Tag: Movies
Bird’s Nest or White Elephant?
by Julia Ross | 01.13.09 | 5:09 PM ET
Say it ain’t so. A mere five months after the Beijing Olympic Games, has the Bird’s Nest stadium become a tourist trap? With no permanent tenant signed, that’s how it’s looking. I’m a big fan of the building and would happily pay the $7 fee to walk around inside, but at the same time hope the Chinese find a dedicated revenue stream to maintain it.
For a behind-the-scenes look at how the stadium was built, check out the documentary, Bird’s Nest: Herzog and de Meuron in China. The best parts are the unintentionally hilarious culture clashes between the building’s two “make-the-trains-run-on-time” Swiss architects and their Chinese partners. You can imagine.
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Yahoo! BuzzRambo Goes To Burma: Worst Movie of 2008?
by Eva Holland | 01.12.09 | 12:19 PM ET
You remember the latest Rambo flick, right? Sylvester Stallone’s gory expose on the plight of Burma/Myanmar’s ethnic minorities? (Don’t worry, I had forgotten, too.) When it came out last year, the critics were less than wowed. Now, the movie looks to be in the running for Hollywood’s greatest indignity: a Golden Raspberry award for the worst of the worst in filmmaking.
According to a little bird at the MTV Movies blog (the list hasn’t been formally announced yet), ‘Rambo’ has landed Razzie nominations for Worst Picture; Worst Director (Sylvester Stallone); Worst Actor (Sylvester Stallone); Worst Career Achievement (Sylvester Stallone); Worst Prequel, Sequel, Remake or Rip-Off, and Worst On-Screen Couple (Sylvester Stallone and His Ego).
Hey, at least the folks in Yangon liked it.
‘Slumdog Millionaire’: Hollywood, Meet India
by Eva Holland | 01.12.09 | 10:07 AM ET
Publicity still via IGN.com I remember reading, when the Bollywoodized Jane Austen adaptation Bride and Prejudice came out a few years ago, that this would be North America’s introduction to India’s powerful film industry. The film certainly brought mega star Aishwarya Rai on to our radar, but any broader, longer-lasting crossover potential seemed to fizzle. Sure, The Darjeeling Limited gave us a taste of the country, and The Namesake touched on the experiences of the Indian diaspora, but for the most part we remained unexposed to the subcontinent’s endless cinematic possibilities.
Last night, watching “Slumdog Millionaire” sweep all four of the categories in which it had landed nominees at the Golden Globes—Best Screenplay, Best Score, Best Director and Best Drama—I wondered if that might finally change.
World Hum Travel Movie Club: ‘Mamma Mia!’
by Eva Holland, Eli Ellison | 01.09.09 | 5:18 PM ET
Here’s the set-up: Bride-to-be Sophie has three possible biological fathers, and all three have come from around the world—along with an international cast of oddball friends—to her destination wedding on a tiny Greek Island. The result? The year’s biggest travel-musical-comedy.
Since it sashayed onto the big screen this past summer, “Mamma Mia!”—the movie adaptation of the hit ABBA-themed musical—has smashed sales records and garnered some award nominations, too. World Hum Travel Movie Clubbers Eli Ellison and Eva Holland took the disc for a spin.
Welcome to Flyover America
by Sophia Dembling, Jenna Schnuer | 01.08.09 | 4:41 PM ET
Hi. We are Sophia Dembling and Jenna Schnuer. Sophia lives in Dallas, Texas (but was Manhattan born and reared), and Jenna in Queens, NY (aka “not Manhattan”), and we are both writers who are in love with America. Every diner and prairie and highway of it. The places that many people consider flyover territory—Lincoln, Nebraska; Lubbock Texas; Bayonne, New Jersey, and the like—grab hold of us. Flyover America is as much a state of mind as a place. We like to think of it as anywhere in America that isn’t Manhattan or L.A. Flyover America is packed with stories, discoveries and soul. And it’s got some great malls, too.
My Big Fat Greek Bus Tour
by Eva Holland | 01.08.09 | 1:39 PM ET
Here comes the latest Hollywood Euro-romance. Nia Vardalos, the writer/star of the surprise hit My Big Fat Greek Wedding, is returning to the big screen—and this time, instead of an awkward, unhappy Greek-American travel agent, she’s playing an awkward, unhappy Greek-American tour guide.
My Life in Ruins is set to hit theaters in early May, and stars Vardalos as Georgia, a dissatisfied tour guide who has to re-discover her mojo on the antiquities bus tour from hell. (Richard Dreyfuss co-stars as Irv, the wise and supportive tourist.) Sure, it looks to be a re-tread of the last flick—albeit with more Ugly American jokes this time around—but I’m looking forward to it nonetheless.
“My Big Fat Greek Wedding” was an unexpected bit of magic a few years back. If Vardalos can channel some of that wit, heart and self-deprecation again, she’ll already be two steps ahead of most romantic comedies.
Check out the trailer after the jump.
‘Gilligan’s Island’: Castaways Hitting the Big Screen?
by Eva Holland | 01.02.09 | 12:43 PM ET
Just when you thought there were enough travel movie remakes and adaptations in the pipeline, Hollywood has found one more old storyline to re-work.
The New York Daily News is reporting that a movie version of the desert island sitcom classic Gilligan’s Island is in the works. Michael Cera of “Juno” and “Arrested Development” fame has agreed to play the bumbling title character, and producers are reportedly chasing singer Beyonce Knowles for the role of Ginger. There’s no set start date for the project.
(Via The Remote Island)
R.I.P. 2008: From Philip Agee to Papa Wendo
by Jim Benning | 12.31.08 | 10:09 AM ET
We said goodbye to great writers, adventurers, musicians and others in 2008—all people who, as we see it, had an impact on the world of travel.
R.I.P.:
- Philip Agee, CIA agent and Cuba travel activist
- Bud Browne, surf filmmaker
- Cachao, musician
- George Carlin, comedian
- Michael Crichton, writer
- Elmer Dills, writer and critic
- Steve Fossett, adventurer
- Dave Freeman, writer
- Sir Edmund Hillary, climber and philanthropist
- Tony Hillerman, writer
- Samuel Huntington, writer and political scientist
- Miles Kington, linguist
- Don LaFontiane, voice-over artist
- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, guru
- Richard Marks, activist
- Paul Newman, actor
- Herb Peterson, inventor
- Sydney Pollack, filmmaker
- Dith Pran, photographer
- Diana Barnato Walker, aviator
- David Foster Wallace, writer
- Papa Wendo, musician
Colombia On Film (Again)
by Eva Holland | 12.29.08 | 1:17 PM ET
Sure, 2007’s Love in the Time of Cholera may never have become the big Colombian movie-tourism ticket that we were expecting (the film adaptation of the Gabriel Garcia Marquez classic tanked, critically and at the box office), but Cartagena—the city where “Cholera” was set—isn’t done yet.
There’s a new Cartagena-set movie in the works (called, appropriately enough, Cartagena) that will star Clive Owen as “an undercover agent at the center of the world’s cocaine trade,” as Get The Big Picture blogger Colin Boyd puts it.
Nine Travel Movies to Watch For in 2009
by Eva Holland | 12.26.08 | 12:41 PM ET
If there’s one December fixture that I enjoy almost as much as the ubiquitous “Best of the Past Year” list, it’s the “Trends to Watch Next Year” list. What’s new and hot? What’s old but hot again? And what never goes out of style? (Trends to Watch lists, that’s what.)
So, with that in mind, here are nine travel-esque movies hitting theaters in 2009.
The Descent 2: Looks like one of our favorite travel horror movies has spawned a sequel. In the second round, the lone survivor of a caving trip gone horrifically wrong heads back below the surface—local sheriff in tow—to confirm the fate of her companions. Predictably, things don’t quite go as planned.
Point Break: Indo: Twenty years later, there’s a new band of surfing bandits on the loose—this time in Bali—and a new surfing cop on their trail, too. The producers are being coy about possible cameos from Patrick Swayze or Keanu Reeves, but hey, Swayze turned up in a Dirty Dancing re-hashing a few years back, so why not Point Break, too?
What We Loved This Week: Christmas in Germany, ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and More
by World Hum | 12.19.08 | 4:33 PM ET
Photo by Terry Ward Bollywood Comes to Miami
by Eva Holland | 12.19.08 | 11:44 AM ET
Well here’s a new twist on an old theme. Instead of a Hollywood movie exposing American travelers to new and exotic locations (say, New Zealand, Colombia, or… Wyoming), it looks like Bollywood is set to launch some of its legions of fans towards a domestic tourism hotspot: Miami. The newest Indian blockbuster, Dostana, was shot entirely in South Florida, and the Greater Miami tourism bureau is calling it “one big postcard” for the city.
The movie follows the story of two men who pretend to be a gay couple so they can move in with their landlady’s (predictably stunning) niece. Singing, dancing, juicy beach shots, and plenty of intense gazes ensue. (And yes, we’ve got video after the jump.)
Movie Tourism: ‘An Obsessively Ridiculous, Embarrassing, Empty, and Needy Exercise’?
by Eva Holland | 12.17.08 | 3:52 PM ET
I’ve been thinking lately about the motivations behind movie tourism—not the “Wow, New Zealand sure looked beautiful in that elf movie” variety, but the literal, “X was filmed here” brand of movie-related travel. What is it that prompts people to run up the steps, Rocky-style, in Philadelphia, or to slide into a booth at New York’s Katz’s Deli and gigglingly declare, “I’ll have what she’s having”?
The Golden Globes: Is it the Year of the Funny Travel Movie?
by Eva Holland | 12.16.08 | 1:24 PM ET
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has released the list of nominees for the upcoming Golden Globe Awards—and to my very pleased surprise, a few travel movies have made the cut.
Scroll right past all those dramas: the action is in the “Best Motion Picture—Musical or Comedy” category, where In Bruges, Mamma Mia and Vicky Cristina Barcelona have all gotten the nod. “In Bruges” also landed a pair of acting nominations for Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, and Meryl Streep took her umpteenth nomination for “Mamma Mia,” while Javier Bardem, Rebecca Hall and Penelope Cruz represented “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” in three of the four acting categories.
So what does all this mean? Is it the year of the travel movie?
The Critics: ‘Australia’
by Eva Holland | 12.02.08 | 5:15 PM ET
Well, “Australia” may yet be the next big travel movie, but the cross-country-cattle-drive/war/romance epic certainly isn’t the next big hit with the critics.
Rental Car Comedy: 10 Memorable Movie Scenes
by Michael Yessis | 11.25.08 | 11:47 AM ET
USA Today’s Barbara De Lollis runs down the list, which is topped, of course, with Steve Martin’s pre-Thanksgiving tirade in “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.” World Hum movie clubber Eli Ellison Eva Holland called it a hissy fit for the history books.
‘Australia’: The Next Big Travel Movie?
by Eva Holland | 11.19.08 | 10:49 AM ET
I caught the trailer for Baz Luhrman’s upcoming, travel-flavored epic in theaters this weekend, and it looks set to follow the likes of Into the Wild and Lord of the Rings as the next big-screen tourist-bait. (It also looks suspiciously like an Australian remake of Out of Africa, but that’s beside the point.)
‘The Shawshank Re-Redemption’: Travel Movie Sequels That Could Have Been
by Eva Holland | 11.18.08 | 1:42 PM ET
The National Post’s Chris Knight has some fun pondering what most movie sequels would look like if they were required to pick up precisely where the previous flick left off, as the latest James Bond does. Among the more appealing travel-themed sequels he envisions? “The Shawshank Re-redemption, featuring the wacky hijinks of Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins as escaped convicts on the lam in Mexico.”
Of course, the rule would create some stinkers, too: “If Indiana Jones IV followed right after the end of The Last Crusade, it would consist of little more than everyone riding out of the desert and going back to work.”
L.A. Times on ‘Stranded’: ‘An Exceptional Film’
by Jim Benning | 11.07.08 | 10:57 AM ET
Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan doesn’t write many rave reviews, so his high praise today for the documentary about the 1972 plane crash in the Andes—the crash that famously led to cannibalism and was depicted in the Ethan Hawke movie “Alive”—is enough to motivate me to see it. As we noted recently, other critics have enjoyed the film, too.
Jack Black to Star in Movie Adaptation of ‘Gulliver’s Travels’
by Michael Yessis | 11.07.08 | 9:58 AM ET
Variety describes the updated tale: “Story centers on Lemuel Gulliver, a free-spirited travel writer who, on an assignment to the Bermuda Triangle, suddenly finds himself a giant among men.” With Black in the title role and a screenplay co-written by the director of “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” this will be a lot funnier than the Ted Danson version.