I have no idea why but I just watched Fool's Gold. There is lots of beautiful tropical shots. They are supposed to be in the Florida Keys in the beginning of the movie. It was a comical when there were mountains in the background. They then move on to the Bahamas or some other Atlantic or Caribbean islands. It is beautiful. There are beautiful people. It's a light, predictable movie.

Other ideas:

The Beach. It's not very pleasant or uplifiting though. You have probably seen it.

There is the movie, Random Hearts, with Harrison Ford. There is one scene in the movie when they are staying at the National Hotel in Miami. It is a beautiful scene. That is my dream hotel room. I can't remember much about the movie, but that.

I'm sure I'll think of more.

Thanks Lorifla. Despite the total crap plot, I did enjoy The Beach.

King Kong! No matter how bad your life is, you're not being chased through the jungle by a 300 foot ape. And, hey, once you see the giant centipede scene in the newest version, you'll be utterly thankful not to be in the jungle.

"Joe and the Volcano" is fun and tropical(ish). And seafaring! It always cheers me up, anyway. :)

My husband recommends Weekend at Bernies II. I was thinking Club Paradise.

We have terrible taste, we two.

Endless Summer. (1 or 2, both are good but 2 is only really entertaining after you watch 1.)

Nothing but 60s (in 1) and 80s (in 2) sufers travelling the world. It's my ultimate happy movie.

Apocalypse Now.

What? There's surfing.

Morning of the Earth. Surf, sun, sand and naked hippies. Very restful.

Actually, I'm plannin' to watch Doc Hollywood later, which Jon got for me, knowing I loved it. Total corn (and no beaches, alas), but very uplifting, I think. There is, however, a tendency to walk around afterwards saying, "When you gonna bring your pig back round?"

Bull Durham's also a spirit lifter. Again, no beaches, but baseball.

The Blue Lagoon. No, really. Just ignore the film and watch the landscape.

See if you can dig up "Water" starring Michael Caine and Billy Connolly. Cameo's by many famous musicians in the grand finale. Plenty of happy, silly moments throughout.

I'm digging surf culture these days, despite being nowhere near any waves, and also completely lacking the sense of balance that is required. If you wanna see a couple of FANTASTIC surfing movies, which really, are super life-affirming and capable of making you feel in awe of nature AND humans too, check out Step into Liquid, and Riding Giants. Then, watch Surf's Up, which is a pretty darned funny kids' movie featuring surfing penguins, which had the bad luck to come out on the heels of both March of the Penguins, and Happy Feet. It's really funny, and once you've seen a couple of surfing documentaries, you'll see how much homework they did. And, really, check out the cast!

Jeez, richat, no Blue Crush? No Point Break? Or, more seriously, The Endless Summer is pretty good.

(Also, I think The Beach is pretty good. But that may be because I'm a big fan of the author of the book, Alex Garland, and it may be because I've got a bit of a crush on Tilda Swinton.)

Also also, Elvis' Hawaii movies are nice and light, if you're into that kind of stuff.

Also also also, A Brokedown Melody is a pretty good surf doc, and Thicker Than Water is... probably appealing to Jack Johnson fans.

Blue Crush eh? I thought about renting it when it came out on video ages ago, but never got around to it! I've seen Point Break, but whoa...my memory of that was more about the bad-acting contest between Keanu and Swayze...I really should see Endless Summer, they sure referenced it and it's "sequel" enough in the two docs I watched!

Oddly enough, it was Surf's Up that made me wanna finally see some of those documentaries!