Folks we are truly and deeply into the summer now. So I decided to troll the internet and look at some of the lists of “best movies about summer.”
- Rotten Tomatoes’ Best Summer Vacation Movies
- TV Guide’s “The Best Summer Movies Ever” – taking liberties by adding this list because it goes into the greatest films released in the summer, not just exclusively films ABOUT the summertime.
- CBS News’ 16 Essential Films About Summer
- Movies about Summer Camp (some good, quite a few bad ones in the mix)
- Paste Magazine’s 21 Classic Summer Movies (glad to see The Seven Year Itch on the list)
- Total Film Magazine’s 50 Best Summer Movies
Confession Time: Dirty Dancing, a film that graces many of these lists, has never crossed my eyes. Is that a good or bad thing?
Question: Can you think of any other films that did not make the list?
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Overlooked Film of the Week: SpaceCamp (1986)
After reviewing the list I was reminded of my one of my favorite films as a child, SpaceCamp. For a number of years, attending the real-life SpaceCamp was a dream of mine. Unfortunately that obsession eventually waned and all I was left with was the ability to live vicariously through the fictional characters. At the time, this film captured my imagination and desire to explore the stars. Even though I knew that they were not ACTUALLY in outer space, I was still quite envious of the cast’s experience in making this movie.
When it was released, SpaceCamp was both a critical and financial failure – due in part to what can only be described as bad timing: it was released six months after the Challenger disaster. In spite of this lack of fortune I think that in a world where there is a sufficient lack of young people (especially young women) pursuing STEM-based education, a movie like this can serve as an inspiration for further math, science and technology learnin’. My favorite character was/is Trish (played by Kelly Preston), who was the most remarkable (if not a bit unbelievable) genius one could possibly imagine. (Side Note: they have SpaceCamp for adults, so the dream is still alive folks, the dream is still alive).
Be sure to check out more overlooked/forgotten films, by visiting Todd Mason’s blog.
