Last year I flew to LA and rented a car for a road trip back to Portland. Quite the adventure in that little tin box on the back roads from Palm Springs to Joshua Tree National Park to Death Valley and eventually the Steen Mountains. Made a note to be less cheap next time and get something that has reliable air conditioning and fewer intermittently lit, indecipherable warning signals on the dashboard. Great trip, though.

It will come as no surprise that I am a fan of road movies, old and modern ones, so I will list a few of my favorites.

The only actual video, though, will be at the bottom, showing how roads are (re)made – do yourself a favor and watch it – it’s short and really fun and gets you vicariously to Moscow.

In no particular order: Ida Lupino’s The Hitchhiker (1953)

Riley Scott’s  Thelma & Louise (1991)

Five Easy Pieces by Rafelson (1970) with a young Jack Nicholson….

My Own Private Idaho by Gus van Sant (1991)

Scarecrow (1971) with Al Pacino and Gene Hackman

 

and finally Y tu mama tambien (2001)

And here is what allows them all to roll smoothly…..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIJQYDvQZEw   Roadwork in Russia.