Summer is coming to an end. Kids are going back to school. In many parts of the country the weather will soon cool off, leaves will fall from trees, and people will start to retreat to the warmth of the indoors. Here in L.A., where I live, the crushing tide of heat and raging fire will strengthen while we all pray that it will cool off by December, but I digress.
Even if you don’t feel the change of seasons physically, it’s good to get your head around the march of time, mentally. I like to do that with movies. Here are 5 movies to end your summer right.
In no particular order…
DAZED AND CONFUSED
Though this cult classic is really about the first day of summer, it really captures how fleeting and special summer can be, and how much it changes as you come of age. For a number of characters it’s their ‘last summer’ in one way or another. Matthew McConaughey in his defining role, lives in an endless summer, and it’s amazing. It holds a special place in my heart, being from a small town. But that’s just me. You’ll like it too, if you don’t already.
STAND BY ME
More nostalgia. Stand By Me is about four boys who make a macabre and maybe ill advised decision to go see a dead body, and end up having a defining adventure in their lives, and learning about each other and themselves. A reminder of the possibilities of summer and the freedom you might not have in the rest of the year, the movie also speaks to the safety and comfort we feel in the structure that comes with the end of summer. So good. I miss you, River.
WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER
This is a favorite of mine. It’s simultaneously a perfect comedy about the last day of summer camp, and a perfect send-up of a comedy about the last day of summer camp. It works on all levels, and has some of the greatest comedic actors of our time… or my time. Is my time still our time?
ONE CRAZY SUMMER
This might be my favorite movie on this list. It is so WEIRD!!! I love weird. John Cusack, Joel Murray and Demi Moore star in what I’m going to call a quintessential summer romp. A romp it is. It includes jocks, nerds, amazing montages, a creepy little girl, a rabid robot shark and Bobcat Golthwait in a Godzilla suit. Consume it. It rocks.
THE GOONIES
Granted, it’s hard for me to leave The Goonies off of any movie list. It belongs pretty much everywhere. But, it definitely fits this bill. Possibly the best ‘kids on an adventure’ movie of all time, it is all about the end. It’s their last summer, their last weekend, their last adventure before they get split up, and they sure make the most of it. If you haven’t seen it, you’re not a human being. If you haven’t seen it in awhile, watch it again for the first time. It is everything.
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Actor, Improviser, Comic.
I like to like things and talk about them.
I like to pretend.
I like to make things.
I like to write things down.
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