As the sweet, soft glow of summertime wanes, I’m once again thinking about the most important thing in life: summer movies. This year, earlier than most, I can already feel the end of summer creeping up on me. As we embark on these last days of August and move gently into September, I’m reflecting on the lack of truly great summertime cinema fare.
I’ll admit the movie-going experience really hasn't been the same since the pandemic, but I am steadfast in single-handedly trying to keep the movie business going. Unfortunately the pickings have been slim, however I’m still hopeful the power of escapism can rule over us once again. In these trying times we need distractions, and movies with dubious levels of depth are the ideal salve to soothe the woes of humanity. This year there were but two summer movies that I felt truly embodied the summertime vibe.
I fear I may be the only person who saw it, but Fly Me To The Moon was a decidedly good time. If you love a bit of historical fiction, retro vibes and all-around silliness, it checks all the boxes. A rom-com set at NASA with a touch of revisionist history thrown in? Who could resist? Not me, evidently. This felt like a true classic rom-com, the likes of which are in short supply these days. I know everyone said Anyone But You was bringing back the rom-com, but I just wasn’t feeling it (sorry Glen Powell).
One movie that really delivered on the summer blockbuster vibes we’ve all been yearning for (and the promise of Glen Powell so often touted) was Twisters, the spiritual sequel to 1996 cult classic Twister. Now this is a summer movie! Equal parts fun and mildly traumatic (those CGI tornadoes were too real) with fleeting moments of what at first appeared to be scientific accuracy, but in actuality was just actors saying big words. A film so mindlessly ridiculous it actually works. What those in the biz (or maybe just me), lovingly refer to as so bad, it’s good. And ever since I saw it I can’t stop talking about being “in the suck zone.” That’s cinema!
Honorable mention goes to everyone’s favorite unhinged tennis movie, Challengers, which came out in April, but has a distinctly summertime soundtrack and all-around vibe. When the beat dropped in the first scene I just knew it was going to be an experience, and reader, I was not wrong. Undeniably fun and also a little bit crazy, it’s one for the ages.
I’ll admit this has been a particularly wild summer, lack of great summer movies notwithstanding. We’re fresh off a surprisingly fun Summer Olympics (bearing in mind all the corruption etc. surrounding it) and barreling towards what promises to be one of the most unpredictable US elections ever, and considering recent history, that’s really saying something. So maybe, just maybe, I can forgive the film industry for not quite delivering the greatest summer of movies this year.
Typically I feel a twinge of dread as summer ends, mostly because I hate being cold, but also because there’s a sort of dulling effect on life as we move into fall, and even worse, winter. Maybe it’s my seasonal affective disorder talking, but when the sun is shining and the temperatures are high everything seems possible. As the days get shorter and colder, it can be hard to capture that same sense of optimism. This year feels different. I can’t quite pinpoint it, but I almost feel relieved that summer is coming to an end. I’ll still miss the weather, but otherwise I’m looking forward to quieter days and more time spent in contemplation.
No one knows what awaits us in the future, but lately something feels different, a vibe shift if you will. I’ve always loved movies because of the way they can transport you to new places and realities (the aforementioned escape). While that will always be fun, the ways in which our world has changed, and continues to change, have made it harder to ignore what’s happening around us. We can’t escape, no matter how hard we try. Though that can sound quite bleak, I don’t think it has to be! As fun as an escape can be, it will never come close to something real.
So while I’ll never really give up on the movies (because they’re actually so much more than escapism, but that’s something for another newsletter), for now I’m satisfied to live in the real world. That is, at least until next summer.