9 films to spark your wanderlust - and 3 to keep you home forever
1) Lord of the Rings (2001)
The legend told us about a powerful ring that needed to be destroyed but the movie (and its two sequels) told us about a little island nation that needed to go on our bucket lists. New Zealand, where it was filmed, unfolds so gorgeously in this epic quest of the hobbits and friends to save Middle Earth, that the trilogy effectively doubled up as a nine-hour commercial for Tourism NZ.
2) Into the Wild (2007)
Based on the true story of college graduate Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch) who walks away from a promising career to go on a great Alaskan adventure. Spoiler alert: things don’t end well for the guy, but with a 2.5-hour running time, it packs in a great deal of jaw-dropping scenery with some marvelous meditations on the wonder of wandering.
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3)The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)
Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce and Terrence Stamp put the camp into camping as drag queens who head off into the Australian Outback on a giant bus they’ve name Priscilla. Funny and moving, it’s sure to make you want to put together a disco playlist to sing along to before you head off into the Australian dust.
4) Lost in Translation (2003)
Two Americans, an ageing actor (Bill Murray) and an aimless young woman (Scarlett Johannson), bond over their inability to sleep in a Tokyo hotel. As they swig whisky at the bar in the real Park Hyatt, one of the world’s most expensive hotels, we get added intoxication from the glistening skyline through the giant windows by night and their romps through the chaotic, culture-shock of this city by day.
5) The Holiday (2006)
Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz play an English and an American respectively, who, without having ever met, swop homes for the Christmas holidays. As one explores the quiet life in a quaint English village, the other laps up the glamour in a Los Angeles mansion. It’s a sweetly sentimental romcom in which both, quite predictably, find love but we think the true romance is in the travelling itself as a way to change your life - and yourself.
6) Wild (2014)
Based on the memoir by Cheryl Strayed, it stars Reese Witherspoon as a woman who decides to work through personal crisis by tackling a three-month, 1,700kmhike on the spectacular Pacific Crest Trail, which spans over 4,000km from Mexico to Canada. While Strayed’s own epiphanies are inspirational, the landscapes she covers are sure to get you googling backpacks and the film offers some great lessons in the importance of adventure - and good shoes.
7) Sideways (2004)
Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church star as a pair of middle-aged losers who head off into the California winelands for one last hurrah before the latter’s wedding. While each one undertakes his own voyage of self-discovery, there’s so much kissing in lush vineyards and sunlight glinting off wine glasses. We dare you to watch this and not immediately start plotting your next trip into wine country. Just don’t order the merlot.
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8) Midnight in Paris (2011)
Woody Allen is excellent at putting cities centre stage - and Paris has never seemed more magical than in this story of a man who discovers he can travel through time in the City of Lights. Even if you can’t go back to the 1920s, it’s guaranteed to make you want to go to Paris NOW.
9) Joe versus the Volcano (1990)
This is an obscure pick but so worth it if you can find it. Tom Hanks plays a regular Joe with a dead-end job and a dull life. When he’s diagnosed with a terminal illness, he accepts a weird assignment to throw himself into a volcano on a Polynesian island (it’s complicated) and is suddenly hurled into packing his remaining days with discovery and adventure. It’s not so much about a destination as much as it is about getting out of your comfort zone and taking a plunge. And couldn’t we all use a little of that?
AND IF YOU WANT TO NEVER, EVER GO ANYWHERE AGAIN ...
1) 127 Hours (2010)
A solo hiker gets his arm stuck under a boulder and has to hack it off with a pen knife before he starves to death. It’s an emotional rollercoaster and a truly epic lesson in why a working cellphone is a non-negotiable.
2) Turistas (2006)
Some gorgeous Americans are having a dream holiday in Brazil but it all goes horribly wrong when they have their drinks spiked at a dance party and wake up in a creepy village where the locals want to eat their organs. Torture porn with tourists. Eek.
3) Snakes on a plane (2006)
Because economy class just doesn’t suck enough without giant reptiles trying to eat your face.
• Read Lisa Templeton's story on why Cannes, for tourists, is more than just a film festival in Sunday Times Lifestyle on Sunday May 15 on page 30.