The 10 top movies for cultural travelers

The sad passing of Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Roger Ebert has reminded us why we love movies. For his mix of humility and intelligence was the perfect counter to Gene Siskel's more brash style. Together they were pure magic. And we viewers of "At the Movies" were the richer for it.

In that spirit, Ebert would approve of this examination of some of the most culturally evocative and transportive films of all time. Here is a short list:

1. Lost in Translation, the 2003 masterpiece by Francis Ford's daughter Sofia Copolla brought viewers to Tokyo in a way even Akira Kurosawa never did. Copolla won a Best Screenplay Academy Award for her deft touch and Scarlett Johansson won a BAFTA (British Academy Film and Television Award) for Best Actress. Cinematography and soundtrack perfectly punctate the film's dark yet comical take on the ennui faced by the middle-aged, the married and the young, lost souls with whom they connect.
2. Manhattan, by Woody Allen, brought the moviegoer into late 70s New York in style with its "Rhapsody in Blue" opening. For anyone who's never been to the Big Apple, you'll immediately hop online and buy your one-way ticket to the Upper East Side. Allen got the details right, of course, because this is his hometown - from the Coney Island of his childhood to the dinosaur silhouettes at the Natural History Museum .
3. Blue Hawaii may seem like a silly choice, but hey, it's spring. In this tropical classic from 1961, Angela Lansbury also stars as the mother of Chad, Elvis's character. Young ladies vie for the King's attention as he croons and sways and bats those long dark lashes. "Can't help falling in love with you" is a highlight of the film, but so are the sweeping views of Waikiki Beach and Hanauma Bay on O'ahu.
4. Out of Africa showcases the majestic wildlife and countryside of its setting as much as stars Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. In this 1985 adaptation of Isak Dinesen's 1937 novel, the actors evoke emotions as simply as most of us blink. It's both a stirring romance and historical snapshot of colonial Kenya in the twilight of British rule.
5. Alfie, the Michael Caine original, is a British love letter to all cads and the women who love them. Watch it for the Burt Bacharach-Hal David theme song of the same name, or as a primer on how not to spend your single days. Nominated for several Academy Awards, it has held up to modern times, too. In 2004, the year the remake embarrassed Jude Law, it was recognized by the UK magazine Total Film as the 48th best movie of all time.
6. Before Sunset is the kind of film one sees and then runs off to Paris looking to find their first love at a used book store. Like its predecessor, Before Sunrise (which inspired "two thumbs up" from Siskel and Ebert in 1995), it stars the darling Ethan Hawke and French actress Julie Delpy. Reconnecting with a love they met over a decade earlier on a train through Europe, the pair's spark is instantaneous. Viewers are treated to glorious shots of the City of Lights including the Seine, Notre Dame and the legendary Shakespeare & Co. bookstore.
7. Love is a Many Splendored Thing was shot on location in Hong Kong, decades before it exploded with skyscrapers. This absorbing film offers charming views of the Foreign Correspondents Club (portrayed as a hospital), rickshaws, tea houses, sea and mountains. Fall in love with William Holden (Stephanie Powers' former flame), ladies, whose character knows how to romance properly. This was one of the first movies ever shot in Asia, attracting wide attention when it debuted in 1955. It won Best Song as well as multiple other Oscars including Best Color Cinematography and Best Actress for Jennifer Jones.
8. Eat, Pray Love, based on the ubiquitously popular novel, stars Julia Roberts as the confused but evolving journalist-cum-author Elizabeth Gilbert who finds herself lapping up men and cappucino in exotic locations. The film spoils us cinematically, sucking us into her evolution from New York to Italy to India to Bali and of course, the arms of well, you'll have to see it. Some may call this Movie Light, but it's a classy guilty pleasure.
9. Fanny and Alexander may not be Bergman's best, but it was the Swedish director's last and for that reason as well as its multiple Academy Awards, it's clearly worth watching. Plus, you'll enjoy a cultural trip to the filmmaker's native Sweden as this family tale told through the voice of a 10-year-old boy comes to life, lyrically and magically. For more of Bergman, please check out his other films too, such as Cries and Whispers, Persona and The Seventh Seal. For a gripping read, flip through the short story The Touch, which was also cinematized.
10. The Sound of Music will inspire every fräulein to book a flight to Austria before she can sing "the hills are alive". This gem starring Julie Andrews in one of her two career-defining roles -- the other being Mary Poppins -- and exudes the kind of joy we find only rarely in life. At the same time, it's historically chilling as the family, based on the real-life Von Trapp Family Singers, scrambles to avoid capture and certain death from the Nazis.