From Dunkirk to Darkest Hour, nine holidays inspired by the year's best films
It's that time of year again - the red-carpet carnival which sees the film industry gather in Los Angeles for a night of iconic statuettes, applause, back-slapping and fake grinning when a hated rival wins.
Yes, the 90th Academy Awards takes centre-stage on Sunday (March 4), with its star-spangled salute to the best movies released in the last 12 months.
Of course, great cinematic endeavours can often be a spark for journeys in the real world - hopefully to places far more exotic than your local popcorn-and-hot-dogs multiplex. And if this year's Oscars nominations list has left you wondering about the where and the whether-you-can-go-there-too - as well as the plotlines and cast line-up of the likes of Call Me By Your Name and Lady Bird - then allow us to help...
1. Call Me By Your Name
In a nutshell: A coming-of-age drama which revolves around the romantic relationship between a 17-year-old boy and an older man - against a northern Italian backdrop.
Nominations: Four, including Best Picture and Best Actor.
Key location: The film makes specific use of the small Lombardy city of Crema, which sits, in picturesque fashion, some 30 miles to the south-east of Milan.
Specific site: The Grottoes of Catullus, a first century Roman villa on the edge of Lake Garda, to which the two lead characters take a trip as their connection starts to simmer.
How to do it: A three-night break at the four-star Hotel Ponte di Rialto in Crema, flying to Milan Malpensa from Stansted (with Ryanair; ryanair.com) on May 24, currently costs from £170 per person (two sharing) through Expedia (020 3564 0868; expedia.co.uk).
Further information:in-lombardia.com; italia.it/en
2. Lady Bird
In a nutshell: Another coming-of-age drama, this time pinned to the dysfunctional relationship between a teenage girl in California who aspires to an Ivy League university education - and her mother, who tells her her dreams are unaffordable.
Nominations: Five, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress.
Key location: The film shines a rare spotlight onto Sacramento, the city which, despite being only the sixth biggest in California, has been the state capital since 1854.
Specific site: Thrift Town (thrifttown.com), the second-hand store where Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson and her mum go shopping, is at 410 El Camino Avenue.
How to do it: America As You Like It (020 8742 8299; americaasyoulikeit.com) sells a 14-night "Northern California Highlights" road trip which spends two days in Sacramento - from £1,466 per person, including flights, car hire and accomodation.
Further information:visitsacramento.com; visitcalifornia.co.uk
3. Darkest Hour
In a nutshell: The pivotal days of May 1940, with war stretching its shadow across continental Europe, and Winston Churchill - portrayed in a widely-acclaimed turn by Gary Oldman - preparing to step into the breach as Britain's new Prime Minister.
Nominations: Six, including Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Costume Design.
Key location: The real-life Houses of Parliament and Ministry of Defence, as well as 10 Downing Street, all played themselves on screen - at least in terms of footage of their exteriors. Further travel-friendly locations from Churchill's life are detailed here.
Specific site: Brodsworth Hall, a Victorian country house (constructed between 1861 and 1863) near Doncaster, was used for interior scenes "inside" 10 Downing Street (english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/brodsworth-hall-and-gardens).
How to do it: St James's Court (taj.tajhotels.com), a five-star hotel a short walk from the Churchill War Rooms (iwm.org.uk/visits/churchill-war-rooms) in Westminster, offers double rooms from £155 a night (accomodation only; from £195 with breakfast).
Further information:visitlondon.com; visitengland.com; visitbritain.com
4. Dunkirk
In a nutshell: Britain's most famous retreat - the evacuation of the French port in the May and June of 1940, as the early battle against Germany came up against a wall of power. Christopher Nolan directed this epic flight from the fight with little dialogue, but with a keen eye, shooting it from three different perspectives - land, air and sea.
Nominations: Eight, including Best Picture and Best Director.
Key location: The beach scenes were shot on the very stretches of coastline where the drama unfurled 78 years ago. Read a full Telegraph Travel article on the key sites here.
Specific site: Although present-day Dunkirk is quite modern - most of it was destroyed in the bombardment - Rue des Fusillés and Rue Belle Rade both appear on camera.
How to do it: You can travel to Dunkirk with DFDS Seaways (the sole ferry operator to sail to the port from the UK) from Dover - from £70 return with car (dfdsseaways.co.uk). The seafront Hotel Eole (hoteleole.fr) has double rooms for €50.
Further information:dunkirk-tourism.com; uk.france.fr
5. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
In a nutshell: A dark spiral of events after a Midwest mother rents a trio of advertising boards to ask a pertinent question as to why her daughter's murder has gone unsolved.
Nominations: Seven, including Best Picture; Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor.
Key location: The town of Ebbing is entirely fictional - and the movie did not shoot in Missouri. Much of it was filmed in and around the town of Sylva in North Carolina.
Specific site: The billboards were set up on North Fork Left Road - just outside the town of Black Mountain, also in North Carolina (some 60 miles to the east of Sylva).
How to do it: North Carolina is one of America's less heralded states for tourism, but proffers a pleasing variety of mountainous terrain, Atlantic coastline and rural charm. Bon Voyage (0800 316 3012; bon-voyage.co.uk) sells an 11-day "Exploring North Carolina" fly-drive holiday that spends two nights in Asheville - which sits directly between Sylva and Black Mountain. From £1,795 a head, with flights, car and hotels.
Further information:uk.visitnc.com; visittheusa.co.uk
6. The Post
In a nutshell: The Washington Post's bid to publish the Pentagon Papers - damning leaked documents about the progress of the Vietnam War - in the early Seventies.
Nominations: Two - Best Picture, Best Actress (Meryl Streep).
Key location: Despite its Washington DC context, much of the film was shot in New York (both the city and the state). The paper's "office" can be found at 440 Hamilton Avenue in the town of White Plains (about 30 miles north of Downtown Manhattan).
Specific site: The film's premiere was held on December 14 last year at the Newseum (newseum.org), a superb museum in America's capital city, which dissects the many ins, outs and in-betweens of the newspaper business - including the Washington Post.
How to do it: Washington DC remains an oddly underrated option for an American city break. A five-night stay at the five-star W Washington DC (which has a roof-top bar with views of the White House), flying from Heathrow on May 16, costs from £1,520 per person, through Virgin Holidays (0344 739 7021; virginholidays.co.uk).
Further information:washington.org
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7. The Shape Of Water
In a nutshell: A cleaner at a secret government laboratory in Baltimore falls in love with an amphibious creature that is being held in a tank for study during the Cold War.
Nominations: Thirteen - including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress.
Key location: The movie may be set in Baltimore, but what is the biggest city in the state of Maryland does not appear on screen for a single second. The story was filmed across the border in Canada - primarily in Toronto, and the Ontario city of Hamilton.
Specific site: You can eat at the Lakeview Restaurant (thelakeviewrestaurant.ca) in Toronto, which appears on screen - and take in a performance at the city's Elgin Winter Garden Theatre (heritagetrust.on.ca/en/index.php/ewg/ewg-home), which does so too.
How to do it: A five-night break at the five-star Westin Prince Toronto (on a room-only basis), flying from Heathrow on May 17, costs from £813 per person, through British Airways Holidays (0344 493 0787; ba.com/holidays).
Further information:seetorontonow.com; ontariotravel.net; canada.travel
8. The Phantom Thread
In a nutshell: The tortured yet enduring relationship between a workaholic high-society fashion designer and his put-upon fiancee, in the London of the Fifties.
Nominations: Six, including Best Picture, Best Director - and a Best Actor nomination for perennial Academy favourite Daniel Day-Lewis, in his final role before retirement.
Key location: The film is tied to London (notably Fitzroy Square in Fitzrovia), but also takes in the wild vistas of North York Moors National Park (northyorkmoors.org.uk).
Specific site: Owlpen Manor, a Tudor mansion-house just outside Uley in the Gloucestershire Cotswolds, doubles as the country residence of Day-Lewis's character.
How to do it: You can stay at Owlpen Manor (owlpen.com). A three-night stay in its Summerfield Cottage (which sleeps two), checking in on May 25, costs £300 (in total).
Further information:cotswolds.com
9. Get Out
In a nutshell: A young black man's weekend trip to stay with his new (white) girlfriend at her parents' house in the country takes a turn for the horrific - in a movie which takes a discomfiting look at race relations in the modern USA.
Nominations: Four - including Best Picture and Best Actor.
Key location: Get Out is unspecific about its location, but is loosely set in the Deep South, and was largely filmed in Alabama.
How to do it: Complete North America (0115 961 0590; completenorthamerica.com) sells a 14-day "Bama, Blues & Bands" road trip which meanders through the Deep South, taking in the Alabama map-dots of Mobile, Montgomery, Birmingham, Huntsville and Muscle Shoals. From £2,499 per person, with flights, car and hotels.
Further information:alabama.travel
