Summer Films

Though it technically begins June 21, summer may as well be here. Check out these films in preparation for the Summer Solstice and whatever warm weather adventures lie ahead of you.

The Endless Summer (DVD 772) &  II (DVD 2484)

A documentary on the search for the perfect wave, in which two Californians take off with their surfboards for Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti and Hawaii.

Wet Hot American Summer (DVD 1181)

It's the last day of summer camp, and the last day for each camper and counselor to find someone to kiss at the end of the big talent show that night. Beth, the camp director, struggles to keep her counselors in order—and her campers alive—while falling in love with Henry , an astrophysics associate professor at the local college. Henry has to devise a plan to save the camp from a piece of NASA's SkyLab, which is falling to Earth. Coop has a crush on Katie , his fellow counselor, but has to pry her away from her rebellious, obnoxious and obviously unfaithful boyfriend, Andy . Only Gene , the shellshocked Vietnam war vet and camp chef, can help Coop win Katie – with some help from a talking can of vegetables.

Dirty Dancing (DVD 2884)

The summer of 1963 innocent 17-year-old Baby vacations with her parents at a Catskill's resort. She meets Johnny, a hotel dance instructor, who is as experienced as Baby is naive. Baby soon becomes Johnny's pupil in dance and love. And nobody puts Baby in a corner.

Summercamp! (DVD 9057)

Follows the day-to-day adventures of campers at Swift Nature Camp in Wisconsin.

Kikujiro (DVD 1344)

Loney nine-year-old Masao leaves Tokyo in search of his mother, whom he has never met. He's accompanied on his journey across the Japanese countryside by the surly, middle-aged crook Kikujiro, who is none too happy being the chaperone. When Kikujiro gambles away all the travel money, the two must rely on their wits and the kindness of strangers.

Do the Right Thing (DVD 506)

On the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, everyone's hate and bigotry smolders and builds until it explodes into violence.

Summertime (DVD 4301)

The story of a witty but lonely secretary who takes a vacation in Venice, hoping to fall in love. She does - with a very handsome but very married Italian man.

Chronicles of a Summer (MV 10691)

In the summer of 1960 a documentary film crew asks the people on the streets of Paris if they are happy.

Meatballs (DVD 7427)

The wackiest head counselor in North Star camp history, Tripper Harrison devotes his summer activities to cracking jokes, chasing female staffers, and plotting the demise of their evil rich rivals, the snotty young brats at nearby Camp Mohawk.

Smiles of a Summer Night (DVD 4085)

Fat Girl: À ma soeur! (DVD 3868)

A daring and provocative exploration of the complexities of sexual awakening involving 12-year old Anaïs. With her family on holiday by the sea, she yearns for the experience of first love. However, she experiences it by proxy when her beautiful older sister, Elena, gets involved with an older boy. Soon Elena's naive hopes of romance will be shattered setting a chain of events in motion that will shatter her family forever.

Mean Creek (DVD 4662)

Follows a bunch of ragtag teenagers who take a boat trip on a nearby creek to celebrate their youngest member's birthday. They have an ulterior motive - to payback a local bully for his cruelities to the birthday boy. This is a hearty dose of how revenge can change a life in 24 hours.

July '64 (DVD 6789)

In the summer of 1964, a three-night riot erupted in two predominantly black neighborhoods in downtown Rochester, New York--the culmination of decades of poverty, joblessness and racial discrimination and a significant event in the Civil Rights era. Using archival footage and interviews with those who were present, the film explores the genesis and outcome of these three nights.

Crazed Fruit:  Kurutta kajitsu (DVD 5117)

Two brothers compete for the amorous favors of a young woman during a seaside summer of gambling, boating, and drinking. A portrayal of post-war sexual revolution among Japan's young and privileged.

Jaws (DVD 630)

A man-eating shark causes havoc off the Long Island coast and three men join together to hunt and destroy it.

9 Songs (DVD 5321)

A powerful insight into the lives of two young people who share a summer of love amidst today's vibrant London rock 'n' roll scene.

In July: Im Juli (DVD 3270)

Daniel, a young teacher, decides to spend his summer at home in Hamburg. At the local flea market, he meets Juli, who is immediately attracted to him, a fact to which Daniel seems oblivious. On the same day, Daniel meets Melek, a young Turkish girl, with whom he is immediately smitten. Ignoring his earlier plans, he sets out in pursuit of her across the Balkans. Along the way he picks up a hitchhiker, who just happens to be Juli.

Hawaii, Oslo (DVD 5470)

Hawaii, Oslo is the story of a handful of desperate people whose paths cross on the hottest day of the year in Oslo. Frode and Milla have their first child, but learn he will not live long without an expensive operation they cannot afford. Bobbie-Pop is a faded singer who tries to commit suicide. Leon is an institutionalized mental patient, who hopes to keep a 10-year-old date on his birthday with his teenage sweetheart. Leon brother, Trygve, gets a weekend leave from prison to be with Leon on his birthday, but plans on using the furlough to escape. Overseeing Leon and protecting him is his guardian angel Vidar, Leon best buddy at the institution, who sees things no one else can see, and who may be able to save everyone--except himself.

Y tu mamá también (DVD 1606)

Abandoned by their girlfriends for the summer, teenagers Tenoch and Julio meet the older Luisa at a wedding. Trying to be impressive, the friends tell Luisa they are headed on a road trip to a beautiful, secret beach called Boca del Cielo. Intrigued with their story and desperate to escape, Luisa asks if she can join them on their trip. Soon the three are headed out of Mexico City, making their way toward the fictional destination. Along the way, seduction, argument and the contrast of the trio against the harsh realities of the surrounding poverty ensue.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (DVD 9751)

Two American women, one engaged to be married and the other sexually flirtatious, both become romantically involved with a painter while on vacation in Barcelona, only to find they have competition in the form of the painter's ex-wife.

Smooth Talk (DVD 4352)

Connie is a 15-year-old girl with two things on her mind, boys and how she looks. She meets a man during the summer. Based on the short story, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been", by Joyce Carol Oates.

Camp (DVD 3384)

Guitarist Vlad attends Camp Ovation, the summer theater camp for budding actors, dancers, and musicians. Finding himself to be one of the only straight boys around, he soon befriends Ellen. Meanwhile, openly gay Michael develops a crush on him. This sparks dramatic confrontations among fellow campers Jenna, Jill, and Fritzi. The whole camp is run by Bert Hanley, a washed-up Broadway songwriter who decides to enlist the help of his young campers to put together a new musical production.

Ginger and Cinnamon: Dillo con parole mie (DVD 2335)

While vacationing on the Greek "Isle of Love," the repressed 30-year-old Stefania reluctantly plays chaperone to her precocious 15-year-old niece, Meggy. Unbeknownst to Stefania, Meggy plans to lose her virginity before the summer is over. Amidst a mélange of sun rash, broken diets, nervous girls, sleeping bags, orgasms, 80s music and a little ginger and cinnamon, the two women discover themselves and their sexuality.

American Graffiti (DVD 28)

Two boys are scheduled to leave for college in the morning. Each has his own doubts. They spend a final evening cruising the strip and have every adventure possible before dawn when they will each have to decide what they will do.

See the Sea (DVD 2221)

During a summer escape to the beautiful island of Yeu, Sasha's beginning to grow bored. She's been spending her days tending to her new baby daughter while awaiting the arrival of her husband from his office on the mainland. Her charming seaside cottage rests in perfect isolation for Tatiana, a brooding teen-aged backpacker in desperate need of a place to pitch her tent. Hesitant at first, Sasha's loneliness gets the better of her and she welcomes the mysterious young girl to spend the night camped in her yard. Apprehensive yet mesmerized by the free-spirited drifter, it isn't long before Sasha invites Tatiana into her home and an unbridled game of deception begins.

Bikini Beach (DVD 2806)

The summer beach party is in full swing when the charismatic British pop idol Potato Bug pitches his tent in the sand and sends the girls swooning. A jealous Frankie--determined to exterminate this stiff-upper-lipped pest-- challenges the English crooner to a drag race.

Crooklyn (DVD 7404)

Spike Lee fashions a bold, flavorful picture of family life in a crowded but cozy Brooklyn neighborhood nicknamed "Crooklyn" by the Carmichaels, who experience one very special summer in their hometown under difficult but often wonderful circumstance

The Sandlot (MV 9796)

It's the early 1960s and fifth-grader Scotty Smalls has just moved into town. Kids call him a dork, but that changes when the leader of the neighborhood gang recruits him to play on the nearby sandlot field. It's the beginning of a magical summer of baseball, wild adventures, first kisses, and fearsome confrontations with the dreaded beast and its owner who live behind the left field fence.

Ghostworld (DVD 1111)

Two recent high school graduates wreak havoc on all who cross their path, until an oddball loner looking for Miss Right comes into their lives. These social misfits learn the hard way that life after high school gets even weirder than they thought it would.

Midsummers Night's Dream (DVD 2290)

A Midsummer Night's Dream, romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, portrays the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of amateur actors, their interactions with the Duke of Athens, Theseus, the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta, and with the fairies who inhabit a moonlit forest.

Girl's Can't Swim (DVD 1454)

Teenagers Gwen and Lise have always spent their summer vacations together on the Brittany coast, but this summer is different. The death of Lise's estranged father keeps her at home, leaving Gwen alone to explore her budding sexuality with the local boys of the resort town. One day, Lise shows up unexpectedly at Gwen's house, but their reunion is soon soured by Lise's resentment of Gwen's newfound interest in the opposite sex. The days that follow are filled with awkwardness, tenderness and rage as the two girls reexamine their friendship amid the strains of adolescence.