June comes with the possibility of shipping. It brings the first action of summer and the pitfalls of the season to the imagination: barbecues and beach trips, some time out of town if you’re lucky. The promise of June is one of escapes: from winter, from the school year, from everyday life to something more magical and sparkling.
In recent years, Hollywood has gravitated toward superhero blockbusters, but I’m more interested in the more mundane fare of summer vacation comedies. The Raw Formula: Optimistic travelers embark on a trip; there are plot twists that they could never have predicted (bad guy? romantic? sunburnt?); may have some crude humour; there’s definitely an emotional interlude where we all learn something about ourselves before going back to our normal lives changed for the better.
Movies don’t have to be released during the summer months to qualify, but many classics like “The Hangover,” “How Stella Got Her Groove Back,” and “Little Miss Sunshine,” have. And while the ride depicted doesn’t need to be a literal vacation, the movie does have to have the casual vibe that summer implies.
My earliest vision of the perfect summer was conceived by the Griswolds tripping over the “National Lampoon Vacation.” Some of my favorites in this genre include “The Way Way Back” (a boy who escapes his dysfunctional family’s vacation by sneaking into a local water park),” Girls Trip” (best friends traveling to New Orleans) and even “Thelma and Louise,” though (spoiler alert!) We’re not quite back to our normal lives in it. Ideally, a beach or resort setting (as in the recent “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar” and “Palm Springs”), where I can imagine myself poolside with an exotic cocktail eyes and a soft hat.
A worthy new entry to the genre, which premieres on Hulu this weekend, is “Island of Fire,” Andrew Ahn’s romantic comedy about a group of friends (including Joel Kim Booster, Margaret Cho, and Bowen Yang). ) during their annual beach vacation. A quirky retelling of “Pride and Prejudice,” the film is full of irony and whimsy, and it offers the holiday movie two signature potions to escape: first into the movie. , then set off on an island adventure. Like Elisabeth Vincentelli wrote“Can’t resist a movie that uses ‘Learies Blonde’ as a verb and in which two men are emotionally bonded together through the Alice Munro short story.”
I want to go out when the weather is nice. But it’s comforting, especially on super hot days, to stay indoors for a few hours to soak up the world of summer vacation. Even if you don’t embark on a family trip or live with your chosen family in a beach house, these movies provide a welcome and believable relief.
Got a favorite summer vacation movie? Tell me about it.
For more
WEEKEND FOR…
🍿 Movie: A Rwandan horror film among international streaming options.
🖼 Art: The new station of La Guardia promise to an art destination.
📚 Read: NPR has selected books that evoke each of the 50 states.
WEEK IN CULTURE
Strawberry spoon cake
At the beginning of strawberry season, I always eat them raw from the container, usually walking home from the market. It definitely took a couple of weeks for this kind of instant gratification before I was ready to bake anything with them. And then I immediately wanted to beat the awesomeness of Jerrelle Guy strawberry spoon cake. I don’t know if the fruity dessert is easier or prettier, with a bowl of dough topped with crimson berries so the sugar water runs all over the place as the cake expands, soft and warm. Yes, you can make this with frozen strawberries that have been defrosted, but fresh fruit holds up a bit better while baking. It’s also wonderfully made with raspberries and blackberries, so bookmark the recipe to come back all summer.
A selection of New York Times recipes available to all readers. Please consider it Register to cook for full access.
REAL ESTATE
Iga Swiatek vs Coco Gauff, French Open final: Swiatek wowed the tennis world here in 2020, arriving as a relatively unknown teenager and winning the entire tournament without dropping a set. Now, at 21, she’s playing her best tennis: She’s #1 in the world and has won five tournaments in a row. Gauff, 18 years old American in her first final, thrive on claysurface on which the French Open is played and a surface that has long fascinated American tennis players. 9 a.m. Eastern today on NBC
For more: Swiatek “captured – Jedi Knight fashion – the full power at her disposal,” Christopher Clarey of The Times writes.
