What You Need Is Some Summertime Adolescent Hijinks

Cosmo Kramer has some great lines in Seinfeld. One of my favorite things he says is when he's suggesting a video for Elaine to rent: "What you need is some summertime adolescent hijinks." I never thought of that as being a genre of film, but you know what, it totally is and it's one of my favorites. Now I've been keeping a summer movie diary on my blog but there are a few summer movies that just go together. These movies are about kids going on adventures, causing mischief, and just having fun during summer break. If you are looking for an entertaining summer movie with lovable characters, memorable one-liners, and friendships that remind you of when you were young, then this is the list for you. Inspired by some of my favorite movies of all time (and my most successful Tumblr post to date), here are, in no particular order, some summertime adolescent hijinks.

The Goonies (1985)

The Goonies is rated PG and the opening scene involves a cop in a jail who finds a prisoner that has hanged himself. The prisoner is actually faking it; he takes out the cop and runs out of the jail to find his mom and his brother in a car waiting for him outside. The brother proceeds to pour gasoline in front the prison and light it on fire. You know just from this first scene that this movie is gonna be something special.
The Goonies is a cult classic, directed by Richard Donner and written by Chris Columbus from a story by Steven Spielberg. These three dudes knew how to make movies about kids in the 1980's. The Goonies is one of their finest and one of my favorite films of all time. The movie tells the story of a group of kids who call themselves the Goonies as they go on a quest for a pirate treasure. First off, the casting is great. You've got everyone from baby Sean Astin to baby Josh Brolin. The Goonies themselves were relatable and each had different strengths: the inventor, the talker, the natural leader, the...Chunk. Who didn't watch this movie and not want to be a Goonie?
The Goondocks (the nickname for where the Goonies lived) was also the most beautiful place in the world. The ocean is right next to the woods; The Goonies made Astoria, Oregon my dream place to live. Another wonderful element of this movie was the score. The main theme is unforgettable, somehow perfectly representing kids on a treasure hunt. And who can forget Cyndi Lauper's "The Goonies R Good Enough" and that bizarre music video?
The Goonies is funny, exciting, and it remains good throughout the years. I enjoy it just as much now as I did as a kid. It's not completely flawless in its writing, editing, and story execution. But it remains a favorite among audiences thirty years later because it represents a type of movie that hasn't been made in a long time. It's an adventure movie that stars kids that actually talk and act like real kids. Its combination of good score, funny writing, and practical effects makes this a summer adventure movie that will have you wishing you were a kid again. For all these reasons, I think The Goonies will continue to be a cult classic and audience favorite for years to come. And also because Goonies never say die.

Super 8 (2011)

I first saw this J.J. Abrams movie at the dollar theater when I was in college. It was love at first sight. Super 8 is a summer blockbuster that's a little underrated, in my opinion. It's the late 1970's and school has just ended for the summer. Six kids are making a short film when they witness a major train crash. Afterwards, strange things keep happening in their town and the kids discover that a creature came from that train and is now wreaking havoc.
Like The Goonies, Super 8 has middle school kids that actually act realistically. The child actors, who were relatively unknown at the time except for Elle Fanning, were all great. Joel Courtney and Fanning were particularly fantastic. The cinematography is absolutely beautiful. This movie is just nice to look at. What I really love about Super 8 is the story. I love that it's about kids making a movie. You get to see a bunch of twelve-year-olds in the seventies make a short film about zombies. It's fun to see the old equipment, like the Super 8 camera, of course, and the way they did their special effects. The main character Joe Lamb made models and he used them in the film. The end credits of the movie are even fun. We get to see the short film the kids made. It's quite a treat.
Abrams and Spielberg joined forces to make an E.T. for my generation. If you are loving Stranger Things right now, then you will love Super 8. It's a movie about making movies with some great monster action. It's the perfect summer movie if you want less beach parties and more explosions.

The Sandlot (1993)

You wanna know why, in 2016, you can still buy T-shirts at Target that say "You're killin' me, Smalls" on them? Because The Sandlot is an American gem and a cultural icon. The Sandlot, set in the 1960's, is about a kid named Scottie Smalls who moves to a new town. He's a bookworm who's not too good at sports but he eventually becomes accepted by a group of kids who are obsessed with baseball and teach him how to play.
The Sandlot isn't the smartest or most grown-up movie in the world. In fact, if you didn't grow up watching it, you might not really get it. But here's why you should give it a chance. The Sandlot is the definition of light-hearted. If you want something fun and silly to watch this summer, with nothing too heavy in it, this movie is perfect. It's funny, simple, relatable. My favorite thing about The Sandlot is that there isn't too much of a plot up until the last half hour or so. If you have read my blog for a while, you know that characters are the most important thing for me in a movie; there doesn't even really need to be much of a plot if the characters are good. And that's what this movie is. For most of time, it's just a group of kids doing stereotypical summer activities: playing baseball, going to the pool, having Fourth of July barbecues, telling scary neighborhood legends, going to the fair, having treehouse campouts. Each kid at the sandlot is unique and funny in their own way. You want to join their group and do all of these fun summer activities, too. And coming from someone who sucks at sports like no other, The Sandlot makes me want to play baseball more than any other movie. Now that's something.
The Sandlot is the ultimate summer movie and it will make you laugh and give you ideas on how to enjoy your summer. If there is a place in your heart for The Mighty Ducks and Heavyweights, then there is plenty of room for The Sandlot.

Stand by Me (1986)

Okay, now it's time for the heavy stuff. If you're looking for a summer movie that will make you laugh one minute and cry the next, look no further than the 1980's classic Stand by Me. Based on a short story by Stephen King, this film tells the story of four best friends in 1959 going out into the woods to find the dead body of a kid named Ray Brower. From the description it might sound like a typical horror story by Stephen King but it isn't a horror movie at all. It's a movie about four friends learning about each other, overcoming their own personal problems, and growing up.
The four best friends are played by Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, and Jerry O'Connell. The casting in Stand by Me is wonderful. A quote from Wheaton describes the perfect casting choices: "Rob Reiner found four young boys who basically were the characters we played. I was awkward and nerdy and shy and uncomfortable in my own skin and really, really sensitive and River was cool and really smart and passionate and even at that age kind of like a father figure to some of us, Jerry was one of the funniest people I had ever seen in my life, either before or since, and Corey was unbelievably angry and in an incredible amount of pain and had an absolute terrible relationship with his parents." The writing is also amazing. There are some really funny or poignant lines that stay with you. I also love the soundtrack. It has some of the most classic songs from that time, including "Rockin' Robin," "Lollipop," and, of course, "Stand by Me." It's one of my favorite things to listen to, during the summer especially.
If The Goonies adventure was pure fun, then the Stand by Me adventure is all existential (and lucky for Feldman, he got to go on both of them). Even though it has a lot of funny moments, it also has a lot of sad ones, too, which it makes it a very relatable film. Stand by Me is the perfect coming-of-age movie. In the beginning of the film, the kids argue about whether Goofy is a dog or not. By the end, they have all experienced death firsthand as they discover the body of Ray Brower. By the end, they have grown up. It's kind of sad, but that's how life is. We grow up. And that's the beauty of Stand by Me. 

Heavyweights (1995)

One of the most bizarre and least-known movies on this list, Heavyweights is a hidden gem among the sea of Disney's live-action sports and comedy movies that were released in the nineties. This movie is about a group of kids who go to a weight loss camp called Camp Hope for the summer. While it seems it may actually be a fun experience at first, a new camp owner, the tough and borderline psychotic fitness guru Tony Perkis, proves otherwise.
First, we need to talk about the crazy cast and filmmakers. This movie was co-written by Judd Apatow and stars Paul Feig; just a few years later they would be making Freaks and Geeks together and now both have amazing careers. It also stars Tom McGowan from Frasier, Aaron Schwartz and Shaun Weiss from The Mighty Ducks, and a young Kenan Thompson. There are also cameos from Jeffrey Tambor and Tim Blake Nelson. But no one in Heavyweights shines quite as much as a very young, not-famous-yet Ben Stiller as Tony Perkis. Surprisingly buff and absolutely hilarious, Stiller is definitely the best part of this movie. Even his parents play parts in this film as the former owners of Camp Hope.
With its funny script and choice casting, Heavyweights deserves more love. It's a great summertime movie because it is set in a summer camp and it's full of pranks, mischief, and fun. The message of the movie is also inspiring: pick the right exercise plan and diet for you and take responsibility for yourself. The end-of-the-movie moral could have easily taken other sketchy roads but it ended up being encouraging and sincere. If all these aren't reasons enough to give an hour and a half of your summer to Heavyweights, then maybe this one scene will change your mind: everyone in the camp, including the counselors, gorging on junk food in slow motion while "The Thieving Magpie" plays in the background.

The Parent Trap (1998)

Does anything say summertime adolescent hijinks more than switching places with your secret twin that you met at summer camp? The Parent Trap is the remake of the 1961 Disney movie and stars Lindsay Lohan as both Hallie Parker and Annie James in her film debut. Both girls are from different sides of the world and meet by chance at a summer camp. They soon realize that they are really twins, separated as babies after their parents divorced and never learning of the other's existence. Hallie and Annie come up with a plan to switch places after camp, hoping to get their parents back together.
This movie could have been a disaster for Lindsay Lohan - she was a child actor, it was her first movie, and she was playing two parts, But she pulls it together and does a fantastic job. The Parent Trap made the world fall in love with Lohan and I think she was able to make a lot of good movies after this because she did just such a great job. Elaine Hendrix as Meredith Blake, the woman who wants to marry Hallie and Annie's father, was another great casting choice. She is overdramatic and malicious, making her character hilarious as well as downright awful. The Parent Trap is also a great movie if you enjoy nineties styles. Hallie and Annie have great outfits and if you grew up in the late '90's and early 2000's, you would love the styles in this movie. It's got everything from scrunchies to denim jackets to Lipsmackers.
The Parent Trap is a great summer movie. It's a lot of fun and really heartwarming. And after watching it, you will be wishing that the tagline of this film could have been: "Prepare for trouble, and make it double."

Good Burger (1997)

This might be the weirdest movie on this list. But it's Dan Schneider, so that's not too surprising. Based on the comedy sketch from All That, Good Burger is a nineties staple that tells the story of the restaurant Good Burger as it competes with a new burger joint called Mondo Burger. At Good Burger, two unlikely friends must team up to stop Mondo Burger from putting their restaurant out of business: simpleminded, Good Burger-obsessed Ed and slacker Dexter.
If you are familiar with All That and are fans of Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell, you probably have already seen Good Burger. Written by and starring Dan Schneider, this film is the precursor to later Schneider successes like Drake and Josh and Victorious. He uses his special brand of bizarre comedy to make this movie unique. I think it actually gets funnier the more times you watch it. Plus, both Shaquille O'Neal and Linda Cardellini make appearances. Does it get any better than that?
Good Burger is pure nineties, from the sets to the costumes. Even the R&B-heavy soundtrack in the background (including the gem "We're All Dudes" by Kel Mitchell and Less Than Jake) leaves you feeling nostalgic.
Good Burger is weird and wild. It's pure silliness and that's what makes it great for summer. You'll laugh and remember the crappy summer jobs you had. And then you'll wish that the Demented Hills Dancers was a real dance group you could join. 

The Sasquatch Gang (2006)

The Sasquatch Gang is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen and nobody knows what it is. Hopefully I can help spread the good word. From the producer of Napoleon Dynamite and starring Justin Long and Jeremy Sumpter, The Sasquatch Gang takes place during one fateful summer in Oregon. Four nerdy friends discover what they believe to be Sasquatch tracks and scat and they report what they find. Everyone in town gets excited and patiently waits for a Sasquatch expert named Artimus Snodgrass to declare it a real find. We follow different people's stories throughout the few days this movie takes place and learn how they all are involved in the Sasquatch incident.
If you are a fan of the kind of humor in Napoleon Dynamite, you will love The Sasquatch Gang. For whatever reason, comedies are never recognized at the Oscar's but I honestly think Justin Long deserved a nomination for his performance as metalhead doofus Zeke Wilder. It's one of the funniest performances I've ever seen in a movie. Even with all the silliness involving Big Foot, the characters are very real and fleshed out. There are unconfident girls trying to find themselves, douchey teenage boys, cops obsessed with conspiracy theories. Every character is funny and interesting. Technical aspects of The Sasquatch Gang are also wonderful. The soundtrack and the costumes are fantastic. The editing and cinematography are also awesome. The movie is not linear: we go forward and backwards in time. We may even see a scene we've watched already again but from another character's perspective. The movie is also set in chapters; each new chapter begins with a drawing done in comic book-style art. It's really cool.
The Sasquatch Gang is a funny, surprising movie. There are a lot of good morals hidden in between the jokes. And it will make you long for a summer vacation filled with nothing but enjoying your favorite hobbies and hanging out with your friends.

TV Faves: Stranger Things

I have yet to write about any television shows I enjoy, but after seeing the new Netflix original show Stranger Things, I figured it was about time.

Stranger Things is created by the Duffer Brothers and stars Winona Ryder, David Harbour, and Matthew Modine. It tells the story of a boy who goes missing in Hawkins, Indiana in 1983. When other bizarre occurrences seem to link to to the missing boy, his mother and the police chief suspect that there may be more that's going on.

This show is a supernatural thriller, but it is also one of the best mysteries I've seen in a long time. The show constantly keeps you guessing. Is it aliens? Is it ghosts? Is it scientists or the government or both? Each new episode leaves you coming up with a different theory than the one you had before. The storytelling is great. I really appreciate a TV show that doesn't pander to its audience. Stranger Things lets you figure out stuff on your own. It doesn't always tell you; it shows you. And it all just leaves you on the edge of your seat, itching for a second season.

The acting is also phenomenal. Winona Ryder is one of my favorite actresses and we haven't seen her in much lately. She was really able to show her abilities in the role of Joyce, the mother of the missing boy. I also had never seen David Harbour in anything else before, but I loved his performance of Chief Hopper. When you first meet Hopper, you don't really like him at all, but as the series progresses, so does he. He becomes extremely heroic and helpful. You really just feel for both of these characters as they desperately try to find Joyce's son and figure out what's going on in their town. There were a lot of unknowns cast as the teenagers and kids and, honestly, that was such a great decision. There were some amazing young actors and I hope that this will be a launching pad for them. The three main kids were so funny and likable and the teenagers were very real; every teen character in this show was someone I knew in high school.

Where Stranger Things really succeeds and why it has been getting great reviews, in my opinion, is in its aesthetics. The show is set in the 1980s, and it really takes you there. There are elements in both the story and the cinematography that pay homage to Poltergeist, E.T., Escape to Witch Mountain, and even Twin Peaks. Even the main titles make me feel like I'm watching Tron. Three nerdy kids going on a supernatural adventure with a dark electronic soundtrack in the background can make anybody feel nostalgic for those eighties fantasy and horror movies we loved watching growing up. The Duffer Brothers are able to take all these tropes and elements from these films and make something unique and wonderful. You are not going to want to be on your phone while watching this series. The cinematography is beautiful and the editing and lighting are on point. The story, the acting, and all the technical aspects are going to make you want to re-watch this series over and over again and wait impatiently for the next season.

I can see how the obvious tributes to Spielberg and Stephen King may be cliche or annoying to some viewers. But give Stranger Things a chance. It takes inspiration from great artists and turns it into a show that is distinctive and can stand on its own in our current world of reboots and remakes. There's so much to keep you invested and entertained. So just sit back in your La-Z-Boy, relax, and don't let the Demogorgon get you.

Now Playing: The BFG (2016)

Roald Dahl is one of my favorite authors. I loved his books growing up but I never got around to reading the 1982 novel The BFG until September of last year. Just like all of Dahl's other books, it was imaginative, witty, and it just made me feel all warm and fuzzy after finishing it. My mother also enjoyed the book so we went and saw The BFG together in theaters. Even with the few changes from the book, we both came out of the theater rambling on about how much we loved it. The BFG is exactly what a children's fantasy movie should be.

The BFG is directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Melissa Mathison, who wrote other films such as E.T. and The Indian in the Cupboard. It tells the story of a ten-year-old orphan named Sophie (Ruby Barnhill) who is stolen by the Big Friendly Giant (Mark Rylance) and taken to Giant Country. Sophie begins to enjoy her time there and becomes friends with the BFG but soon she finds herself in danger of being eaten by other giants who are not so friendly and much, much bigger. I was initially shocked when I read that The BFG wasn't doing well financially but was doing well critically, but then of course, I was brought back into reality. It may be Disney and Spielberg working together, but it is a movie based off an old kid's book with good writing that isn't dumbed-down and has a story-line that we haven't seen a hundred times already. I hope this meager review of The BFG will encourage people to see it even though it is competing with Finding Dory and The Secret Life of Pets right now. This film is offering audiences something that we rarely see in films anymore, particularly children's films. I actually predict it to be one of, if not the most underrated movie of the year. Of course, it is too early to tell.

First, I need to talk about the incredible casting. This was Ruby Barnhill's first movie and she did an amazing job. There couldn't have been a more perfect Sophie. She was adorable and smart and very likable. I hope Ruby Barnhill continues to make movies for a long time. Mark Rylance brought the BFG to life in the best way possible. His accent was great and his eyes are just so bright and happy. Jemaine Clement as Fleshlumpeater and Penelope Wilton as the Queen were also wonderful casting choices. As a fan of Flight of the Conchords, it was fun to recognize Jemaine in little ways in this gigantic computer-animated creature. And Wilton played the Queen as both dignified and fun-loving, just how she was in the book.

The effects really were quite amazing. They used the real actor's faces (probably using motion capture or something similar) and contorted them to look like giants and of course constructed these huge bodies. It made the giants, particularly the BFG, look so much more real. The giants are obviously an important part of this story and they needed to be tangible, as-real-as-possible creatures and I think this movie achieved that. One of my favorite aspects of the film was how the filmmakers created the dreams. They were all different colors and they reminded me of little pixies. I love the part where Sophie is laying down surrounded by bottles of dreams and they keep lighting up in different colors. It was very beautiful and, well, dreamy. An amazing scene involves the BFG and Sophie going to Dream Country so that Sophie can see how her new friend catches dreams. Dream Country is absolutely beautiful. It is hidden on the underside of a giant pool of water. It consists of a giant tree. The only lights are those from the millions of dreams flying around. The stars are all completely visible. The whole scene is just so pretty and magical. And of course, I have to mention the Whizpoppers. If you've read the book, you'll remember that Whizpoppers is one of the fun words used by the BFG to describe out-of-this-world flatulence caused by a drink called frobscottle. I was very interested to see how the filmmakers would portray this in the movie and, I must say, they did quite a good job. I won't give too much of this part away because I think it's probably the most fun the first time you see it.

I also have to mention the magical score by John Williams. His fantasy scores are just incredibly top-notch. His music in The BFG gave you the same feelings you felt when you watched E.T. and the first few Harry Potter films. Williams can give moments the whimsy or the awe they deserve with the most perfect music. He really can do no wrong.

There definitely were changes made from the book, as there always will be in book-to-movie translations. The biggest difference, to me, was the ending. In the book, Sophie and the BFG were given their own houses right next to the Queen's. This was not the case in the movie. But for me, the ending the filmmakers went with wasn't terrible and it certainly did not ruin the film for me. Overall, I think this movie did the book justice. The film had a cast that represented the characters well, used a lot of the same language from the book, and had the same basic plot. Avid Dahl fans may not be happy with the changes, but personally, I was not put off by them.

When my mom and I left the theater and were talking about The BFG on the way home, we both agreed we haven't seen a new film like that in a long time. And that's because there hasn't been one made like this for a long time. This is a fantasy film on par with some of the classic magical movies you grew up loving. After watching this movie, I was reminded of when I saw Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for the first time when I was eight years old. There was no movie like that at the time. It was magical, it mixed practical and CGI effects, it had an incredible story, and the children in the movie reacted to the strange and wonderful things the same as you would. My mom thought The BFG reminded her more of watching The Wizard of Oz as a kid. Those films, or even something like E.T., stayed with us until we grew up because they were both relatable and remarkable. Many recent fantasy films lack the charm and the appeal of the ones we loved, and are often bogged down in giant explosions and gratuitous amounts of CGI, all complete with boring storylines and so-so characters. This is why I argue that The BFG will be the underrated film of this year, because I think a lot of people, especially kids, don't want to give it a chance. Kids now don't have Hook or Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. They have Minions and Warcraft. If you are in need of a simple, beautiful fantasy film that is going to make you feel nostalgic and lightheated and happy, then you need to see The BFG. It's a film that is great to see in theaters and we need more people going to see this movie, so that we can have more movies like The BFG.