Oscars: Red carpet recap

By Kate Appleton
October 3, 2012
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Fox Searchlight Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection, illustration by Mark Zingarelli

Many of our favorite travel-inspiring films of 2007 were also winners at last night's 80th Annual Academy Awards: Once (original song), Ratatouille (animated feature), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (costume design), Atonement (score), and The Bourne Ultimatum (sound mixing and editing, film editing). The Coen brothers' blood-soaked thriller No Country for Old Men, shot primarily in western Texas, snagged four awards, but there aren't many scenes we'd suggest recreating…

Want to know which opulent Left Bank restaurant was the model for Gusteau's in Ratatouille? The Dublin street where a young Czech pianist approaches an Irish musician in the sweet love story Once? Or the park that Sir Walter (Clive Owen) and Queen Elizabeth (Cate Blanchett) race through on horseback?

Get the scoop on these locations and others where the award-winning films were shot (not necessarily where the stories are set!) by reading our latest Movie Quest installment.

And check out the slide show starring our globetrotter, Bud Travel.

RELATED Star Maps: Where Celebs Hang Out in L.A. and N.Y.C.

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Inspiration

Best sunset ever—but no camera?

Photographer Adam Fernandez recently shared his tips on how to take better sunset photos, along with some of his own images that illustrate step by step how the tips work. Budget Travel staffers revealed their prettiest sunsets in response to February's masthead question, and then we put the question to our readers. We were wowed by the outpouring of readers' sunset photos and stories and created a slide show of some of the best. If you didn't have a camera handy to capture that perfect sunset, share your memories below. What was your best sunset ever? Image: Burnt Store Marina in southwest Florida (submitted by Budget Travel reader Shan Meils)

Inspiration

An explosive Chinese artist comes to New York

A headline-grabbing exhibition of 80 works by Cai Guo-Qiang, known for his pyrotechnic displays and gunpowder drawings, opens today at New York's Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. It's the first time the Guggenheim has devoted a retrospective to a Chinese-born artist. On view through May 28, Cai Guo-Qiang: I Want To Believe spans two decades and features eight major installations, including Inopportune: Stage One (2004). First created as a horizontal display at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, the nine cars have been reconfigured to hang from the ceiling of the museum's Frank Lloyd Wright-designed rotunda. The result is both stunning and unnerving. Suspended by cables, seven white Chevrolet Metro sedans are pierced with tubes of blinking yellow, red, green and blue lights to simulate the stages of a bomb explosion. They appear to be floating in mid-air as the cables aren't very visible. An eighth car is parked in the lobby; the ninth car occupies the sixth floor. As you walk up the ramps in the museum's rotunda, you'll pass other installations that include nine life-size tigers, 99 life-size wolves, and 75 clay sculptures. The top three levels showcase canvases streaked with gunpowder and ink. Cai is putting his talents to work as director of visual and special effects for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. If his past work is any indication, the ceremonies are going to blow us away. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Ave. at E. 89th St., 212/423-3500, $18 adults, $15 for students and seniors (65+), free for children under 12. Closed Thursdays; Pay What You Wish on Fridays starting at 5:45 p.m. RELATED An Insider's Guide to the Beijing 2008 Olympics Image: Cai Guo-Qiang's Inopportune: Stage One, 2004 (David Heald/Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation New York)

Inspiration

A farewell tour for Ladysmith Black Mambazo's founder?

The South African vocalists have earned a global following—and racked up Grammy awards—since Joseph Shabalala had a dream (literally) about starting a group back in the 1960s. Highlights along the way have included collaborating on Paul Simon's Graceland and accompanying Nelson Mandela when he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway. Ladysmith Black Mambazo released its latest album, Ilembe: Honoring Shaka Zulu, in January and has taken its crowd-pleasing blend of Christian gospel and Zulu isicathamiya harmonies on the road. The group sings tonight in Baton Rouge, La., and continues west with stops in more than 20 cities between now and mid-March. An additional concert is slated for the Kennedy Center in D.C. on June 1. Check tour dates and preview songs by visiting rockpaperscissors.biz. While Shabalala, 65, has yet to announce an official retirement date, this tour will be one of his last—he's passing the torch to his son Thamsanqa. MORE MUSIC COVERAGE -Eating on Tour With Franz Ferdinand: An Excerpt from Sound Bites -Andy Palacio: At the Crossroads of Africa and Central America -Musicians Without Borders: Balkan Beat Box -Audio Slide Show: On the Road With Gerry Beckley of America

Inspiration

Philly: Frida Kahlo extravaganza

Frida fans, take note: the largest U.S. show of the painter's work in 15 years opens at the Philadelphia Museum of Art on February 20. Philly is the only East Coast city to host the retrospective, which commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Mexican artist's birth. On view are over 40 of Frida Kahlo's famed self-portraits, spanning her life's work. The show, entitled Frida Kahlo, also features some 100 photographs of Kahlo and her husband, the muralist Diego Rivera, and their family and friends, including André Breton and Leon Trotsky. The exhibition runs through May 18. To score VIP (untimed) tickets, check out the special hotel/ticket packages offered on the museum's website, philamuseum.org. Once you've had your art fix, there are plenty of great local restaurants to keep the flavor of México going. In honor of the show, the chef at Xochitl has created a four-course, $35 menu based on Kahlo's favorite foods, including stuffed poblano peppers and shrimp, cactus, and potatoes in guajillo sauce. Wash it down with a Corazon de Kahlo (Frida's Heart), a specialty cocktail made with pineapple, cilantro, and tequila (408 S. 2nd St., 215/238-7280, Xochitlphilly.com). For a quick snack, grab a taco at one of the city's tasty taquerias. Some good bets are La Lupe, in the Italian Market (1201 S. 9th St, 215/551-9920); Taqueria La Veracruzana in South Philly (908 Washington Ave., 215/465-1440); the Northern Liberties takeaway spot, Taco Riendo (1301 N. 5th St., 215/235-2294), and the Loft District's Jose's (469 N. 10th St., 215/765-2369). For more Philly travel ideas, visit Uwishunu.com, the city's tourism blog. *CORRECTION (2/14): When this item was first posted, it mistakenly said that Philadelphia was the only American city to host the exhibit. But the exhibit was already in Minneapolis, and it heads to San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art June 16–September 28, 2008. We regret the error.