and live out dreams (wait I’m doing that in Australia)

National Treasure makes me look at USA landmarks differently

DaVinci Code… I want to follow that trail and see all those sights

Raiders of the Lost Ark and Laura Croft movies make me want to see Egypt

March of the Penguins.. who wouldn’t want to see those cutie pies

This is fun… gonna go look at my movie collection again.

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Another aspect of films that gets me itching to strap my travelin’ boots on are those that takes you through a city or a country, wherein the location plays a leading role. From the streets of Berlin and New York to the complex culture of China and the United States, I would like to add:

Berlin:
1) Run Lola Run (Lola Rennt)
2) The Edukators
3) The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen)
4) Berlin Alexanderplatz
5) Good Bye Lenin!
6) Funeral in Berlin
7) Wings of Desire

New York:
1) Vanilla Sky
2) Taxi Driver
3) When Harry met Sally
4) Goodfellas
5) Ghostbusters
6) Short Circuit
7) Last Exit to Brooklyn
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
9) Big
10) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
11) Raging Bull

Paris:
1) 400 Blows
2) Children of Paradise
3) Love me if you dare/Jeux d’enfants
4) An American in Paris
5) Paris, I love you/ Paris, je t’aime (no, not the disease infested socialite)
6) La Femme Nikita
7) Last Tango in Paris/Ultimo Tango a Parigi (Italian), Le Dernier Tango à Paris (French)
Breathless
9) Rendezvous/C’était un rendez-vous

Barcelona:
1) All About my Mother
2) Barcelona

China:
1) In the Mood for Love
2) Balzac and the Chinese Seamstress

China/Philippines
1) Days of Being Wild

Philippines:
1) Apocalypse Now (Filmed in the Philippines)

Across the U.S.A.
1) Into the Wild
2) Where the Buffalo Roam
3) My Blueberry Nights
4) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
5) Little Miss Sunshine

San Francisco, U.S.A.:
1) Dirty Harry
2) Zodiac
3) The Birds
4) 40 Days, 40 Nights
5) Tales from the City
6) The Joy Luck Club

Korea:
1) Old Boy

Morocco:
1) Hideous Kinky

ok…time to step away from the keyboard. Draft 1.

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…doot d’ doot doo, doot d’ doo…

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I’d have to say the second Oceans movie even though it wasn’t as good as the first or the last, the gallivanting around Europe was pretty cool.

Under the Tuscan Sun…c’mon so obvious

Summer Lovers 1982 film with Peter Gallagher and Daryl Hannah set in Santorini – your basic menage-a-trois-in-beautiful surroundings movie

The Talented Mr. Ripley

Roman Holiday

Out of Africa

The Constant Gardener

The English Patient

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French Kiss- Who wouldn’t want to tramp through France with Kevin Kline’s character.

Roman Holiday- Obvious I know but what a classic.

Wah Wah – Family drama with Gabriel Byrne set in Swaziland during their declared independence from Britain

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“…could I borrow your Frommer’s?”
“Oh, here it is. Bratislava. Hmm. Capital of Slovakia. Oh, here’s a fun fact: You made out with your sister, man!”

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