Summer break is finally here, and there’s no better way to soak up the sunshine (or escape the Florida heat) than with a list of movies bound to make your summer shine a little brighter.
Little Miss Sunshine
If you’re feeling like traveling on a lengthy road trip, this is for you.
Directed by Jonathon Dayton and Valerie Faris, this heartwarming road trip comedy follows the dysfunctional Hoover family on their disorderly journey to the sunny side of California.
The film follows Sheryl, a vaguely sane mother, anxious author husband Richard, their son Dwayne, who has taken a vow of silence, their 7-year-old aspiring pageant girl Olive, Sheryl’s recovering brother Frank and foul-mouthed, Rick James-loving Grandpa Edwin.
The yellow Volkswagen bus that they drive to California becomes a place of comfort for the awkward family. Along the way, under sunny skies and a long, sweltering summer road, they learn to come together and help their eccentric daughter Olive reach her beauty pageant dreams.
Aquamarine
If you’re feeling that child-like wonder or wishing for a splash of mermaid nostalgia, “Aquamarine” is a superb selection.
This film takes place in a fictional breezy beach town near Tampa, Florida. It’s a tale of friendship between two teenage girls, Hailey and Claire and a runaway girl named Aquamarine who loves ice cream with salt and happens to have a tail.
After a nail-biting thunderstorm, a mermaid is swept ashore to a swimming pool. When the two best friends discover her, they learn that she has limited time to prove to her father that true love lives. What comes after is a dream-filled adventure with saltwater days, talking starfish, different nail color every day and fun last splash dances. Lastly, a mission to help Aquamarine find the love she needs.
Call Me By Your Name
If you’re yearning for an Italian coastal grandmother summer, quiet mornings, a warm cappuccino with a ripe peach in hand, who sits outdoors – “Call Me By Your Name” is right up your alley.
Picture this. It’s the summer of 1983 in the north of Italy. Soft classical music is whispering in the background while a 17-year-old, Elio, spends his time basking in the sunlight, roaming around the town aimlessly and being nosy.
On a random day, his father decides to invite one of his graduate students to be an intern pursuing studies in Greco-Roman culture. The film centers on the blossoming desire between Elio and Oliver, which guides them to lessons that can’t be taught, only learned through life.
The director of the film, Luca Guadagnino, made it with such emotional precision and captured the special depiction of summertime in his own hometown. This film is like being bathed in golden sunlight, soft pastels and romantic whispers wrapped up in the essence of summer.
I Know What You Did Last Summer
If you’re in the mood for a little Summerween, “I Know What You Did Last Summer” has a coastal spine-chilling charm and suspense around a small seaside town on the Fourth of July.
This movie will hook you right in, literally. The group of teens attempts to uncover the identity of a hooked fisherman and the reason he has been tormenting them over the previous summer. Mysterious letters make their way toward the four and the hooked killer’s goal of eliminating them.
