Tag: Movies
Travel Movie Watch: ‘Creation’
by Eva Holland | 06.16.09 | 9:24 AM ET
From "HMS Beagle at Tierra del Fuego" by Conrad Martens (via Wikipedia) Details are still a little scarce, but I’d be very surprised if the Charles Darwin biopic didn’t include some serious travel sequences. Paul Bettany plays the lead, and the movie is due out in September.
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Yahoo! BuzzWorld Hum Travel Movie Club: ‘Away We Go’
by Eva Holland, Eli Ellison | 06.12.09 | 11:04 AM ET
Publicity still via IGN Eva Holland and Eli Ellison debate the summer's hippest road trip flick
‘Eat, Pray, Love’ Movie Update: Bardem Signs On
by Eva Holland | 06.10.09 | 4:38 PM ET
It’s been a couple of years since word came down that Julia Roberts would play the lead in the film adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert’s juggernaut of a travel memoir, “Eat, Pray, Love.” Now, Variety reports that Javier Bardem will join the project as Felipe, the Brazilian suitor who pops up in Bali. Richard Jenkins has also signed on to play Richard, the ashram Texan.
Danny Boyle Can’t Quit You, Mumbai
by Eva Holland | 06.04.09 | 3:27 PM ET
Yup, the Indian city has its hooks in the Oscar-winning director of “Slumdog Millionaire,” and it isn’t letting go. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Boyle has bought the film rights to Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found, Suketu Mehta’s Pulitzer-nominated travelogue about Mumbai’s seedy, sometimes-violent subcultures: dirty cops, exotic dancers, religious hitmen and more.
Travel Movie Watch: ‘Where’s Waldo?’
by Eva Holland | 06.03.09 | 2:05 PM ET
No, seriously. The goofy globetrotter with the striped shirt is getting a movie all his own. And it will be live action. Over at Get the Big Picture, Colin Boyd has a scathing look at the project, suggesting that Universal’s decision to pick it up after Paramount gave up on it “might showcase a fairly pronounced stupidity.” I’m inclined to agree.
‘Up’ and the Spirit of Adventure
by Eva Holland | 06.02.09 | 3:01 PM ET
After keeping tabs on the hype for the last couple of months, I finally made it to “Up” last night. The latest from Pixar, which tells the story of an old man finally living out his South American travel dreams, has been pleasing critics and owning the box office, so I was keen to get to the theater myself.
And the verdict? Well, a little bit mixed.
Museums on Film: Three Memorable Moments
by Eva Holland | 05.21.09 | 1:24 PM ET
With Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian set to open this weekend, I’ve been thinking a lot about museums and the movies. The first Night at the Museum, released in 2006 and set at a fictionalized version of the American Museum of Natural History, raked in money at the box office and is credited with increasing attendance at the real-life Upper West Side museum by as much as 20 percent. According to USA Today, the Smithsonian is hoping to see similar benefits from its featured role in the sequel.
The two Ben Stiller vehicles may be remarkable for the amount of traffic they’re driving to museums, but they’re not unusual in their choice of setting. Museums and galleries have played prominent roles in any number of films and television shows over the years. Here, with apologies for my clear bias towards New York City and romance, are three of my favorite museum movie moments.
Travel Movie Watch: ‘Homage to Catalonia’
by Eva Holland | 05.20.09 | 10:53 AM ET
More than 70 years after its initial publication, George Orwell’s Spanish Civil War memoir is hitting the big screen.
Hugh Hudson, best known for “Chariots of Fire” and “I Dreamed of Africa,” will direct, while Colin Firth and Kevin Spacey have already signed on to star—the media coverage of the news doesn’t offer anything definite, but it looks as though Firth will play Orwell, and Spacey will take on the role of Georges Kopp, Orwell’s POUM commander.
‘Angels & Demons’ has Arrived—and so Have the Travel Writers
by Eva Holland | 05.15.09 | 12:43 PM ET
Publicity still from "Angels & Demons" (via IGN) If you’re not interested in Dan Brown or the film adaptation of his hit novel, “Angels & Demons,” you may want to avoid the travel pages for the next few days—I haven’t seen travel-movie-mania on this scale since last year’s Sex and the City movie transfixed shoe-loving travel writers everywhere.
If, however, you’re keen to explore “Dan Brown’s Rome,” read on for the best of the near-ubiquitous coverage.
The Critics: ‘Up’
by Eva Holland | 05.14.09 | 11:01 AM ET
Pixar’s “Up,” an animated travel movie that we’ve been keeping an eye on, opened the Cannes Film Festival in 3D last night, making history in the process. Today, the reviews are rolling in—and, for the most part, they offer two thumbs, er, up.
Hunter S. Thompson’s Puerto Rico
by Eva Holland | 05.12.09 | 4:31 PM ET
Johnny Depp’s been on the Puerto Rico set of “The Rum Diary” for about a month now, and interest is building in the film, an adaptation of an early Hunter S. Thompson novel. The story follows journalist Paul Kemp (played by Depp) as he flees New York City for a small newspaper on the island, where hard drinking and treacherous expat intrigues ensue.
Ka’iulani: the Activist Princess
by Pam Mandel | 05.11.09 | 2:05 PM ET
The Hawaiian Hall at the Bishop Museum is still closed for renovations (we got a sneak peak on our visit—it’s going to be stunning when it opens in August) so there is only a limited amount of Hawaiian artifacts currently on view. The Kāhili Room at the museum is open, though—it’s in a different building—and it displays portraits of the Hawaiian monarchy and their feathered standards. These torch-like staffs were carried in front of royalty to visually announce their arrival.
Two of the portraits really stuck with me: the photo of Princess Ruth, a frowning, broad woman contained in severe Victorian dress, and the portrait of Princess Ka’iulani, also in Victorian attire but looking less awkward. Princess Ka’iulani cemented her place in the hearts of Native Hawaiians by traveling to the mainland to plead with Congress and two US Presidents for the restoration of the Hawaiian monarchy.
Eight Great Stories of Beaches, Islands, Travel and the Tropics
by World Hum | 04.30.09 | 10:31 AM ET
To mark our eighth anniversary, we've collected eight favorite stories from our archives that celebrate and explore travel at land's end
Travel Movie Watch: ‘The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test’
by Eva Holland | 04.28.09 | 12:08 PM ET
Move over, Fear and Loathing. There’s a new drug-addled, road tripping book-turned-movie in town. A film adaptation of Tom Wolfe’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test—which follows Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters cross-country in a school bus named “Further”—is due out in 2010. Production details are still thin on the ground, but the New York Times notes that Gus van Sant will direct, while Dustin Lance Black, who recently won an Oscar for writing van Sant’s “Milk,” will provide the screenplay.
Where Will Dan Brown Go Next?
by Eva Holland | 04.22.09 | 12:11 PM ET
Publicity still from "Angels and Demons" (via IGN) Looks like the bestselling author has been keeping busy. While we’ve been pondering the “Angels and Demons” boycotts and bus tours, Brown has been hard at work on his next novel—and now, his publisher has finally announced its impending release.
“The Lost Symbol” will hit stores in September with a staggering first print run of 5 million copies, the largest in Random House history. Naturally, Columbia Pictures—the studio behind the first two Brown adaptations—wasted no time snapping up the film rights.
But with all the excitement, I’m left wondering: what, exactly, are we waiting for? Where will Robert Langdon (and the resulting hordes of movie tourists) go next?
Travel Movie Watch: ‘Away We Go’
by Eva Holland | 04.21.09 | 3:34 PM ET
Promotional still via John Krasinski Web Oh, boy, am I excited about this one! Dave Eggers is at it again—after providing the screenplay for one highly anticipated travel movie, he offers up a second flick: Away We Go.
The story follows a young couple, expecting their first child, as they travel America in search of the perfect home for their new family. John Krasinski (aka Jim from “The Office”) and Maya Rudolph play the leads, while the likes of Maggie Gyllenhaal and Allison Janney fill out the inevitable cast of quirky characters encountered en route.
Go ahead, watch the trailer, and tell me this doesn’t look like a smartly-made mix of sentimentality, humor and road-tripping goodness:
‘Adventureland’: Hooked by Travel Writing and the Adventure of Summer Jobs
by Eva Holland | 04.14.09 | 12:06 PM ET
Publicity still via IGN I can tell you the exact moment I came off the fence and really fell for Adventureland, the theme park-set comedy romance that hit theaters last weekend.
Early on, not long after starting his grim summer job as a games operator at the local amusement park, protagonist James tells love interest Em what his earnings are for: he wants to move to New York City, complete a master’s in journalism at Columbia University and become a travel writer. But, he’s quick to add, he wants to write travel stories about “real life,” like Charles Dickens.
I’m not far removed from my own dreamy undergraduate perusals of the Columbia website, and I love a good real-life travel story, too—so naturally, I was hooked.
The Critics: ‘Fast & Furious’
by Eva Holland | 04.09.09 | 10:29 AM ET
Publicity still via IGN When I listed Fast & Furious as one of my travel movies to watch for in 2009, I have to admit that my tongue might have been straying towards my cheek. I certainly never expected that the movie—the fourth installment in a fading franchise—would smash box office records and enjoy the biggest April weekend opening ever. But with an unexpected $70 million (and counting) in the bank, I suppose the movie qualifies as a phenomenon of sorts. With that in mind, I decided to check it out and see if there were any vicarious travel thrills to be had in between all the lingering shots of hot (auto) bodies.
Pixar’s ‘Up’: Wal-Mart is Unenthused
by Eva Holland | 04.07.09 | 12:27 PM ET
Well, we may have listed “Up” as a travel movie to watch for, but it seems that some people are less excited about Pixar’s latest venture.
The New York Times notes that Wall Street prophets and major toy retailers alike are predicting a poor commercial showing for the flick, which tells the story of Carl, a grouchy old man who fulfills his dream of traveling to South America—by turning his house into a flying machine.
Greek Travel Industry Says ‘Thank You for the Music’
by Eva Holland | 04.06.09 | 10:54 AM ET
Is “Mamma Mia!” helping to buffer the Greek tourism industry from a broader travel downturn? Yes, according to the Telegraph’s Charles Starmer-Smith. He writes of the Greece-set summer blockbuster: “While travel companies and airlines have reported a marked shift away from Eurozone countries in recent months due to the continued weakness of the pound against the euro, Greece has bucked the trend. Sales of easyJet flights to Athens have risen by 13 per cent since the film was released in July, and the low-cost airline has attributed the surge to the film’s rosy depiction of Greek island life.”
We gave “Mamma Mia!” the World Hum Travel Movie Club treatment back in January.