Fancy a night at the homestead where Luke Skywalker grew up? You'll find his home in Matmata in Tunisia where the Tunisian tourist board, keen to cash in, has turned the subterranean site that doubles as Skywalker's hometown into a hotel.
The Hotel Sidi Driss is well worth a visit if you want to get your Jedi geek on. For example, Aunt Beru's kitchen is still there, although all the movie props have long since gone. The desert cave dwellings, which are actually nomadic Berber homes, go back hundreds of years, giving a glimpse into how people brilliantly survive life in the desert - in this case the edge of the Sahara, where the days are ferociously hot and the nights bitter and cold.
Nevertheless, Hollywood came and conquered here and now the tourists are drawn to the original Skywalker residence (which was used once again in the prequels) to sit in the very same dining room that the Lars family used. For the record, the hotel also has a "Star Wars"-themed bar, complete with movie memorabilia and a "Star Wars" inspired menu.
"Casino": Las Vegas, USA
One of the best films about Vegas, set in Vegas and filmed in Vegas, Martin Scorsese's "Casino," was released more than 20 years ago but remains an all-time classic. Diving headfirst into his favorite subject, the mob, Scorsese put together the always brilliant team of Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, pairing them up with a never been better Sharon Stone and real-life poker fan James Woods, who has played many rounds of online poker since the movie was released.
Real life mobster Frank Cullotta, who served as a consultant for the film, now runs tours inspired by the movie which includes Main Street Station (where the opening car bomb scene was filmed), Oscar's Steakhouse (it was here where a strung out Ginger, played by Stone, has a fight with her husband, De Niro) and Atomic Liquors (think Pesci, pen and neck) among others. As for the fictional Tangiers Casino itself, the exteriors are sadly no longer with us as the Landmark Hotel, which doubled as the Tangiers has since been demolished, along with Le Bistro Lounge, Riviera Hotel & Casino, where the interiors were filmed.
"Trainspotting": London, United Kingdom
The cult '90s British movie "Trainspotting," based on Irvine Welsh's novel, tells the tale of heroin addict Mark Renton, played by Ewan McGregor of "Star Wars" fame whose career launched after this huge hit.
In the story, Mark, after numerous failed attempts to shake his habit, reboots his life by leaving his equally strung out friends in Edinburgh and relocating in London. Needless to say, this too fails as said friends find him and duly drag him back under. But, before then, having gone legitimate and getting a job as an Estate Agent, Mark accidentally ends up squatting in a London flat. Although not set there, you'll find the flat in West London's affluent Kensington, just a short walk left out of the tube station of the same name.
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