The Top Five Summer Movies Of All Time

Dazed and Confused, Jaws, and The Sandlot

The summer box office may be on hold, but summer movies can still be enjoyed in the comfort of our own homes. What makes a good summer movie? For starters, the plot has to take place during the summer months. The summer should be its own theme and play an integral part in the plot. Camp and the last day of school are two popular settings for summer movies.

This is not a list of movies that are typically released during the summer. So blockbusters and sequels that are released during the summer months are disqualified unless the story revolves around the summer. Avengers: Endgame is a great summer blockbuster, but the film doesn’t specify it takes place during the summer so it’s off the list.

With that being said, here are my top five summer movies of all time.

5. Heavyweights

Oh, look! A deli meat! Sleepaway camp is a good setting for a summer movie. Good luck finding a funnier kids movie than Heavyweights. I will go to bat for Heavyweights. Critics hate it, but fans including myself love it. It features an all-time, over-the-top performance from Ben Stiller as Tony Perkis, the fitness guru who takes over the weight loss camp. Everything Stiller does is laugh out loud hilarious. From his one-liners (“Tonight’s lecture: liposuction, option or obsession?”) to his obsessive mannerisms (“Come on you devil log!”), Tony Perkis walked so Tugg Speedman could run. If you don’t agree, then lunch is canceled due to a lack of hustle.

4. Wet Hot American Summer

Wet Hot American Summer is a cult classic that’s frankly not for everyone. For example, there’s a storyline that revolves around a chef, who’s a Vietnam vet, that gets advice from a talking-can of mixed vegetables. Once again, it’s not for everyone, but it successfully spoofs the teen sex comedy genre. More importantly, the cast is stacked and includes a lot of little-known actors at the time who went on to become huge stars. Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, and Bradley Cooper are the standouts, but the cast also includes Christopher Meloni, Janeane Garofalo, Molly Shannon, Michael Showalter, Marguerite Moreau, Ken Marino, Michael Ian Black, David Hyde Pierce, Joe Lo Truglio, and H. Jon Benjamin. Wet Hot American Summer is the 2011-2012 Oklahoma City Thunder. The cast just needed some more time before reaching their max potential.

3. The Sandlot

Play ball! Where do I even begin? The Sandlot is one of the rare movies where you don’t have to love the sport in order to enjoy the movie. The Sandlot is a film about friendship and childhood just as much as it is a love letter to baseball. The Sandlot’s characters all represent a specific stereotype in each person’s friend group. Every group, both male and female, has some version of the following people: the new kid, the loudmouth, the annoying one, the sibling, the trash talker, the little guy, and the hotshot. Finally, every group has the alpha aka their Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez. The best part of The Sandlot is nostalgia. The film takes you back to when you were 12 and only cared about playing with your friends every summer. The film also has Wendy Peffercorn so there’s that, too.

The Sandlot / 20th Century Fox

2. Jaws

I recently called Jaws the “most important summer blockbuster ever.” 45 years since its release, the film still holds up. It’s a masterpiece from start to finish. Not much more to say about a film that changed the film industry forever.

1.Dazed and Confused

Dazed and Confused / Universal Pictures

That’s the thing about these high school girls. As I get… Nope, we’re not going to finish that line even though we ALL know someone from our hometown who lives in the past and still thinks he’s in high school. Regardless of how you feel about Dave Wooderson’s taste in women, the fact is the Dazed and Confused remains the greatest summer movie of all time. It also happens to be the greatest hangout movie of all time. Every single person who went to school can relate to the last day of school and the first day of summer. It’s what kids live for and continue to live for even as we age. Cruising around with your friends, looking for parties, and pondering the future are all tasks that every teenager undertakes as they grow up. As soon as “Sweet Emotion” hits, it takes me back to a time where all I cared about was hanging out with my friends and finding dumb shit to do. In the words of Wooderson, “Just keep livin’ man.”

What are your top summer movies? Leave your thoughts in the comments below or tweet us, @unafraidshow.

What Movie Has The Greatest Soundtrack of All-Time?

Greatest movie soundtracks of all time

So this question has been making its rounds on Twitter. What movie has the greatest soundtrack? Soundtracks have the ability to elevate a bad movie to a good movie (Batman Forever) and turn a good movie into a great movie (8 Mile).

For me, the soundtrack should reflect the overall themes of the movie. Songs can tell a story into how the main characters think and feel. If I listen to songs from a soundtrack outside of the theater, that’s when you know the film will stick with you.

Narrowing down my choice for greatest soundtrack is proving to be impossible. Instead of choosing one soundtrack, here are a few of my favorite soundtracks over the years.

Forrest Gump

When I first saw the original tweet asking for the greatest soundtrack, Forrest Gump instantly came to mind. Since Forrest Gump spans from 1954 to the early 1980s, the film covers a variety of musicians, bands, and genres. Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Fleetwood Mac, The Supremes, Jackson Browne, and Lynyrd Skynyrd are just names off of the iconic soundtrack. Instead of running across the country like Forrest, roll down the windows, go for a drive, and blast the Forrest Gump soundtrack on your next road trip.

Dazed and Confused

Alright, alright, alright. If you love 70s classic rock, then you will love the Dazed and Confused soundtrack. The soundtrack reflected the rebellious personalities for these rising high school seniors. With an uncertain future, finding the next party and enjoying summer break was the main priority, which a lot of us can relate to at the age of 17. With so many classic rock songs to choose from, “Slow Ride” by Foghat during the final scene is the song that sticks out for me.

La La Land

Make Jazz Great Again. If you think you are “too tough or macho” for a musical film, then I don’t want to be friends. La La Land is a delightful film about a jazz pianist and an aspiring actor who fall in love while chasing their dreams in Los Angeles. Unlike a traditional musical, there is a lot of dialogue so it’s not all singing. However, when stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone decide to sing and dance throughout the city, it’s movie magic. I would say I listened to at least one song from La La Land for about 8 straight months in 2017. After you fall in love with the piano arrangements and huge dance numbers, you’ll be listening to a lot of jazz in the future.

A Star Is Born

If you want to tell me that I’m suffering from recency bias or it’s too early to name this the “greatest soundtrack of all-time,” I’ll hear your argument. However, I know for a fact that it’s not to early to call this a great soundtrack in general. Who knew that Bradley Cooper can sing? Cooper and Lady Gaga had unreal chemistry throughout the entire film. The soundtrack is a mix of rock anthems, ballads, and powerful duets. I dare you to say something about about “Shallow.”

West Side Story

The title of “best film adaption of a broadway musical” belongs to West Side Story thanks to the iconic score and lyrics from Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim. West Side Story has it all: romance, action, conflict, and great music. This tragic love story and its themes of loyalty, revenge, and class warfare are still prevalent in 2019. If I had to recommend one musical to watch that any person would appreciate and enjoy, my recommendation would be West Side Story

Honorable Mention:

Almost Famous, Black Panther, Fifty Shades of Grey (100% serious), Grease, Garden State, Purple Rain, Saturday Night Fever, The Sound of Music, Straight Outta Compton

Do you agree with my choices? Do you hate every single one of them? Let me know your choices for greatest soundtrack on Twitter @danny_giro.