Hot summer days and nights

[sandykaypax]

Well, everyone, today in northeast Ohio the temps are expected to hit 88 degrees! HOT! Luckily, since it's May, the humidity is low--unlike July and August. I do live very close to the lake, so it will be a few degrees cooler--the lake water temperature is still chilly now. I'm going to try to run some errands before it gets too hot (gotta renew my driver's license--it always looks like a mug shot, no matter how hard I try to look nice), grab some breakfast at Bob Evans, and then drink iced tea all afternoon in an effort to stay cool!

What type of movie do you like to watch when the heat is on? Or do you like to do other activities?

I feel like watching something bright and splashy, but I have Call Northside 777 out from the library, so I have to watch that before it's due! Dramas just don't seem right for hot days.

Sandy K

[Dewey1960]

Hi Sandy -
I'm originally from Michigan, and I can vividly recall those hot and muggy days where sometimes the only thing you COULD do was sit back and watch a movie. My personal recommendation for an 88 degreee afternoon: THE THING, Howard Hawks' terrific 1951 science fiction thriller set at a remote outpost in Antarctica. It's enough to cool off any heat wave (and a great watch, to boot!)

[benwhowell]

When the heat is on-which is the case most of the time in Las Vegas-nothing works better for me than a cool black and white romantic film noir ...like "Laura" or "Notorious."

[Dewey1960]

Hey Sandy - I've reconsidered my recommendation. Try THE YOUNG GIRLS OF ROCHEFORT, Jacques Demy's sensational 1967 musical. A glorious homage to the MGM musicals of the 50s, this ultra-romantic French film features Catherin Deneuve, her sister Francoise Dorleac, George Chakiris, Gene Kelly, Grover Dale, Danielle Darrieaux and more. And a fantastic score by Michel Legrand with extraordinary, exciting dance numbers! It's set in the seaside town of Rochefort (splashy!) and the coolness of it all will set you free--especially on a hot summery day! Miramax has just recently issued this film on a stunning DVD. Ooh-la-la!

[sandykaypax]

Hi Sandy -
I'm originally from Michigan, and I can vividly recall those hot and muggy days where sometimes the only thing you COULD do was sit back and watch a movie. My personal recommendation for an 88 degreee afternoon: THE THING, Howard Hawks' terrific 1951 science fiction thriller set at a remote outpost in Antarctica. It's enough to cool off any heat wave (and a great watch, to boot!)

Ah! Another Great Lakes native! We spent a few summer vacations in Michigan when I was a kid. My dad was in the UAW (United Auto Workers) union and they had a great camp/lodge on Black Lake. First and only time I saw King Kong was there. I was petrified! I remember going to Mackinaw Island and vowing to come back one day and stay at the Grand Hotel (featured in the movie Somewhere In Time). I still haven't, though.

I'm weird--I generally only like to watch films with a wintry setting in winter! So, perhaps I will take your later recommendation to check out The Young Girls of Rochefort. I think I saw the dvd at my library.

Sandy K

[mrsl]

Hi Sandy:

Same thing here in the suburbs of Chicago, last week, winter coats, this week shorts and halters. I hate that. I miss the old days with Spring weather to help you acclimate to the heat, starting with weather in the 60's, 70's and gradually going up to the 80's and 90', and more. Global warming is just a theory? Yeah, right!!!!

I have to go along with the folks who suggest a winter setting, but light plots like Christmas in Connecticut, or The Bishops' Wife. There is one movie I've been trying to find for a long time now. The name is Ice Palace, starring loads of eventual stars like Richard Burton, Carolyn Jones, Martha Hyer, and Robert Ryan (although he was already pretty well known). It's about the settling of Alaska, and I recall it as a pretty good movie, but nobody seems to have it - I'll eat spaghetti for two weeks, if I can find it somewhere.

Anne

[sandykaypax]

Hi Anne! I know what you mean about spring being so short! We had some lovely spring days, and then it SNOWED! And I mean lots of snow. Luckily, it didn't kill all the flowers and blossoms that had already started to bloom.

I've never heard of Ice Palace. With all the different films that TCM is showing lately, you should request it.

Another seasonal thing that I like to do is listen to oldies from the 50's and early 60's. For some reason, that always seems like summertime music to me. Especially if I'm driving with the windows down!

Sandy K

[MissGoddess]

Summer is my season---Spring and Summer all year would be just fine for me. I have a friend from Ecuador who says I should move there---she hates the hot weather.

Anyway, I swing back and forth between basking in the soaring temperatures with a hottie like REAR WINDOW or, when even my passion for 80+ wanes and I dip my toe into cooler climes with The Bishop's Wife, Winter Meeting or Holiday Affair.

But I tend to be out and about more in the warm weather which leaves me overall less time to watch any movies. In the winter---boy I hibernate big time and watch all the steamy flicks I can!

[jdb1]

Well, first of all friends, I had to supress a ladylike snort at Sandy's depiction of 88 degrees as "hot." Child's play, my dear. In NYC, 88 degrees any time after early May would be considered a cool day.

I'm always amused when I hear visitors from other cities/countries express surprise at how hot it gets in NYC. I think they think that we are situated pretty far north on the Earth, and should therefore be semi-Arctic in climate. If only. By the way, I don't know that's it's very much hotter here than it has been in the recent past, but I do think it's gotten a lot windier. I can't remember so much strong wind for so long a period of time before the last few years. I suppose that's part of the climate change as well.

Now, I am just the opposite of Ms. G, a fellow NYC-er. I loathe Summer in the City - ugh - so hot and humid, so extra-dirty, so overcrowded with tourists. It's no wonder people who can afford it hightail it out of the City in the summer. I stay indoors with my dog, my cat and my A/C for most of the summer, and spend much more time out and about in the fall and winter. So summertime is my time for extended and dedicated movie-watching. (I have also been known to read a book or two.) I think I tend to favor comedy and fantasy/sci-fi movies in the summer, and heavier stuff in the winter.

I usually kick off my summer DVD/VHS viewing with a Tracy-Hepburn collection I purchased several years ago, followed by Robinson Crusoe on Mars. Can't say why; it just always seems to work out that way. We always watch 1776 on July 4, and I like to watch horror and monster flicks, and The Bad Seed during our August thunderstorms, especially at night. The summer chez moi generally ends with Mildred Pierce, The Little Foxes, and Lifeboat. I guess seeing the three strong women depicted in those movies prepares me for the start of the "season" in NYC which unofficially begins after Labor Day.

[sandykaypax]

That's ok, Judith, snort away! It does get hotter and muggier in northeast Ohio later in the summer, but I'm sure it is more pleasant than NYC--we have those lovely lake breezes, doncha know?

hubby and I went to NYC in AUGUST 2 years ago for a little weekend jaunt. You're right--it was sizzling hot! Not good for leisurely walks in the Village.

Some movies that I feel are for summertime viewing:
Pollyanna
The Parent Trap
High Society
Oklahoma!
State Fair
Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation

Sandy K

[moira finnie]

Some movies that seem redolent of summer to me, (probably 'cause that's when I first encountered them during school vacation):
A Summer Place
Ah, Wilderness
State Fair
The Music Man
Smiles of a Summer Night
Summertime
The Go-Between
Picnic
Tarzan of the Apes
Old Yeller

Hmmm, those varied choices certainly indicate 'eclectic' tastes on my part!!