This past weekend was the official, unofficial start of summer as Memorial Day weekend typically ushers-in the summer faves of barbecue, fireworks, picnics, parades, and warm days. I hope you all enjoyed the weekend and took a bit of pause from your fun to remember those special men and women that lost their lives in service to our country (USA).
There are so many summer traditions that I am fond of or fondly recall as part of my youth (a long time ago). Foods of course, cooked on the grill, never go out of style. These days, I am a fan of farmer’s markets, fairs (local and state), and drives on country roads in our Mustang convertible. When I was young, a summer ritual was packing the car with food and drink and heading to the drive-in movies. For a while, the drive-ins were in steep decline, but I’ve noticed a renaissance occurring and within an hour’s drive, we can hit a drive-in theater. The problem for me now, is that there just isn’t the summer blockbuster, got to see, movies that typified my younger years (and memories). Sure, the comic book adaptations are kind of fun, but I really miss the kingpins of my youth.
I’m going to date myself with this post but so be it. I grew up in the 60s and 70s. My young adult years were the 80s. I spent many days in my youth in movie theaters, Saturday matinees with cartoons! I grew-up in the city so getting to the movies on a Saturday was as simple as scrimping together some change (50 cents was more than enough), hopping on your bike (weather permitting), and hitting a local theater – the old-fashioned kind with a balcony, single screen, drawable red and gold curtains, etc. I was a big Tarzan fan, any kind of western, and some of the creepy, old monster movies like Dracula and the Mummy.
As I got into my teen years and early 20s drive-ins were great as were the multiplexes that had just started to populate shopping malls. Movies were great for dates, followed by a pizza or ice cream. Seeing a blockbuster at a drive-in was a real treat and I have many memories of nervous jumps and audible shrieks at a drive-in theater where I saw Jaws. The enormity of the screen and we, as always, were fairly close, was a perfect venue to see a flick like Jaws.
As I have gotten older, I no longer have a big desire to go to the movies via a theater. My wife and I will try to conjure-up a date night at a drive-in this summer, provided we can find a movie we both will like. A couple of places we know of, occasionally pull-out an oldie, worthy of our attention. I guess we’ve fallen into a routine where, we can find something on-demand for a few bucks and be comfortable at home with a glass of wine and some snacks – definitely cheaper and more practical when it comes time that either of us needs a pitstop.
As I migrate into summer in the great Midwest, I can’t help but recall my favorite summer flicks, the blockbusters of a few years back. My ten favorites are below including the year of their release. I hope this post stirs some fond summer memories for you. Happy Hump Day!
- Jaws – 1975
- Star Wars, Episode IV (A New Hope) – 1977 (this was the original Luke, Leia, Han Solo, et. al. flick)
- Star Wars, Episode V ( The Empire Strikes Back) – 1980
- Raider of the Lost Ark – 1981
- Star Wars, Episode VI (Return of the Jedi) – 1983
- Ghostbusters – 1984
- Back to the Future – 1985
- Top Gun – 1986
- RoboCop – 1987
- Total Recall – 1990
And, last to mention, an all-time guilty pleasure film of mine from the summer of 1996 – Twister! Still a must watch when I can catch it.