Like we mentioned yesterday, summer is a great time to have casual get togethers--people have more time, the days feel longer and you can spread out outside for more space. Something that always makes us feel like we're on vacation is if we have the time to catch up on classic movies and invite people over to watch with us. It's cheap, casual and fun. Movie night is nothing new, but there's a reason it's a classic. Jump below for some of our favorite summer time movies and add yours to the comments:
• Wet Hot American Summer: one of our favorite camp movies with the kind of humor we really appreciate. Might not be everyone's bag, but it does the trick for us.
• One Crazy Summer: a John Cusack and 80's classic.
• Raiders of the Lost Ark: There's no such thing as seeing this one too many times.
• Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: We saw this projected outside in someone's backyard a couple of summers ago which made it that much better.
• National Lampoon's Vacation: Oh the wacky hijinks of Chevy Chase.
• Rushmore: the cult classic from Wes Anderson is sweet, charming and has a great soundtrack.
• Ferris Bueller's Day Off: or really Any John Hughes Movie.
• Contempt: get existential with this classic Godard film starring Brigitte Bardot and some pretty awesome decor inspiration
• Jaws: a summer classic that spawned Shark Week and our own irrational fear that somehow there might be a shark in the pool.
Need more ideas? Check out Top Ten Decor Inspiration Films and if you're in the mood for a romance, check out Top Romantic Movies with Inspiring Interiors
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The Professional (Leon)
For me: classic film noir and screwball romantic comedies (e.g. anything with Hepburn and Tracy).
I like the old movies best:
"Roman Holiday"
Almost any Elvis movie, such as "Viva Las Vegas", "Blue Hawaii" and "Fun in Acapulco"
The "Gidget" Series: "Gidget Goes Hawaiian" and "Gidget Goes to Rome" - Oh, Moondoggie!)
The "Beach Blanket Bingo" Series: "Beach Party", "Pajama Party", "Muscle Beach Party", etc.
"Parent Trap"
...and more recently, "Earth Girls Are Easy"
Just watched Ferris Bueller last weekend...such a great time!
Bepsf--earth girls are easy--I totally forgot about that movie, what a classic! Have you seen Forbidden Zone?
Almost any James Bond flick. And I do like to catch an episode of Dexter, Mad Men, Top Gear or Entourage if I don't have the time for a full 1.5 to 2 hours for a flick.
Although, the best summer "tug at your heart" movie is still - drum roll please - Forrest Gump. Anyone can argue that it's the best movie of all time and anyone that cares to argue its not has to admit its in the top five.
I do like some '80's movies like Better Off Dead or '90's flicks like Dazed and Confuse.
12 Angry Men and Rear Window both take place in miserably hot weather, perfect to sweat with.
Had a double feature last night - American Psycho and Wonder Boys
Pee Wee's Big Adventure
Stand by Me, a trip to strange yet somehow familiar summer past, an evocative little heart-breaker.
Dazed and Confused... perfect summer movie
"The Birds," and yes, "Rear Window."
If you're looking for romance, there's a sweet little one called "'Til There Was You" that I like to rewatch from time to time.
"National Treasure" is fun.
If you want to feel cold, there was an amazing documentary about a mountain survival story: "Touching the Void." It's harrowing, but inspiring.
Heck yeah, Dazed and Confused all the way! I'm also always down to stay up and watch Kill Bill vol 1 & 2.
Dazed & Confused and Jaws are def. summer classics. I also like Adamms Family Values. I've actually been watching a lot of tv dvds this summer alone & with friends. True Blood is a good one for summer, set in the heat of Louisiana, and so is Entourage. And I've been watching a lot of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
"Have you seen Forbidden Zone?"
No Laure - I haven't but it sure looks fun!
...which of course reminds me of "Ruthless People", "Beaches" and "Mermaids"
(I'm such as sap)
The Big Lebowski.
Throw a Big Lebowski theme party and watch the movie.
I love any comedy that follows a madcap series of adventures that happen throughout just one night. Dazed and Confused is awesome, as is American Graffiti. And dare I add Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle and Dude, Where's My Car? to the mix?
And speaking of Earth Girls Are Easy, here's another little-known campy Jeff Goldblum classic: Into the Night.
"The 7 Year Itch" & "Rear Window" (set in a the hot sticky city);
"The Summer of '42" (Nantucket breezes)
"American Graffiti"
"Bull Durham" (the Boys of Summer)
Indiana Jones movies (wonderful summer B-movies)
"A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy"
"Manhattan" (love that rainstorm!)
"Elvira Madigan"
"Meatballs"
"A Walk on the Moon"
"Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset"
"Dirty Dancing"
"In the Heat of the Night"
"The Swimming Pool" (the version with Alain Delon)...
Can't stop coming up with films (used to spend many summer evenings at the local reparatory cinema)
"Before Sunset"
"Desperately Seeking Susan" (in the wee hours)
"The Legend of Billie Jean"
"The Virgin Suicides"
If you like "classic" movies with witty dialogue, how about:
"The Philadelphia Story"
"To Catch a Thief"
If you like a 'classic' style with witty dialogue, how about:
"The Philadelphia Story"
"To Catch a Thief"
Both star Cary Grant
this summer we've watched the following rather recent films with friends and family and had lots of fun watching & commenting:
"dead snow"--about nazi zombies
"let the right one in," a poetic & funny vampire film
"eagle vs. shark"--a new zealand film starring Jermaine from Flight of Conchords
in grad school we had an annual thanksgiving tradition of inviting friends over & watching Woody Allen's "Broadway Danny Rose"
We celebrated Michael Jackson's life a few weeks ago by setting up a 10 ft screen in the backyard and projecting a VHS copy of Moonwalker. Needless to say, it was pretty rad and we're doing it again tonight with Wet Hot American Summer.
I'm always in the mood for a campy 50s b-movie on a hot summer night...
For me, summer = baseball, so I second "Bull Durham" and I also love "Field of Dreams".
And I went to a summer camp that would show "The Princess Bride," so I enjoy that one this time of year, too.
I wish I owned a drive-in - I'd show TCM classics & anime all night long! I really miss the feeling I'd get as a kid going to the Sundown drive-in every week in the summer - the wonderfully fresh night air, the homemade popcorn we brought in a big brown bag, the burgers from the snack stand - yum!
"Purple Rain". My mom took me and my twin to see that movie so many times in the theater as kids, that now we have kids and it's a family classic and must watch movie.
Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot with/by Jacques Tati
Anything by Andrei Tarkovsky. Mmmm mmm. Good summer fun.
No?
OK, how about Grease?
I'm a sucker for 80's movies when it comes to having outdoor viewings/get togethers:
"RAD" - BMX movie starring Lori Loughlin and Talia Shire
"Thrasin'" - Skateboarding flick staring a young Josh Brolin
"Real Genius" - College nerd comedy starring Val Kilmer
"The Goonies" - Come on...nobody has suggested this yet? Shame!
"The Wizard" - Shameless Nintendo infomercial staring Fred Savage and the great Jenny Lewis (of hipster band Rilo Kiley!). Also look for a spilt second cameo by a mullet headed little Tobey Maguire.
Movies like these make it easy to still be social due to lack of deep meanings or hard to follow complicated plots.
To Kill a Mockingbird- there's nothing like Macon, Georgia in the summer during the depression
yes! Forgot Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot and Desperately Seeking Susan (kept trying to remember!)
Wedding Crashers. After all it is wedding season!
andrewg, those are awesome choices. I would also throw in Breakin' and of course, Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo.
Any campy beach movie from the 60's such as "Beach Blanket Bingo" or "Gidget" would be fun. There's another, "A Summer Place" with Troy Donahue and Sandra Dee. Anything light is good when not too much thinking is involved. lol!
@ bepsf
Mermaids w/ Cher & Winona Ryder? That's my favorite movie, but no one ever has any idea what it is. It's more of a fall movie for me though.