Summer on Film

Before Boondocks Film Society stole our spontaneity, summer meant aimlessness and adventure. With less free time at our disposal these days, we're lucky that we largely agree on a handful of summer films that are sure to deliver the goods.

Pierrot Le Fou (1966)

dir. Jean Luc-Godard

Jeff Palfini: Godard's abstract road movie "Pierrot Le Fou," is equal parts escapism, intrigue and the endless possibility of summer. One day you've got responsibilities, the next you're headed off in a random direction, searching for meaning. And if I needed to conjure up a truly stylish summer adventure to punch up my autobiography, it might look a lot like this. Beach bars, juke-boxes, swiping slick-looking cars, dodging gunrunners, running off with the nanny.

Cindy Heslin: Except for the ending of course. But still, nothing says summer like the South of France, and stealing away on a road trip with your new fling. I can clearly see Anna Karina in the convertible next to Belmondo, looking back over her shoulder.

George Washington (2000) and All the Real Girls (2003)

dir. David Gordon Green

CH: Before his goofy stoner films, "Pineapple Express" and "Your Highness," David Gordon Green was all about moody drams, kids wandering around with absolutely nothing to do in poor Southern towns, and the consequences of chances taken to beat the summer doldrums.

JP: David Gordon Green's first two films are incredible achievements. DP Tim Orr's camera lingers and loiters in these sumptuous Deep South summer settings. The languid pacing just seems right in the summer heat.

The Florida Project (2017)

dir. Sean Baker

CH: This was one of our favorite films last year. It's summer the way you remember it from grade school. Limitless free time, ice cream cones melting in the sun, that Fourth of July fireworks scene. A perfect encapsulation of childhood innocence...

JP: And grit. It's a grim story but told with such color, life and humanity that you can't help but pull for Halley and Moonee. It's so great to look at, and so immediate and personal that you feel like you've moved into that pastel palace of a residential motel.

Dazed & Confused

dir. Richard Linklater

JP: We all had that time in our lives when we were released from the structure and familiarity of school, and needed to find our own feet. Maybe that's why I really identified with this film in my college years. I'm not ashamed to admit I watched it more than 50 times back then.

CH: You should be! Do your parents know? This is one of my favorites too, and our choice for our second-ever Boondocks event last June. I love the bitchin "70s soundtrack. The party at the Moontower. All the amazing cars. And it's super quotable, just vintage summer cool.

Wet Hot American Summer (2001)

dir. David Wain

CH: It always keeps you guessing. The synopsis sounds absolutely insane, but somehow it works. Even though it's a summer-camp parody, it ends up being at least as deep and meaningful as most coming-of-age films. The most whacked-out misfits are accepted for who they are. The fridge-humping chef, Molly Shannon, and her pre-teen love interest. And there's a really great, positive portrayal of a gay relationship in tehre.

JP: How about that all-star cast of sketch comedy alums? This film is absurd, hilarious, self-affirming, raunchy, really stupid. Everything you could hope for out of a summer!

Do The Right Thing (1989)

dir. Spike Lee

JP: "I have today's forecast...HOT!" With an oppressive summer heat bringing tensions to a boil, an overheated Bed-Stuy tries to cool down any way it can: music, running ice cubes all over each other, cracking jokes from the stoop, a fire-hydrant pool party, newspapers used as fans. Ultimately, the atmosphere boils over.

CH: You can almost imagine that the events of the film may not even have happened if the weather wasn't so extreme. So many great images and characters stick with me, like Radio Raheem, Mookie's sister, that long opening sequence with Rosie Perez dancing on the street. Old folks sitting in charis grumbing about the heat.

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

dir. Sidney Lumet

CH: Another tense standoff on a hot summer afternoon in Brooklyn. The heat ratches up the tension and almost acts as another character, pushing the action.

JP: This movie speaks to the working stiff, suffering through long listless days trapped inside a claustrophobic building, longing for release into the relatively carefree outside world. Pacino's bottled-up energy makes the release of tension a very visceral thing. And the sweat matting down Al Pacino's hair deserved an Oscar nomination.

Adventureland (2009)

dir. Greg Mottola

JP: If you ask me, Greg Mottola out-Hugheses John Hughes here. "Adventureland" is sneaky good, in the amusement park of life, "Adventureland" champions "games people" (as opposed to "rides people"). They're not cool enough to drive the Bimmer, summer in Europe or man the rides, but they are cool enough to know their way around Big Star's discography and to have read Nietzsche. Stay true to that and you just might land Kristen Stewart in a Lou Reed T-shirt.

CH: I'm a games girl, for sure. So I can identify with the leads. The soundtrack is the ultimate summer mixtape. This movie overachieves in every way. It could have settled for a lot less than what it was. But it's deep. And Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader's performances are genius. Not to mention the underrated Martin Starr from "Freaks and Geeks!"

"Pierrot Le Fou" will play at Gedney Farm on July 14. Tickets are at boondocksfilmsociety.org