There are plenty of exciting blockbusters and highly-anticipated sequels hitting theatres this summer, but sometimes there’s nothing better than beating the heat at home with an old favourite.
To celebrate the arrival of summer movie season, the Star asked some of our favourite critics, filmmakers and journalists to share a movie that they return to year after year, and that just screams summer.
Caddyshack (1980)
No film says “summer” to my family and me like the 1980 golfing comedy “Caddyshack.” This debut feature by the late Harold Ramis is our favourite of what we call “cottage movies,” films you consume like snack food, brain not fully engaged, while recovering from a day of swimming or broiling on the beach. Bill Murray and Chevy Chase compete for laughs with Rodney Dangerfield and Ted Knight and they’re all upstaged by a turf-ravaging gopher. “Caddyshack” was made in the pre-CGI era, so the gopher is a goofy puppet rather than a convincing digital creation. This somehow makes him, and the movie, all the more hilarious. — Peter Howell, Toronto Star film writer
The Green Ray (1968)
Call it “How I Almost Spent My Summer Vacation”: dumped by her boyfriend, ditched by her bestie and nagged by her family to follow them down the path of least resistance (and to Ireland), 20-something Parisian Delphine is staring down two months of sun-dappled loneliness. Suffused in equal measures by boredom and longing, Eric Rohmer’s masterpiece is so perceptive about the trials of young adulthood that it could almost be a documentary; at the same time, it has the sort of fairy tale lyricism that enchants viewers of all ages. The final sequence, which involves nothing more than two people staring together at the sky, is genuinely magical — an image that splits the difference between reality and fantasy until they’re one and the same. — Adam Nayman, film critic and freelance contributor to the Star
Y Tu Mamá También (2001)
My go-to summer film combines my love of travel and film; it reminds me of the free-spirited summers of youth filled with passion, rebellion and a sense of discovery. This coming-of-age story is set against the rich cultural backdrop of Mexico, featuring a summer road trip journey from Mexico City to Oaxaca, two of my favourite cities in the world. Directed by Alfonso Cuarón, the film introduced the world to the talents of Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, making it a standout piece in both Mexican cinema and my personal collection of favourite films. — Anita Lee, chief programming officer, TIFF
Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
“Wet Hot American Summer” perfectly captures the delirious, inane humour of being 16 at summer camp, when you haven’t slept in a week and can’t stop laughing. Featuring an ensemble of comedy all-stars, including Bradley Cooper (in his film debut) and a talking tin can, “Wet Hot” is infinitely quotable and best enjoyed among friends, late at night, perhaps a little less than sober. Watching this raunchy spoof of 1980s teen comedies is like biting into a s’more: it oozes nostalgia and, while it has absolutely no nutritional value whatsoever, summer just isn’t complete without it. — Grant Oyston, Revue Film Society chair
Summer of Soul (2021)
What is summer but a soundtrack to the warmest days of your life? This doc, about the Harlem Cultural Festival —dubbed “Black Woodstock — showcases some of the GOATS of Black music, including Stevie Wonder, Sly & the Family Stone, Gladys Knight and Dr. Nina Simone. It’s a portrait of a moment: the fashion, the culture, the sounds and the spirit of community, highlighting Black joy at its finest. It’s the summer festival I would love to time-travel to see, and I love it as a background (movie) when getting ready for summer fetes. — Vanessa Magic, writer and filmmaker
Batman (1989)
Maybe I should resent it for helping birth the superhero genre, but the summer blockbuster that still owns my heart is Tim Burton’s “Batman.” Smashing together esthetics from the 1920s, ‘40s, and ‘80s, and drawing equally from German Expressionism and American kitsch, Burton’s Gotham City is the retro-futurist dreamscape that I want to live in (although preferably not at ground-level). And in contrast to the righteous crusader of many films and comics, Michael Keaton offers a Batman I can believe in: uncomfortable, inarticulate and a completely different man once he puts on the suit. — Will Sloan, film critic and journalist
Before Sunrise (1995)
While it’s not explicitly stated that “Before Sunrise” is set in the summer, the film perfectly captures the magic of a seemingly endless summer day, brimming with infinite possibilities. The story follows two young strangers — played by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy — who fall in love within 24 hours of meeting on a train in Europe. Driven by dialogue, the movie is essentially a two-hour conversation between the protagonists about love, life and religion as they weave through Vienna’s cobblestone streets while the sun gradually fades into a purple dusk. Richard Linklater’s film, inspired by his own experiences, radiates hope, adventure and youthful idealism, evoking the feeling of warmth and possibility that comes with the arrival of summer. — Ghada Alsharif, Toronto Star reporter
American Graffiti (1973)
When I think about summer, I think about “American Graffiti,” George Lucas’s classic coming-of-age story, set over the course of one long night at the end of summer vacation. Even though there’s not much sun in it, nostalgia for summer suffuses every frame. It’s the sense of possibility, of adventure, of freedom. The classic cars, of course, are incredibly cool, and the extensive early rock ‘n’ roll soundtrack is justly iconic. It’s a wonderful microcosm of youthful experience before the realities of adulthood bear down — the stuff summer is made of. — Corey Atad, film critic and journalist
Smooth Talk (1985)
A film which melts you through literal and poetic heat, this adaptation of a Joyce Carol Oates story shows a young Laura Dern coming of age in a northern California suburb — all shopping malls, convertibles, and drive-in diners — while being pursued by a treacherous older man. It’s picturesque and gut-wrenching, a dog-day parable where the hum of summertime is ruptured by the violence of coming into your body. This sombre reading is clinched by bubble gum pop and girlhood codes, like biting into the centre of a stone fruit. — Saffron Maeve, film critic and programmer at Paradise Theatre
Only Yesterday (1991)
Ok sure, this pick isn’t bursting with “SUMMER NRG” (splish-splash, we’re in bikinis having a bodacious time!). No, this is the movie you put on after that first month of being flung into summer’s chaotic rush to do everything, to be everywhere and to drink every iced Americano. This animated film by Isao Takahata of Studio Ghibli reminds me to be slow, to water my plants, to laugh at the moon and watch the shadows that dance across the floor in the afternoon. Like the film’s protagonist Taeko, I make space to indulge in memory and reflection, to slow down and notice. I love this movie so much — it calls to me, grounds me and allows for a smidge of sadness in the brightness of the summer sun. — Rakhee Morzaria, actor and comedian
Jaws (1975)
There are lots of reasons why this movie about a great white shark terrorizing a Cape Cod community is legendary today: its status as the first summer blockbuster; the fact Steven Spielberg surfed into the directing A-list on the creature’s back; the reality that we still instantly recognize that theme music almost 50 years later. But for me it will always be the ultimate summer movie because of the memories it conjures: the unbearable tension of sitting in a theatre that summer waiting for the shark to claim its next victim and, later, swimming in Lake Simcoe with my cousins, barely daring to dangle our legs off the homemade raft where we congregated lest that voracious predator take a bite. — Debra Yeo, Toronto Star editor and TV critic
