10 summer films we can't forget

It’s the summer movie season again: time for Hollywood to roll out a dozen or so bloated yawners, in hopes of making a few million at the box office. But sometimes Tinseltown gets it just right and delivers a blockbuster, or a cult classic, that firmly lodges itself in our collective memory.

Here, Matthew Hays — a journalism, film studies and communications studies professor at Concordia — tells us about 10 of the best.
 

1. Jaws

This brilliantly suspenseful 1975 film (pictured above), which celebrated its 40th anniversary this year, stands as one of the best examples of traditional Hollywood storytelling. It is arguably Spielberg's greatest achievement.

And the best part is that because the mechanical shark kept breaking down, Spielberg used point-of-view shots from the shark's perspective instead, making it a far scarier experience. 

 

2. Star Wars

Wildly imaginative and loads of fun, the 1977 film has become somewhat tarnished for what it did to the industry: merchandise tie-ins and emphasis on opening weekend box office numbers are now the norm. Not to mention that it spawned some extremely uneven sequels/prequels...

3. Do The Right Thing

Set during a blistering heat wave, Spike Lee's prescient 1989 film showed us New York's caustic racial tensions at their very worst. It anticipated the 1992 Rodney King riots in Los Angeles with eerie precision — and of course it remains pertinent to this day. 

4. Die Hard

... made ludicrous action movies that much more ludicrous. The pre-CGI explosions (circa 1988) are matched by Bruce Willis' bombastic one-liners.

 

5. Deliverance

Deliverance (1972) is one of the most gruelling vacation movies ever made, and it actually features a great performance by Burt Reynolds.

6. Aliens

In 1986, Sigourney Weaver proved, once and for all, that a woman could kick ass in an action movie. Widely regarded as one of the best sequels ever made, Aliens also kicked ass at the box office and eventually found itself on the cover of TIME magazine.

7. Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot

Jacques Tati performed his strange shtick here in 1953, in what is probably the best Hulot adventure.

8. Friday the 13th

While inferior to Halloween (the film it was ripping off), this 1980 summer blockbuster was noteworthy for taking the slasher genre to new levels of gore and for its twist ending, a play on the final revelation in the granddaddy of all slasher films, Psycho (1960).

9. Suddenly, Last Summer

A haunting 1959 adaptation of one of Tennessee Williams' finest plays, this is essential viewing for its cast alone: Katharine Hepburn, Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor.

10. Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Just when Woody Allen's career had been declared over (circa 2008), he made this delightful romantic comedy, one of the best in a genre the filmmaker has already set the standard for with Annie Hall.

Rebecca Hall and Scarlett Johansson head off to Spain for a final summer vacation before Hall is to get married. They encounter heavy flirtation from artist Javier Bardem. What could go wrong?

Read about Montreal's surprising connections to the Academy Awards.

Banner image courtesy of 20th Century Fox.