Since launching in five U.S. cities in 2007, Google’s Street View cars have been circling the globe, using roof-mounted cameras to map more than 10 million miles of imagery — pictures that have been stitched together to build a visual map of much of the world.
Yet while these cameras have made it possible for Google to capture many far-flung places, they tend to be bulky, heavy, and require a bunch of computing power that has to be added on inside Street View cars.
On Tuesday, Google unveiled a new Street View camera it thinks will make it a lot easier to take pictures of the world, particularly in remote spots such as small islands and mountain tops. The camera weighs 15 pounds (about a tenth the weight of the current camera plus all the electronics the existing one requires); is modular so it can be customized with different sensors such as lidar when needed; and can quickly be connected to the top of a car’s roof rack without needing the car to be customized (which will make it possible to connect it to many more kinds of cars).
Google
Since launching in five US cities in 2007, Google's Street View cars have been circling the globe, using roof-mounted cameras to map more than 10 million miles of imagery.
As with the current Street View camera, it includes seven individual cameras, each with a 20-megapixel sensor, so it can take 140-megapixel panoramic images.
Last week, Google gave CNN Business an exclusive look at the new camera at the company’s Street View garage in Mountain View, California, along with a tour of the array of cameras and vehicles Street View has used over the years.
The camera is cute — even for a surveillance device. It’s about the size of a cat or small dog, and its top-most part is blue, with a white circle surrounding each of its large camera lenses (which look like big bug eyes).
Google
Google unveils a new Street View camera it thinks will make it a lot easier to take pictures of the world, particularly in remote spots such as small islands or mountain tops.
Some cut-outs in the plastic make it appear, from certain angles, to have a tiny mustache. The bulk of its oblong body is silver-colored, with two black handles for easy carrying (which, naturally, also look like tiny arms).
Maria Biggs, who leads the team that designed and built the new camera, said her team was trying to make the camera so portable that it could be shipped on its own, rather than with a whole car, to different locations where it could then be connected to cars. In order to do this, the electronics that typically have been fit into the backseat of a Street View car have been fit into the new camera. Biggs said that in order to shrink the camera’s electronics, her team designed power and processing boards smaller than the size of her hand. It can be powered by a car, or connected directly to a battery.
Over the past 15 years, Google Street View has connected its cameras to lots of things other than cars, too — think snowmobiles, bikes, backpacks, and even sheep — in its efforts to capture places that are off-road as well. (The sheep were part of an effort initiated by Faroe Islands residents in 2016 to gather pictures for Street View of the archipelago’s numerous islands). Biggs said the portability of the new camera will make it useful for these other types of picture-taking, and will make it possible to collect pictures in more remote places more frequently.
The Street View team is testing the new camera near its headquarters in Mountain View, and plans to start using it widely next year.
___
-
Google’s new Street View camera is more portable (and looks weirdly cute)
Debrocke/ClassicStock // Getty Images
As the age-old adage states: Time is money. That saying is never more true than when thinking about employees and the companies that pay them for their time, effort, and skill. Buddy Punch compiled a list of notable milestones in employee time-tracking history by researching numerous sources, including Google’s patents database, historical newspaper reports, and more.
Employee time tracking, or the system of logging time spent on the job for the purposes of payroll, is so embedded into modern culture that TV shows from “Laverne and Shirley” to the furry folks in “Looney Tunes” have regularly clocked in at the beginning of a fictional workday, and many employed folks in the real world do the same. According to 2020 research by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, 55% of all wage and salary workers are paid hourly. The history of employee time tracking is a long one, having existed in some form for at least 130 years. The organization of pay structure has existed for millennia, pre-dating time tracking.
In the late 19th century, employees in the U.S. worked an average of 100 hours per week—when taking out eight hours a day for sleeping, workers had 12 hours a week of time off the clock. Activism in form of strikes and protests influenced changes in labor law and brought about a much more manageable 40 hours a week. Since then, the technology that tracks time spent working has evolved, much like the employees they keep track of, from punch cards and timesheets to the latest in mobile and online time tracking technology today.
Debrocke/ClassicStock // Getty Images
As the age-old adage states: Time is money. That saying is never more true than when thinking about employees and the companies that pay them for their time, effort, and skill. Buddy Punch compiled a list of notable milestones in employee time-tracking history by researching numerous sources, including Google’s patents database, historical newspaper reports, and more.
Employee time tracking, or the system of logging time spent on the job for the purposes of payroll, is so embedded into modern culture that TV shows from “Laverne and Shirley” to the furry folks in “Looney Tunes” have regularly clocked in at the beginning of a fictional workday, and many employed folks in the real world do the same. According to 2020 research by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, 55% of all wage and salary workers are paid hourly. The history of employee time tracking is a long one, having existed in some form for at least 130 years. The organization of pay structure has existed for millennia, pre-dating time tracking.
In the late 19th century, employees in the U.S. worked an average of 100 hours per week—when taking out eight hours a day for sleeping, workers had 12 hours a week of time off the clock. Activism in form of strikes and protests influenced changes in labor law and brought about a much more manageable 40 hours a week. Since then, the technology that tracks time spent working has evolved, much like the employees they keep track of, from punch cards and timesheets to the latest in mobile and online time tracking technology today.
-
Google’s new Street View camera is more portable (and looks weirdly cute)
DeAgostini // Getty Images
Nearly 37 centuries ago, Hammurabi, the sixth king of the First Babylonian Empire, is credited with enacting the first written set of laws in recorded history. The ruler, who governed from 1792 B.C. until 1750 B.C., was known as a pioneering leader and prolific builder. Through the Code of Hammurabi, he elicited control over the economy and the behavior of the citizens living in his empire.
Established in that set of laws is the first mention of minimum wage, stating the lowest pay employers could grant those under their employ. With wages ranging from silver to corn or grain depending on the job, employers of potters, tailors, carpenters, and other workmen were required to compensate for labor.
DeAgostini // Getty Images
Nearly 37 centuries ago, Hammurabi, the sixth king of the First Babylonian Empire, is credited with enacting the first written set of laws in recorded history. The ruler, who governed from 1792 B.C. until 1750 B.C., was known as a pioneering leader and prolific builder. Through the Code of Hammurabi, he elicited control over the economy and the behavior of the citizens living in his empire.
Established in that set of laws is the first mention of minimum wage, stating the lowest pay employers could grant those under their employ. With wages ranging from silver to corn or grain depending on the job, employers of potters, tailors, carpenters, and other workmen were required to compensate for labor.
-
-
Google’s new Street View camera is more portable (and looks weirdly cute)
Harold M. Lambert/Lambert // Getty Images
Jumping forward to the Victorian era, innovation reached an all-time high. Superstar inventors like Nikola Tesla and Alexander Graham Bell—with his team of inventors of color such as Lewis Latimer—created devices from the electric light to the telephone. In the advancing world of the everyday worker, the very first patent for a time clock in the United States was created by William LeGrand Bundy, a New York inventor of mechanical devices, including cash registers and gear-based clocks.
In 1888, the patent for Bundy’s most well-known invention, a “time recorder,” was granted by the U.S. Patent Office and Trademark Office. That same year in the United Kingdom, the “dial recorder” was invented by Alexander Dey, and the devices became individual successes for both men, an ocean apart.
The mechanical timepieces, though different in design, both performed the same function: recording when employees clocked in and out of work by creating a time-coded stamp or print.
Harold M. Lambert/Lambert // Getty Images
Jumping forward to the Victorian era, innovation reached an all-time high. Superstar inventors like Nikola Tesla and Alexander Graham Bell—with his team of inventors of color such as Lewis Latimer—created devices from the electric light to the telephone. In the advancing world of the everyday worker, the very first patent for a time clock in the United States was created by William LeGrand Bundy, a New York inventor of mechanical devices, including cash registers and gear-based clocks.
In 1888, the patent for Bundy’s most well-known invention, a “time recorder,” was granted by the U.S. Patent Office and Trademark Office. That same year in the United Kingdom, the “dial recorder” was invented by Alexander Dey, and the devices became individual successes for both men, an ocean apart.
The mechanical timepieces, though different in design, both performed the same function: recording when employees clocked in and out of work by creating a time-coded stamp or print.
-
Google’s new Street View camera is more portable (and looks weirdly cute)
Daily Herald Archive/SSPL // Getty Images
In October of 1894, the first punch card machine was created by Rochester, New York, inventor Daniel M. Cooper. The machine, dubbed a “workman’s time recorder,” used a punch card, differentiating it from previous time recorders. By sliding the card into the machine, employees would receive a time-coded hole punched in their cards as they started their shifts.
This machine proved useful for shift workers in bustling economies of the time. Factory workers, hospital staff, and other shift workers benefited from the fast-paced workflow typical of the Industrial Revolution. Cooper later sold his patent to a man who founded a Rochester brand to house his invention. That company almost a century later would become part of IBM.
Daily Herald Archive/SSPL // Getty Images
In October of 1894, the first punch card machine was created by Rochester, New York, inventor Daniel M. Cooper. The machine, dubbed a “workman’s time recorder,” used a punch card, differentiating it from previous time recorders. By sliding the card into the machine, employees would receive a time-coded hole punched in their cards as they started their shifts.
This machine proved useful for shift workers in bustling economies of the time. Factory workers, hospital staff, and other shift workers benefited from the fast-paced workflow typical of the Industrial Revolution. Cooper later sold his patent to a man who founded a Rochester brand to house his invention. That company almost a century later would become part of IBM.
-
-
Google’s new Street View camera is more portable (and looks weirdly cute)
Matthew Witt/Wisconsin Historical Society // Getty Images
Another inventor, Reginald Heber Smith, was not a career inventor in the traditional sense—he was a lawyer. Smith, a lawyer and later managing partner of law firm Hale and Dorr, sought to give his firm a sense of organization.
Using the concept of scientific business management, Smith devised several organizational tactics for improving his firm’s output, including tracking lawyers’ hours by using timesheets. Most lawyers received payment by case, not by hours worked. Smith noted charging clients by cases “close[d] the doors of the courts to the poor,” making legal treatment less accessible to all income brackets.
Arguably his most enduring organizational strategy success, Smith instructed his firm’s lawyers to charge clients specifically for the time they spent working on their cases, which came to be known as billable hours. Since Smith created this time-keeping concept, its use spread to other law firms and is a technique still used by lawyers, but also independent contractors, freelancers, and more.
Matthew Witt/Wisconsin Historical Society // Getty Images
Another inventor, Reginald Heber Smith, was not a career inventor in the traditional sense—he was a lawyer. Smith, a lawyer and later managing partner of law firm Hale and Dorr, sought to give his firm a sense of organization.
Using the concept of scientific business management, Smith devised several organizational tactics for improving his firm’s output, including tracking lawyers’ hours by using timesheets. Most lawyers received payment by case, not by hours worked. Smith noted charging clients by cases “close[d] the doors of the courts to the poor,” making legal treatment less accessible to all income brackets.
Arguably his most enduring organizational strategy success, Smith instructed his firm’s lawyers to charge clients specifically for the time they spent working on their cases, which came to be known as billable hours. Since Smith created this time-keeping concept, its use spread to other law firms and is a technique still used by lawyers, but also independent contractors, freelancers, and more.
-
Google’s new Street View camera is more portable (and looks weirdly cute)
Spencer Grant // Getty Images
Although creators in the late ’70s are to thank for cultural mainstays like “Space Invaders” the video game, the very first “Star Wars” movie, and the Apple computer, behind the cultural scenes, a new invention brewed. One particular program has made countless lives easier to manage. In 1979, Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston designed the very first spreadsheet program called VisiCalc—short for “visible calculator”—for the Apple II computer.
Immediately a massive hit, the program showed small businesses and consumers the true potential of using a computer. The early application reduced bookkeeping tasks that took hours by hand to only a few minutes of data entry to complete. Tracking working hours in spreadsheets as opposed to on paper eased payroll calculations. In the following decade, competitor Microsoft launched Excel, which quickly became popular as well.
Spencer Grant // Getty Images
Although creators in the late ’70s are to thank for cultural mainstays like “Space Invaders” the video game, the very first “Star Wars” movie, and the Apple computer, behind the cultural scenes, a new invention brewed. One particular program has made countless lives easier to manage. In 1979, Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston designed the very first spreadsheet program called VisiCalc—short for “visible calculator”—for the Apple II computer.
Immediately a massive hit, the program showed small businesses and consumers the true potential of using a computer. The early application reduced bookkeeping tasks that took hours by hand to only a few minutes of data entry to complete. Tracking working hours in spreadsheets as opposed to on paper eased payroll calculations. In the following decade, competitor Microsoft launched Excel, which quickly became popular as well.
-
-
Google’s new Street View camera is more portable (and looks weirdly cute)
Camerique/ClassicStock // Getty Images
Timekeeping machines of the past, particularly those using punch cards, only performed a singular function of recording time. While this worked for assembly-line workers who were paid the same wage for similar positions, as pay structures evolved and companies became more complex, employers needed a more accurate system. This is exactly where innovation thrived: in the time clock industry of the ’70s and ’80s.
Innovators in the field created their own versions of modern timekeeping machines that eliminated the need for punch cards. These new machines instead simplified things by collecting data via an electronic time card, much like the ones modern hotels use. In addition to recording an employee’s time, many of these machines could also transfer that data directly to a payroll computer, track overtime, and even record how much of a worker’s pay was withheld for taxes.
Producers like Simplex Time Recorder, Cincinnati Time Equipment, and Kronos released time clocks that were quickly scooped up by small business owners and larger clients. These clients included Marriott Hotels, Filene’s Basement, and Montgomery Ward, driving the technology’s widespread use.
Camerique/ClassicStock // Getty Images
Timekeeping machines of the past, particularly those using punch cards, only performed a singular function of recording time. While this worked for assembly-line workers who were paid the same wage for similar positions, as pay structures evolved and companies became more complex, employers needed a more accurate system. This is exactly where innovation thrived: in the time clock industry of the ’70s and ’80s.
Innovators in the field created their own versions of modern timekeeping machines that eliminated the need for punch cards. These new machines instead simplified things by collecting data via an electronic time card, much like the ones modern hotels use. In addition to recording an employee’s time, many of these machines could also transfer that data directly to a payroll computer, track overtime, and even record how much of a worker’s pay was withheld for taxes.
Producers like Simplex Time Recorder, Cincinnati Time Equipment, and Kronos released time clocks that were quickly scooped up by small business owners and larger clients. These clients included Marriott Hotels, Filene’s Basement, and Montgomery Ward, driving the technology’s widespread use.
-
Google’s new Street View camera is more portable (and looks weirdly cute)
Jeff Overs/BBC News & Current Affairs via Getty Images
With the advent of electronics like pagers, cell phones, and home computers, work became more fast-paced and accessible than ever. In the ’80s and ’90s, PCs enabled companies to track time more easily through workers who were offsite, traveling, or telecommuting.
Companies like Kronos and Simplex Time Recorder that focused mainly on physical machines pivoted to software instead. The competition between these and other companies meant advances came quickly, and they encouraged frequent cutting-edge updates in time-tracking technology.
Jeff Overs/BBC News & Current Affairs via Getty Images
With the advent of electronics like pagers, cell phones, and home computers, work became more fast-paced and accessible than ever. In the ’80s and ’90s, PCs enabled companies to track time more easily through workers who were offsite, traveling, or telecommuting.
Companies like Kronos and Simplex Time Recorder that focused mainly on physical machines pivoted to software instead. The competition between these and other companies meant advances came quickly, and they encouraged frequent cutting-edge updates in time-tracking technology.
-
-
Google’s new Street View camera is more portable (and looks weirdly cute)
Pheelings media // Shutterstock
These days, the ability to fuel productivity in the most modern way goes hand-in-hand with using the internet. Almost a third of the world’s 6.8 billion humans use the World Wide Web regularly, with an even higher saturation in the states alone.
The advent of the internet has led to mobile time tracking through a variety of third-party apps and websites. For instance, employees can now log into an account when beginning the workday, and employers have the ability to monitor hours worked. Software often enables bookkeepers to export recorded timesheets to spreadsheets—building on technological advancements from the ’70s.
With the boom of remote work as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, being able to remotely track hours became a necessity for many businesses. The internet made time tracking more accessible from any location, enabling organizations to operate from any corner of the globe.
This story originally appeared on Buddy Punch and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
Pheelings media // Shutterstock
These days, the ability to fuel productivity in the most modern way goes hand-in-hand with using the internet. Almost a third of the world’s 6.8 billion humans use the World Wide Web regularly, with an even higher saturation in the states alone.
The advent of the internet has led to mobile time tracking through a variety of third-party apps and websites. For instance, employees can now log into an account when beginning the workday, and employers have the ability to monitor hours worked. Software often enables bookkeepers to export recorded timesheets to spreadsheets—building on technological advancements from the ’70s.
With the boom of remote work as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, being able to remotely track hours became a necessity for many businesses. The internet made time tracking more accessible from any location, enabling organizations to operate from any corner of the globe.
This story originally appeared on Buddy Punch and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
-
10 iconic American road trip movies
National Lampoon
There is something uniquely American about the idea of hitting the open road and driving endlessly through changing landscapes, either toward the promise of something better or as an escape from real or imagined oppression. While running the gamut from liberating to terrifying, American road trip films share a common thread: through the act of driving, there is the opportunity for discovery. Characters often find something new about themselves, others, or some greater principle or purpose.
CoPilot researched the history of road trip cinema and chose 10 of the best, most iconic films in which people drive across the U.S. To qualify, the film had to have over a 7.0 on IMDb, at least 75,000 votes, and largely be framed through an American road trip. Metascore is provided for critical context.
Some road films reveal that running away is futile or even cowardly, while others crystalize the fact that we cannot outrun the consequences of our actions even if we drive forever. At the same time, the genre reminds us that there is great potential in removing ourselves from the monotony or comfort of everyday life—that the act of leaving can be a powerful assertion of agency.
The history and diversity of American road trip films span decades and generations and encompass countless genres. From the lawlessness and violence of “Natural Born Killers” to the horror of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” and even the bittersweet optimism of “Little Miss Sunshine,” road trip films reflect the politics and sense of national identity of their time and place.
National Lampoon
There is something uniquely American about the idea of hitting the open road and driving endlessly through changing landscapes, either toward the promise of something better or as an escape from real or imagined oppression. While running the gamut from liberating to terrifying, American road trip films share a common thread: through the act of driving, there is the opportunity for discovery. Characters often find something new about themselves, others, or some greater principle or purpose.
CoPilot researched the history of road trip cinema and chose 10 of the best, most iconic films in which people drive across the U.S. To qualify, the film had to have over a 7.0 on IMDb, at least 75,000 votes, and largely be framed through an American road trip. Metascore is provided for critical context.
Some road films reveal that running away is futile or even cowardly, while others crystalize the fact that we cannot outrun the consequences of our actions even if we drive forever. At the same time, the genre reminds us that there is great potential in removing ourselves from the monotony or comfort of everyday life—that the act of leaving can be a powerful assertion of agency.
The history and diversity of American road trip films span decades and generations and encompass countless genres. From the lawlessness and violence of “Natural Born Killers” to the horror of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” and even the bittersweet optimism of “Little Miss Sunshine,” road trip films reflect the politics and sense of national identity of their time and place.
-
-
10 iconic American road trip movies
Pando Company Inc.
- Director: Dennis Hopper
- IMDb user rating: 7.3
- Metascore: 85
- Runtime: 95 minutes
“Easy Rider” stars Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper as bikers who smuggle drugs from Mexico into California, sell them, and head eastward to New Orleans trying to make it in time for Mardi Gras. They stash their money near the gas tank of the “Captain America”—a custom-made motorcycle with a signature long front end—ridden by Fonda’s character. Along the way, they stop at a commune in Arizona and find trouble in New Mexico, where they encounter a drunken lawyer, played by Jack Nicholson, who they convince to join them.
Produced on a mere $360,000 budget, “Easy Rider” is remembered as a film that captures the feeling of late-’60s counterculture, complete with hallucinogenic trips, a free-love commune, and a soundtrack studded with The Band, The Byrds, and Jimi Hendrix. Its legacy is also one of subverting the mainstream Hollywood studio system. Its unprecedented commercial success—grossing $60 million globally on a small budget—as well as its indie status, stunned Hollywood executives.
Pando Company Inc.
- Director: Dennis Hopper
- IMDb user rating: 7.3
- Metascore: 85
- Runtime: 95 minutes
“Easy Rider” stars Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper as bikers who smuggle drugs from Mexico into California, sell them, and head eastward to New Orleans trying to make it in time for Mardi Gras. They stash their money near the gas tank of the “Captain America”—a custom-made motorcycle with a signature long front end—ridden by Fonda’s character. Along the way, they stop at a commune in Arizona and find trouble in New Mexico, where they encounter a drunken lawyer, played by Jack Nicholson, who they convince to join them.
Produced on a mere $360,000 budget, “Easy Rider” is remembered as a film that captures the feeling of late-’60s counterculture, complete with hallucinogenic trips, a free-love commune, and a soundtrack studded with The Band, The Byrds, and Jimi Hendrix. Its legacy is also one of subverting the mainstream Hollywood studio system. Its unprecedented commercial success—grossing $60 million globally on a small budget—as well as its indie status, stunned Hollywood executives.
-
10 iconic American road trip movies
Vortex
- Director: Tobe Hooper
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 78
- Runtime: 83 minutes
“The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” changed the horror film genre, and American filmmaking more generally, in profound ways. Aside from inspiring nine films in the franchise, it pioneered the slasher genre while showing surprisingly little blood and gore, relying instead on clever camera work and misdirection to suggest horrific images. Filmmakers including Ridley Scott, Wes Craven, and Guillermo del Toro count the film amongst their favorites. “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” takes aspects of the traditional road trip film, beginning with the group of idealistic young people piled into a car, and quickly turns the viewer’s expectations into a nightmare.
The film follows a group of friends who take a road trip through rural Texas to visit a family member’s gravesite but are forced to stop when their car runs out of gas. Early signs of danger include a violent encounter with a hitchhiker, and when they stop at a quiet gas station only to find out the pumps are empty. Terror builds when they come across Leatherface, the now-legendary chainsaw-wielding villain who wears a mask made of human skin.
Vortex
- Director: Tobe Hooper
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 78
- Runtime: 83 minutes
“The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” changed the horror film genre, and American filmmaking more generally, in profound ways. Aside from inspiring nine films in the franchise, it pioneered the slasher genre while showing surprisingly little blood and gore, relying instead on clever camera work and misdirection to suggest horrific images. Filmmakers including Ridley Scott, Wes Craven, and Guillermo del Toro count the film amongst their favorites. “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” takes aspects of the traditional road trip film, beginning with the group of idealistic young people piled into a car, and quickly turns the viewer’s expectations into a nightmare.
The film follows a group of friends who take a road trip through rural Texas to visit a family member’s gravesite but are forced to stop when their car runs out of gas. Early signs of danger include a violent encounter with a hitchhiker, and when they stop at a quiet gas station only to find out the pumps are empty. Terror builds when they come across Leatherface, the now-legendary chainsaw-wielding villain who wears a mask made of human skin.
-
-
10 iconic American road trip movies
National Lampoon
- Director: Harold Ramis
- IMDb user rating: 7.3
- Metascore: 55
- Runtime: 98 minutes
Road comedy “National Lampoon’s Vacation” follows the Griswold family, led by patriarch Clark (Chevy Chase), as they embark on a road trip from Chicago to a southern California amusement park. The trip, a bid to spend more time together as a family and enjoy a picturesque vacation, quickly goes awry. Driving a large, ugly station wagon, the family experiences countless misadventures along the way.
The station wagon used in the film, known as the Wagon Queen Family Truckster, was specifically designed as a parody of 1970s station wagons, complete with faux-wood paneling and a “metallic pea”-colored paint job. Five identical cars were produced for the film, due to the extent of the mishaps experienced by the family.
National Lampoon
- Director: Harold Ramis
- IMDb user rating: 7.3
- Metascore: 55
- Runtime: 98 minutes
Road comedy “National Lampoon’s Vacation” follows the Griswold family, led by patriarch Clark (Chevy Chase), as they embark on a road trip from Chicago to a southern California amusement park. The trip, a bid to spend more time together as a family and enjoy a picturesque vacation, quickly goes awry. Driving a large, ugly station wagon, the family experiences countless misadventures along the way.
The station wagon used in the film, known as the Wagon Queen Family Truckster, was specifically designed as a parody of 1970s station wagons, complete with faux-wood paneling and a “metallic pea”-colored paint job. Five identical cars were produced for the film, due to the extent of the mishaps experienced by the family.
-
10 iconic American road trip movies
Road Movies Filmproduktion
- Director: Wim Wenders
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Metascore: 78
- Runtime: 145 minutes
After emerging from the Texas desert unable to speak or explain where he came from, Travis (Harry Dean Stanton) is rescued by a German doctor. The doctor contacts Travis’ estranged brother (Dean Stockwell), who then drives from L.A. to pick him up. When they return to California, Travis meets his young son, who has been adopted by his brother, and they decide to embark on a journey to find his son’s mother.
Traveling from southern California to Houston in a classic blue and white ’58 Ford Ranchero, the two reconcile. Passing through desert landscapes, past old road motels and neon signs, the aesthetics of “Paris, Texas” are part-Western, part Edward Hopper Americana.
Road Movies Filmproduktion
- Director: Wim Wenders
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Metascore: 78
- Runtime: 145 minutes
After emerging from the Texas desert unable to speak or explain where he came from, Travis (Harry Dean Stanton) is rescued by a German doctor. The doctor contacts Travis’ estranged brother (Dean Stockwell), who then drives from L.A. to pick him up. When they return to California, Travis meets his young son, who has been adopted by his brother, and they decide to embark on a journey to find his son’s mother.
Traveling from southern California to Houston in a classic blue and white ’58 Ford Ranchero, the two reconcile. Passing through desert landscapes, past old road motels and neon signs, the aesthetics of “Paris, Texas” are part-Western, part Edward Hopper Americana.
-
-
10 iconic American road trip movies
United Artists
- Director: Barry Levinson
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Metascore: 65
- Runtime: 133 minutes
“Rain Man” tells the story of Charlie (Tom Cruise), a young hustler who discovers he has a brother, Raymond (Dustin Hoffman), after his father dies and leaves Raymond his lucrative estate. Charlie travels to Ohio and finds that Raymond is an autistic savant who has been institutionalized. In an attempt to gain control of the money from their father’s estate, Charlie kidnaps Raymond from the institution. The two embark on a road trip from Cincinnati to Los Angeles, where Charlie plans to fight for custody of his brother, in their father’s 1949 Buick Roadmaster convertible.
The film’s enduring legacy is complicated: While it was groundbreaking for its representation of a character with autism, some have called its portrayal of autism spectrum disorder reductive or stereotypical.
United Artists
- Director: Barry Levinson
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Metascore: 65
- Runtime: 133 minutes
“Rain Man” tells the story of Charlie (Tom Cruise), a young hustler who discovers he has a brother, Raymond (Dustin Hoffman), after his father dies and leaves Raymond his lucrative estate. Charlie travels to Ohio and finds that Raymond is an autistic savant who has been institutionalized. In an attempt to gain control of the money from their father’s estate, Charlie kidnaps Raymond from the institution. The two embark on a road trip from Cincinnati to Los Angeles, where Charlie plans to fight for custody of his brother, in their father’s 1949 Buick Roadmaster convertible.
The film’s enduring legacy is complicated: While it was groundbreaking for its representation of a character with autism, some have called its portrayal of autism spectrum disorder reductive or stereotypical.
-
10 iconic American road trip movies
Pathé Entertainment
- Director: Ridley Scott
- IMDb user rating: 7.5
- Metascore: 88
- Runtime: 130 minutes
“Thelma & Louise” stars Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis as two best friends who depart their unsatisfying home lives in Arkansas for a weekend away, only to become fugitives on the run from the law. The two head in the direction of Mexico in Louise’s 1966 blue Ford Thunderbird convertible, hoping to cross the border and evade capture by the FBI. Louise insists they avoid driving through Texas, so they take a meandering route west, traveling through New Mexico and the Grand Canyon.
“Thelma & Louise” remains a landmark film in feminist cinema for its politics, exploration of gendered violence, centering on a best-friend relationship, and for subverting several genres: the Western, the road film, the buddy film, and the crime drama. Davis and Sarandon both received Best Actress Oscar nominations for their co-starring roles.
Pathé Entertainment
- Director: Ridley Scott
- IMDb user rating: 7.5
- Metascore: 88
- Runtime: 130 minutes
“Thelma & Louise” stars Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis as two best friends who depart their unsatisfying home lives in Arkansas for a weekend away, only to become fugitives on the run from the law. The two head in the direction of Mexico in Louise’s 1966 blue Ford Thunderbird convertible, hoping to cross the border and evade capture by the FBI. Louise insists they avoid driving through Texas, so they take a meandering route west, traveling through New Mexico and the Grand Canyon.
“Thelma & Louise” remains a landmark film in feminist cinema for its politics, exploration of gendered violence, centering on a best-friend relationship, and for subverting several genres: the Western, the road film, the buddy film, and the crime drama. Davis and Sarandon both received Best Actress Oscar nominations for their co-starring roles.
-
-
10 iconic American road trip movies
Warner Bros.
- Director: Oliver Stone
- IMDb user rating: 7.2
- Metascore: 74
- Runtime: 119 minutes
Starring Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis as a murderous married couple, “Natural Born Killers” grapples with the way mass violence and its perpetrators are given celebrity status by the media.
The film follows the couple as they go on a multi-state killing spree, traveling from New Mexico to Arizona and Nevada, all the while attracting media attention that turns them into macabre cult heroes. Featuring a red 1970 Dodge Challenger convertible, the film subverts the often family-friendly conventions of the road trip movie while incorporating images of Western landscapes to remind viewers it is a particularly American story. The film sparked controversy over its gratuitous violence, and director Oliver Stone was sued when the film allegedly inspired copycat crimes (the suit was later dismissed).
Warner Bros.
- Director: Oliver Stone
- IMDb user rating: 7.2
- Metascore: 74
- Runtime: 119 minutes
Starring Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis as a murderous married couple, “Natural Born Killers” grapples with the way mass violence and its perpetrators are given celebrity status by the media.
The film follows the couple as they go on a multi-state killing spree, traveling from New Mexico to Arizona and Nevada, all the while attracting media attention that turns them into macabre cult heroes. Featuring a red 1970 Dodge Challenger convertible, the film subverts the often family-friendly conventions of the road trip movie while incorporating images of Western landscapes to remind viewers it is a particularly American story. The film sparked controversy over its gratuitous violence, and director Oliver Stone was sued when the film allegedly inspired copycat crimes (the suit was later dismissed).
-
10 iconic American road trip movies
Asymmetrical Productions
- Director: David Lynch
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Metascore: 86
- Runtime: 112 minutes
Based on a true story, “The Straight Story” follows Alvin (Richard Farnsworth), an elderly Iowa man who decides to visit his estranged brother after he has a stroke. Unable to drive, Alvin hitches a trailer to his lawnmower and embarks on a journey to Wisconsin. Only able to travel at five miles per hour, the journey takes several weeks and involves a series of mishaps and connections made with other long-term travelers and passersby.
“The Straight Story” was filmed along the actual route that the real Alvin Straight took on his original journey. Farnsworth, who died by suicide one year after the film’s release, had been suffering from cancer that left his legs partially paralyzed during the filming of “The Straight Story.” He received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for the role.
Asymmetrical Productions
- Director: David Lynch
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Metascore: 86
- Runtime: 112 minutes
Based on a true story, “The Straight Story” follows Alvin (Richard Farnsworth), an elderly Iowa man who decides to visit his estranged brother after he has a stroke. Unable to drive, Alvin hitches a trailer to his lawnmower and embarks on a journey to Wisconsin. Only able to travel at five miles per hour, the journey takes several weeks and involves a series of mishaps and connections made with other long-term travelers and passersby.
“The Straight Story” was filmed along the actual route that the real Alvin Straight took on his original journey. Farnsworth, who died by suicide one year after the film’s release, had been suffering from cancer that left his legs partially paralyzed during the filming of “The Straight Story.” He received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for the role.
-
-
10 iconic American road trip movies
Fox Searchlight Pictures
- Director: Alexander Payne
- IMDb user rating: 7.5
- Metascore: 94
- Runtime: 127 minutes
“Sideways” stars Paul Giamatti as Miles, an unsuccessful writer who brings his friend Jack (Thomas Haden Church) on a road trip to California wine country as a final adventure before Jack gets married. Traveling up the coast of California in a bright red ’87 Saab Turbo convertible, the two men experience a range of mishaps leading up to Jack’s wedding ceremony.
The film, which centers largely around Miles’ obsession with wine (particularly pinot noir), has been credited with influencing the California wine industry. As of 2017, production of California pinot noir wine had increased by 170% since the film’s release—a trend winemakers labeled “the Sideways Effect.”
Fox Searchlight Pictures
- Director: Alexander Payne
- IMDb user rating: 7.5
- Metascore: 94
- Runtime: 127 minutes
“Sideways” stars Paul Giamatti as Miles, an unsuccessful writer who brings his friend Jack (Thomas Haden Church) on a road trip to California wine country as a final adventure before Jack gets married. Traveling up the coast of California in a bright red ’87 Saab Turbo convertible, the two men experience a range of mishaps leading up to Jack’s wedding ceremony.
The film, which centers largely around Miles’ obsession with wine (particularly pinot noir), has been credited with influencing the California wine industry. As of 2017, production of California pinot noir wine had increased by 170% since the film’s release—a trend winemakers labeled “the Sideways Effect.”
-
10 iconic American road trip movies
Fox Searchlight Pictures
- Directors: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Metascore: 80
- Runtime: 101 minutes
Starring Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Steve Carell, Paul Dano, and Abigail Breslin as members of a dysfunctional family, “Little Miss Sunshine” tells the story of Olive (Abigail Breslin), a young girl and aspiring beauty queen trying to get to a beauty pageant in order to compete.
Based in New Mexico, her large family—including her parents, grandfather, uncle, and half-brother—travels 800 miles in a yellow VW bus to reach southern California for the competition that is just two days away. Along the way, issues with the bus, as well as personal trials and misadventures, bring the family together in unexpected ways. Breslin earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress at just age 10.
This story originally appeared on CoPilot and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
Fox Searchlight Pictures
- Directors: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Metascore: 80
- Runtime: 101 minutes
Starring Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Steve Carell, Paul Dano, and Abigail Breslin as members of a dysfunctional family, “Little Miss Sunshine” tells the story of Olive (Abigail Breslin), a young girl and aspiring beauty queen trying to get to a beauty pageant in order to compete.
Based in New Mexico, her large family—including her parents, grandfather, uncle, and half-brother—travels 800 miles in a yellow VW bus to reach southern California for the competition that is just two days away. Along the way, issues with the bus, as well as personal trials and misadventures, bring the family together in unexpected ways. Breslin earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress at just age 10.
This story originally appeared on CoPilot and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
