Do you remember cinemas? Do you remember cinemas in summer?
It has been a long time (463 days as of this writing) since the last time I sat in a large, darkened room with strangers for some great big-screen conversation (in this case cats). I really hope to do it again soon – but unfortunately I don’t know if that will happen this summer as I want to wait until my children can be vaccinated. And that’s a shame, because there’s nothing like taking a break from the agonizing summer heat in the icy confines of a cinema – especially when you’re seeing something big, loud and exaggerated there.
Yes, ever since Jaws scared people back into the water in 1975, summer has been considered the high season to go to the movies, at least for certain movie tastes: Usually loud, often full of thrills, and most likely overloaded with special effects. Summer blockbusters have a reputation for being silly and superficial; while it need not be, it is certainly true that the defining examples of form prefer to impress you with spectacle rather than make you think (not that there is anything wrong with that).
To celebrate the return of Hot Weather Movies after the pandemic with the upcoming release of Fast 9 in the US (which will definitely be very loud and guaranteed to be more fun the less you think while watching it), Lifehacker employees share our favorite summers -Blockbusters of the last 20 years. To be considered, a movie doesn’t have to have hit the box office (though most of them did), nor has it been released in what the calendar strictly defines as summer – I think we all agree that, as for the movies, the peak season starts in May and ends in August. What they have to offer is a ride.
