Travel for Fun

Movie: Serendipity

Location: California to New York

                New York to California

 

Jonathan Trager (John Cusack) is getting married in New York City, however, he can't stop thinking about Sara Thomas (Kate Beckinsale), a girl he met in Macy's a few years earlier.  They experienced a wonderful evening together and decided to tempt fate.  They didn't exchange last names and decided to see if destiny would bring them back together.  If it was meant to be they would find each other again.  Sara wrote her number in a used book and Jonathan wrote his on a five dollar bill.  Now that Jonathan is about to tie the knot, he can't decide if he's making a mistake.  He keeps his search going to find Sara.

Sara is living in California and dating a wonderful musician named Lars.  She too can't stop thinking about finding Jonathan.  She decided to travel to New York City with her friend Eve (Molly Shannon) for vacation, but she really had every intention to find Jonathan.  They visit Central Park, the ice skating rink, Serendipity's, Macy's, the Waldorf Astoria, a golf range, the Empire State Building, and other general tourist spots.  Jonathan and Sara just keep missing each other by a few seconds.

Jonathan finds the book with Sara's number on it and locates her home in California.  He quickly jumps on a plane to see her while she's right there in New York City.

Now I don't want to give away the entire movie, though you can already tell it's predictable.  The movie is fun, fast paced, and most of all very romantic.

Movie: My Best Friend's Wedding

Location: New York City to Chicago, Illinois

Julianne Potter (Julia Roberts) is traveling to from New York City to Chicago for her best friend Michael's (Dermot Mulroney) wedding.  Still secretly in love with Michael, Julianne is pretty jittery about being in his wedding party and extremely jealous of the bride, Kimmy (Cameron Diaz).  Julianne tries her hardest to break up the wedding by spreading lies and twisting the truth, but Michael isn't noticing Julianne because he only has eyes for Kimmy, the love of his life.

Because Kimmy's father fictitiously owns the Chicago Cubs, the viewers get to see a lot of the stadium, including the Cubs' dressing room, press rooms, and VIP viewing booths.  The shots of the stadium are gorgeous and you almost feel like you are in Chicago.

In one of Julianne's attempts to sabotage Kimmy, she brings her and Michael to a cute bar which happens to have karaoke.  Kimmy wins the entire crowd over while Julianne's plans are ruined.

Michael and Kimmy's wedding is held in Kimmy's family's mansion estate just outside the urban city streets of Chicago.  The gardens are full of blooming gardenias and roses while there is an ornate gazebo right in the middle of the five acre backyard.

Not only does this movie portray glorious shots of Chicago, is it a movie where you can both laugh and cry.  Julia Roberts is in a perfect role for her and a memorable scene will have the song "Wishing and Hoping" in your head for the rest of the week.

Movie: Groundhog Day

Location: New York City to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania

 

Phil Conners (Bill Murray) is having the worst day of his life and he keeps experiencing it over and over again.  Phil is a weather news forecaster who's on assignment to see if Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog, is seeing his shadow on February 2^nd.  Being a classic city guy, Phil is not fond of the suburban town.  After his assignment, Phil finds himself waking up the next morning and its February 2^nd again.  Thinking he's in his worst nightmare, Phil starts playing the scene to his own advantage which includes courting his news producer Rita (Andie MacDowell).

Phil is not used to the homey town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.  The people are friendly and they know all of your business.  The coffee shop is quaint and the waitress can already anticipate the orders of her customers.  Phil also experiences things he never dreamed of doing , childish things like having a snowball fight, ice skating, and making snow angels in the local park.  Punxsutawney also has small town activities like square dancing.  Phil danced and drank with the locals as he tries to woo Rita with his charm and wit.  Knowing what is coming next in his day is a definite benefit for Phil.

If you're in the mood for a little romance, a little drama, and a lot of comedy definitely pick up Groundhog Day for your next movie night.  It may just make you want to go see the groundhog on February 2^nd.

Movie: Cocktail

Location: New York to Jamaica

 

Cocktail, starring Tom Cruise as Brian Flanagan and Elisabeth Shue as Jordan Mooney from 1988 is one of my favorite romantic movies.  What's not to like? An incredibly cute, smooth talking bartender pursues and dates a girl he meets on the island of Jamaica.  Jordan is there on holiday with her girlfriends.  Brian is working his time as a bartender on the sunny isle.  Like most Americans, Brian is looking for the ultimate get rich quick scheme and while he's waiting for that to happen, he rakes in the money with a dream job (gets all the girls) and a dream location (Caribbean island) while saving money to start his own business.

As Brian courts Jordan, the viewers get to see the gorgeous shots and views of Jamaica.  The scenes are always on a jovial people-full beach where men and women are partying and having the time of their lives.  And why not?  "It's Jamaica mon." Brian and Jordan go horse back riding on the beach in the surf, frolic in waterfalls and oceans, and dine in quaint island restaurants.  The movie setting shifts to New York, when the characters return back to reality.  Just like Jamaica is portrayed in its glorious nature, major New York attractions are shown like famous delis and bustling city streets.

So if you're in the mood for a little romance, this movie definitely makes one want to escape their normal humdrum life to take a trip to Jamaica - to paradise.

Movie: Sweet Home Alabama

Location: New York to Alabama

Melanie Carmichael (Reese Witherspoon) has her dream job as a top fashion designer who just debuted her collection at fashion week in Bryant Park, NYC.  To make matters even better, her gorgeous boyfriend, Andrew (Patrick Dempsey), just proposed marriage.  Now all Melanie has to do is officially divorce her husband Jake (Josh Lucas) who she hasn't seen in seven years.  So Melanie flies down from New York to Alabama to force Jake to give her the divorce she's been asking for. 

We first see Mel driving her fancy car down the provincial town roads in Alabama.  The houses/plantations are magnificently shown and those who don't live the grand life are shown in their trailer homes.  The foliage is gorgeous as the weather turns and small lakes and bodies of water may just be in your backyard.  Alabama is portrayed as full of nature and having very small townships.  The people who grow up there rarely move out but take on regular jobs.  The people are friendly; the bank teller knows your business and the security guard knows your past.  Its even shows as not wanting to become technologically savvy by refusing to add ATMS because it would take away the banks personal contact with the customers.  The thing that really highlights the small town feel is the fun carnival/square dance in the middle of the town.  Everyone's invited for dance, grub, and good times.  In addition, the South likes to have war reenactments. Though this movie is a great romantic, chick flick love story - viewers can learn about Southern small towns too.