It probably wouldn't be a stretch to say that most of the Tufts campus has been kept sane this semester since sometime around the second day of classes by the thought of spring break. Especially during the long hours doing work (or thinking about how you should be doing work, but aren't) in the library for the past week, the image of sitting on a beach somewhere can keep you from dropping out. But as Chevy Chase has documented countless times in "National Lampoon" movies, vacations almost never go as planned - whether it's because of sunburns, lost luggage or a busted car on a road trip, something in the universe will stop you from having a trouble-free week. Then again, maybe we're just saying that because we're staying around campus and are just jealous of all the people going somewhere tropical. (At least it's been warm in Medford lately - right?)
10) "Cast Away" (2000) - More than anything, this movie is a strong counterargument to the widely popular system of forced vacations. It also served to debunk our fantasies about vacationing in a tropical paradise. Once people got scared and stopped vacationing so often, it also revived a little of that Puritan work ethic that has made this country what it is today. We may be stressed out, but we've got cash, and loads of it.
9) "Girls Gone Wild: College Spring Break" (1999) - A commercial for the second ever "Girls Gone Wild" once said it was the wildest such video ever made. After countless sequels (including seven that were also spring-break-themed), which all claim to be the wildest, this one is likely the second-least wild "Girls Gone Wild," but it remains a classic. We're all nostalgic for the time when they only made one or two a year. Remember, you would be watching TV with your parents, and a commercial for it would come on, and it was just awkward, and it didn't at all remind you of that secret collection your parents keep for special occasions.
8) "Hostel" (2005) - Most vacations don't end in dismemberment, torture or brutal execution at the hands of psychopathic wannabe killers unless you're traveling to North Korea. In "Hostel," three backpackers rush to Slovakia when they hear about the hordes of hot babes that are just waiting to fulfill their sexual needs. Unfortunately, they discover they have been sold off to a sadistic secret society that takes pleasure in offing tourists in some pretty gruesome ways.
7) "Titanic" (1997) - When Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) won his ticket on the "R.M.S. Titanic" in a lucky poker game, he probably didn't expect that he would save a girl from suicide, fall in love with her and ultimately die by her side in the middle of the freezing Atlantic Ocean. What's a vacation without some elements of surprise?
6) "Lost in Translation" (2003) - Though an aging movie star (Bill Murray) and a lonely newlywed (Scarlett Johansson) aren't technically on vacation, their respective trips to Japan turn into something comparable. As they hit karaoke bars, get sushi and even visit the hospital, everyday life in a foreign country becomes an adventure. And at least we don't have to watch Bill Murray have sex.
5) "EuroTrip" (2004) - Nothing represents a perfect vacation more than "EuroTrip." What could be better than a bunch of kids (and a set of twins for that matter) prancing around Europe hitting up nude beaches and chasing after the green fairy? For all of you lucky folks staying here in Beantown, we at the Daily advise you to watch the film and try to recreate some of the fun here on Walnut Hill - just make sure to avoid frostbite and/or unexpected arrest.
4) "Roman Holiday" (1953) - Let's take a vacation from reality and picture a world where all Tufts ladies are princesses of England and all Tufts guys look like Gregory Peck. Sounds better than a drunken week in the Bahamas, no? In this 1953 classic, Peck and Audrey Hepburn do things the classy way, riding around Rome on a moped and engaging in ever-so-scandalous activities. (You might see an ankle or two!)
3) "Wet Hot American Summer" (2001) - Sleep away camp is one of the most memorable vacations a kid can take, and we get to relive it over and over again through this movie. With the same sexually perverse cook, awkward astrophysics professor, and impending doom (as a piece of the NASA Skylab hurtles towards Earth) that leaves us all feeling nostalgic for those simpler times.
2) "Little Miss Sunshine" (2006) - A cross-country trip without a dysfunctional family and an even more dysfunctional car horn doesn't really seem worth it, so instead of planning a trip with friends, you might as well travel with this suicidal Proust scholar and drug-overdosing grandfather to one of the most disturbing beauty pageants most of us will ever see. Just make sure not to forget Olive on the way.
1) "Saving Private Ryan" (1998) - A group of guys running wild through Europe causing mayhem at every turn and ultimately returning home with a stronger bond of brotherhood - actually "Ryan" is essentially the same story as "Eurotrip," but in the 1940s ... and with more death.
- compiled by Daily Arts Staff
