It's that time of the year again, the time when the year just plain ends. Alas, we can't just let 2010 go that easily, especially since travelers spent it both up in the air and up in arms over a crazy range of topics, encompassing everything from nudie scans to tarmac delays. Needless to say, we're ready for 2011, but first we're taking a brief look back at the best of 2010 with the Jaunted Travel Awards,—or as we fondly refer to them—The Jauntys.

This was the year of the romantic comedy travel flick. There were a bunch of cheesy girly films shot in gorgeous lust-worthy locations. Most probably hail Eat Pray Love as 2010's top choice. But like the book, the movie is way overhyped. Sex and the City 2 was tripe, despite its Abu Dhabi location and couture fashions. Although its cockamamie rom-com story was beyond lame, Leap Year's bucolic Ireland setting had us craving a trip to the Emerald Isle.

Find out our pick for the best travel movie of 2010 after the jump.]]> Jaunted10 2010-12-30T13:07:33-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/12/30/10737/759

You may remember us saying that 2008 was a "marquee year for travel movies." Thanks to George Clooney, an animated curmudgeon, and Mike Tyson, 2009 easily tops it. Many of the films released over the past 12 months didn't just allude to travel or leave us dreaming about about far away lands—their plots centered around hopping a plane, train, or automobile and seeing the world.

Up in the Air, with its critical accolades and dashing lead, would be the obvious choice for Best of the Year, but it didn't feature as much awe-inspiring scenery as it did shots of airport terminals, when we were lucky. If anything, it kind of discouraged people from travel and was generally pretty depressing. The most scenic shots happened during the opening credits, so it gets shoved aside. Julie & Julia was also a top contender, balancing scenes of unglamorous cohabitation in New York with Paris' romantic landscape, not to mention shots of rich French dishes like sole meuniere. Then there was The Hangover, which our sister site VegasChatter comprehensively covered, and also because it was downright hilarious, taking the oft-repeated saying, "What happens in Vegas..." to ridiculous new heights. You thought that your all-night party session on the Strip was epic? Try stealing Mike Tyson's tiger and get back to us.

Find out which film takes home our top prize after the jump. ]]> Jaunted09 2009-12-30T13:44:52-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/4/20/72130/3810

On your next trip, get a little more adventurous with your rental car choice, and we’re not talking about getting a Prius or a Smartcar. Go with something that will leave a lasting impression on everyone you drive past—something like the DeLorean Time Machine from the Back to the Future series. ]]> kjb 2009-04-20T09:41:41-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/4/7/201832/6760

One of the obvious perks of visiting Los Angeles, aside from breathing the same smoggy air as your fave celebrities, is taking advantage of Hollywood industry events like sneak previews of films. We're not talking red carpet movie premieres. We're talking about movie screenings for real movie buffs, not reporters from Us Weekly.

The Aero Theater on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica is a small, one-screen theater that's a far cry from the glitzy, high-tech ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood but yet every week you will find big name directors and actors attending screenings of both new and old movies.

Best of all, these events are usually so low-pro that you can almost always score tickets. Unless someone like Seth Rogen is involved. We bought our tickets nearly two weeks ago to this special Q and A session with the funnyman, as well as Anna Faris and writer/director Jody Hill about their upcoming movie, Observe and Report. (It opens Friday.) But soon after that, the show was sold-out.]]> juliana 2009-04-08T09:31:36-05:00 34.0319554 -118.49544 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/10/11/103533/46

Emirates, the Dubai-based luxury airline with onboard shower spas and private first-class suites that are bigger than our apartment, has rolled out an ambitious interactive marketing campaign to promote the launch of its new Dubai-to-Los Angeles service. In honor of the Middle East's newest bridge to Tinseltown, the airline is making a short film, and it wants you to star in it. Entitled The Exposure of Tom King, it's a comedic thriller that - surprise surprise - plays on the theme of celebrity, with appearances by an actor consumed with vanity, a shameless paparazzo, a conniving blackmailer, and her bumbling boyfriend. The twist here is that the film has already been shot, only without actors. ]]> Victor Ozols 2008-10-11T10:35:33-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/9/15/91414/9724

Every teenager from Kansas to Kilimanjaro has probably decorated their bedroom walls with movie posters at some point, but there comes a time when that tattered "Pulp Fiction" fold-out just isn't quite classy enough.

For anyone looking to upgrade their collection a good few levels--and with a few hundred pounds to spare--Christie's in London is holding an auction of rare vintage film posters this week.

You can also place bids online for posters from Hitchcock, Bond and other classics, and the live auction takes place on Wednesday. Even if you don't have the cash, it should be worth turning out just to see exactly what kind of a person drops £2,000 ($3,600) on a "Superman and the Mole Men" print.

Related Stories:
· Vintage Film Poster Auction [Christie's]
· Movie Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· UK Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Christie's]]]> BS 2008-09-15T10:30:28-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/6/10/233919/008

This is turning out to be a scary year to hang around movie sets: After accidents on the sets of "Quantum of Solace" and the "Hannah Montana" movie, a stunt man was killed today in a planned fire on a boat on the set of the John Woo movie "Red Cliff."

The special-effects staging had a smaller boat, ablaze, crashing into a larger boat when things turned tragic for a 23-year-old working on the historical epic, Woo's first movie in Chinese in 15 years.

Not apparently injured in the fire was the film's star Tony Leung ("Lust, Caution" and "The Departed" inspiration "Infernal Affairs"). In fact, in none of the above cases was the movie's star injured--or even on the set at the time of the incident.

Related Stories:
· Bond 22 Filming Wastes Perfectly Good Car [Jaunted]
· A Stuntman Dies Making Woo Film [NYT]
· Celeb Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Slice of Scifi] ]]> egw 2008-06-11T10:15:01-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/