Thursday Movie Picks: Summer Vacation

-
Ahh summer. Remember when you looked forward to that when you're in school? Now when you're an adult and a parent like me. You look forward to the lovely weather then groan internally for three minutes over the fact that you have to find daycare for a few months. Wanderer asks for summer vacation movies, and here's three I think you should see.

 1) The Kings of Summer

 I was not expecting to like this movie. I'm in that point in my life where I struggle with watching movies about teenagers because I suddenly feel so old. But this one is great, and I can't get enough of Nick Offerman

 2) My Girl

 One of my favorites growing up. I liked Vada a lot. As a kid, she felt very familiar to me. I still cry when I watch this.

 3) My Summer of Love

 Teenage Emily Blunt had it then. This movie about two girls and well, their summer of love. It's a beautiful film. 

Comments

  1. Sonia CercaJuly 6, 2017 at 8:24 AM

    I haven't seen any of these but I think I'll check out the one with Emily Blunt.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 6, 2017 at 9:10 AM

      That's the strongest of the three picks, IMO .Great film.

      Delete
  2. GetterJuly 6, 2017 at 8:25 AM

    I agree, tHe Kings of Summer was a pleasant surprise I'm glad I experienced. It's one of my all time favourite teen movies. My Girl is heart breaking, I don't think I've seen it more than twice, and that was enough. I haven't seen the last one.
    My picks are completely different.. hihi. :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 6, 2017 at 9:10 AM

      I've seen My Girl so many times, I don't know why I torture myself with it. lol

      Delete
  3. DanielJuly 6, 2017 at 8:35 AM

    I really liked Kings of Summer. Totally endearing even if some of it feels like a first draft. My Summer of Love is just great.

    Despite being right at the perfect age for it when it was released, I never saw My Girl. But through cultural osmosis I know the ending. SO SAD.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 6, 2017 at 9:10 AM

      The ending is so beyond belief rough. I can't handle it.

      Delete
  4. BirgitJuly 6, 2017 at 8:49 AM

    I have not seen any of these films but Kings of Summer and My Girl I would like to see. I loved summer vacation when i was a kid but I'm not a kid any longer so I just think of the muggy humid heat-ughhh

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 6, 2017 at 9:09 AM

      I'm surprised you haven't seen My Girl, that film was so popular in the 90's.

      Delete
  5. joel65913July 6, 2017 at 9:30 AM

    Kings of Summer was better than I thought it would be but I found My Girl mawkish and manipulative. I don't think I was the film's target audience though! I've never heard of the last but I like Emily Blunt so I'll have to look into it.

    I went with two classic teen flicks and a more contemporary one with beautiful views.

    My Life in Ruins (2009)-Stranded in Athens teacher Georgia (Nia Vardalos) takes a job as a tour guide which she hates and isn’t very good at hiding it. Every group seems just like the last-a goofy couple, a frat boy, a sullen teen, a feuding couple, divorcées looking for a mate, and the funny guy who really isn’t. Mostly tourists on summer vacation and mostly Americans they’re historied out by the time she gets them and most just want to shop. Her latest group looks like it will be business as usual but as unexpected events transpire what starts out so badly slowly turns into a life changing pleasure. Genial romantic comedy filled with stunning views of Greece.

    Beach Blanket Bingo (1965)-It’s summer vacation so Frankie & Annette along with Bonehead and the whole gang hit the beach and battle Eric Von Zipper and his gearheads to save the kidnapped singing star Sugar Kane (Linda Evans) with the help of mermaid Lorelei (hey it’s a beach party movie go with it). The ultimate AIP summer flick where all the typical elements gelled into the best of the series with the catchiest theme song.

    Gidget (1959)-17 year old Frances Lawrence (Sandra Dee) goes to the beach one day on her summer vacation with her girlfriends. While they are sunning she decides to take a swim and promptly gets bumped on the head by surfboarder Moondoggie (James Darren). Intrigued by both the sport and the boy she buys a second hand board with her birthday money and is soon hitting the waves with Moondoggie and his gang of buddies lead by slightly older beach bum The Kahuna (Cliff Robertson) who dub her Gidget (a contraction of Girl and Midget). From then on it’s pretty much sun, fun and hitting the curl until the film takes a darkish turn when Kahuna, who’s been traveling around the world chasing the perfect wave, faces an existential life crisis but that doesn’t stop Gidget and Moondoggie from falling in love. Enormously successful film with a very appealing Sandra Dee followed by several sequels and a short lived TV show that introduced Sally Field to the world.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 6, 2017 at 11:59 AM

      I've seen clips of Beach Blanket Bingo in IFC's Indie Sex documentary and that's about it. lol

      Delete
  6. s.July 6, 2017 at 3:02 PM

    Love Offerman in Kings of Summer, such a hilarious movie. I think My Summer of Love is still Blunt's best work

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 7, 2017 at 7:47 AM

      It's definitely up there with one of her bests. I'm not sure which performance of hers I like the most.

      Delete
  7. thevoid99July 6, 2017 at 3:57 PM

    I haven't seen Kings of Summer but I have seen My Girl and My Summer of Love as the latter is a film I'm very fond of.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Katie HoganJuly 12, 2017 at 5:24 PM


    Not a My Girl fan as I find the ending just to frickin sad. Ah yes Kings of Summer, I missed this at the movies but really wanted to see. I know what you mean about feeling too old but sometimes they can surprise you. Also, surprised to see someone else picked My Summer of Love.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 13, 2017 at 6:37 AM

      I'm glad we both landed on that film. It deserves it.

      Delete
  9. WandererJuly 13, 2017 at 1:04 PM

    My Girl...soo sad. This and Bridge to Terabithia.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Brittani BurnhamJuly 13, 2017 at 1:49 PM

    Bridge to Terabithia was so depressing.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by, let's talk movies!
(comments are moderated to reduce spam)

Popular posts from this blog

Random Ramblings: The Radio Flyer Conundrum

-
Image
Recently, I was talking to someone about who I thought were the best child actors when I was also a child.  Two that really stood out to me were Elijah Wood and Joseph Mazello, and one film those two were in together was called Radio Flyer.  Then I was reminded about the uniqueness of this film. Instead of reviewing the film, I wanted to have an open discussion about the ending. It deals with a tough issue; child abuse. What I’ve noticed is the way that the film ends is interpreted many different ways, and the filmmakers never came forward to say what was right and wrong. I’m interested in hearing everyone’s opinions on it. How did you interpret the ending? Obviously spoiler alerts will follow.. For those of you who haven’t seen the film, the basic premise is this: Two young boys, Mikey (Wood) and Bobby (Mazello) move in with their single mother and her boyfriend, who refers to himself as ‘The King’. It doesn’t take long for The King to start physically abusing Bobby, and the
Read more

Indie Gems: Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

-
Image
Passionate about your profession? I had never heard of this film until it ended up on one of Jason's favorite horror movie lists around Halloween. It immediately sounded interesting to me, so of course I threw it in my Netflix queue. (and if I'm just now watching it after adding it around Halloween, you know how ridiculous my queue is) Taylor (Angela Goethals) is a journalist who, along with a film crew decides to follow around a serial killer named Leslie Vernon. (Nathan Baesel) He plans on doing the typical slasher thing - getting a bunch of drunk teens in an abandoned house and knocking them off one by one. He gets advice from a retired serial killer, Eugene (Scott Wilson) and is threatened by a man who's on to him, Doc Holloran (Robert Englund) Taylor and crew are there capturing it all. Leslie Vernon is fucking hilarious to start with, and clearly very passionate about what he does. He tells Taylor all of his secrets and can barely contain his excitemen
Read more

Please join me in my Favorite Movie Titles Blogathon!

-
Image
Earlier this week I made a post where I ran through the letters of the alphabet with my favorite movie titles. There were a few people that suggested I turn it into a blogathon, and I've never done that before. So here goes nothing! Since this is my first attempt at a blogathon, it's all pretty simple, and it's hopefully a quick post that everyone can join in. Rules: 1) Going through the alphabet, list your favorite movie title beginning with each letter.  2) You don't have to necessarily  like the movie to use it's title.  3) Use the banner at the top of this post in yours. 4) Please have submissions in by Friday, May 30th*. (But I'll be honest, if you send them to me after that date, I'll still add them to my post.) You can either leave a link to your post in the comments here or tweet it to me, ( @ramblingfilm )  Thanks everyone! :)  *I had to move the date back a week due to Photobucket threatening me with bandwidth issues. But
Read more