10 Great Summer Movies

Every year I intend to do a list of my favorite Summertime Movies, and every year I don't do it. So here it finally is...10 movies that are all great at capturing the spirit, fun and warmth of the Summer!

Blue Crush (2002) Surfing is one of the few sports I can really sit and watch it. It amazes me. I've always loved a good surfing movie too. According to Sports Illustrated, wearing a bikini is also a sport. If that is the case, that too is another sport that I could sit and watch. It too amazes me. So when they put surfing together with bikini clad gals, I was all in. Blue Crush is the story of a group of girls who take their surfing very seriously. Awesome surfing footage is mixed in with a couple of auto-pilot story lines involving crappy jobs and a strained relationship between two sisters, but it's all so fun. If you can't make it to the beach, Blue Crush defiantly brings the beach to you.

Ernest Goes To Camp (1987) Folks, with Ernest P. Worrel on the scene, you just can't go wrong. Ernest takes charge of a group of juvenile delinquents at Kamp Kikakee and teaches them a thing or two about the great outdoors. And in the process, he teaches us all a little something about ourselves. If you like parachuting turtles then this movie is for you. If you don't like parachuting turtles, they why are you even reading this blog?

Hoot (2006) I guess, technically, this isn't a Summer movie, since it takes place somewhere in the school year - but they are in Florida and it's hot and sticky and that comes across loud and clear in this family film about a trio of kids who stop the construction of a new pancake house to save an endangered species of owl. A few weeks ago when we were at the National Zoo, we saw the Burrowing Owls featured in the movie and my kids and I all simultaneously exclaimed, "Those are the owls from Hoot!" A proud fathering moment.

Jaws 3 (1983) Obviously, the original Jaws is a classic. But for my money Jaws 3 is where it's at. High on my list of summertime activities is Amusement Parks and Jaws 3 has plenty of great footage of Sea World Orlando circa 1983. True, this third instalment in the franchise has nothing at all to do with the other three flicks, but it sure is a good time. Bess Armstrong, Dennis Quaid, Lou Gosset Jr., and Lea Thompson try to save the guests at Sea World from another killer shark. It's even all the more fun when you realize it was originally released in 3D and several shots in the film serve no purpose other than to stick things into theatre goers faces. It doesn't work on TV, but if they ever put out a 3D Blue Ray of this movie, I'm upgrading my entire home theater system - TV and all!

Kidco (1984) Kidco is about a group of kids who spend their summer working. Not exactly the kind of thing a good summer movie is made of, but these kids work together to make a little more money then a paper route or lemonade stand would allow. This was required summer viewing every summer when I was a kid. It was a time when kids movies were loaded with cursing. From Kidco I took away the phrase "crock of shit" which I still lovingly use to this day.  The film hasn't had a release in years, never popping up on DVD and the VHS copies that are out there are hard to come by. It pops up on the movie channels every now and then and is definitely worth keeping an eye out for.

Meatballs Part II (1984) By the time I had seen the original Meatballs (just a few years ago) I had already seen so many rip-off's that the original now seemed stale. Part II of the Meatballs saga is the version that I grew up with and I LOVE this movie. I would have to crown it as THE BEST SUMMER MOVIE OF THEM ALL! Wacky hi jinks at Camp Sasquatch include the discovery of an alien ( as seen above.) The fantastic cast includes Richard Mulligan, John Larroquette and Paul Reubens. Meatballs Part II really makes me nostalgic for summer camp...which is odd because I never went to summer camp.

One Crazy Summer (1986) This is director Savage Steve Holland's lesser known, and lesser loved follow up to the cult classic Better Off Dead. Although it's not a direct sequel, it has the same tone and sense of humor as John Cusack, Demi Moore and group of other semi-recognizable faces descend on a Nantucket, Mass. for the summer. The flick perfectly captures the feeling of having the whole summer in front of you as an empty slate for all sorts of adventures.

Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977) The Peanuts Gang's third big screen outing finds them spending the summer at Camp Remote, which like the rest of the Peanuts universe has very little adult supervision. As such, some bullys push Charlie Brown and his friends around until they all have a showdown with a raft race on the open river. This flick was broadcast, without fail, every summer of my childhood. Sometimes more than once in a single summer. I never missed it and to me it's as much of a summer tradition as the beach and cook-outs. However, one thing has bothered me since I first saw this movie at 6 years old....why does it snow while they are away at SUMMER camp?

Summer Rental (1985) John Candy and his family rent a run down beach house for the Summer in this light and breezy comedy that is perfect for popping in the DVD player on a rainy night during your stay at the beach. This was one of John Candy's first independent staring vehicles and it's a perfect spotlight of his gentle humor and warm personality. Like most good summer movies, it ends with a race on water based vehicles.

Summer School (1987) For those of us that may have spent more than one summer sitting back in school, this is a film near and dear to our hearts. Even if you were some sort of smarty pants and managed to pass your classes each year this is a really funny movie with slacker Mark Harmon taking charge of a group of other slackers sentenced to Summer School. It's hard to believe there was a time when Mark Harmon could headline a movie, but it's captured on film for historians to note.

My Week In Movies - I Like Christmas

Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas (2011) I find the Disney Channel's Good Luck Charlie to be the most tolerable of their kiddie sitcom stable. This feature length Xmas outing is even more tolerable without an audience screaming with forced laughter after ever other line. The made-for-TV movie find the show's family split up at the start of a trip from Chicago to Palm Springs. The dad and the boys end up at Grandma's by plane while the oldest daughter and mom travel much slowly by a variety of ground methods. This ain't a holiday classic, but it's a pretty good TV movie with some holiday cheer and a few solid laughs. It's easily accessible for anyone not familiar with the show and for anyone with Disney Channel as I'm sure it's running just about every day between now and December 25.


30 Minutes of Less (2011) Solid comedy with a solid cast including the always fantastic Danny McBride, underrated Nick Swardson and Parks & Recreation's Aziz Anzari along with Jesse Eisenberg; all tied up in a crazy heist involving a bomb strapped to Eisenberg's chest and he has 10 hours to rob a bank for the bad guys or they'll blow him up. With a nice breezy run time of under 90 minutes, this comedy is action packed and pretty darn funny.

Ernest Saves Christmas (1988) Seriously, I could not love this movie an ounce more! Easily my favorite Christmas movie, it's also gotta go on my list as one of my all-time favorite films. I've written about it at least twice before. Once, two years ago when I first shared it with my kids and there is also this lengthier, nerdier article I wrote back in 2006.

Scrooged (1988) This is another one of those movies - beloved by America - that I just don't get. Released to theatres less than two weeks after Ernest Saves Christmas, I've just never got this modern Bill Murray take on A Christmas Carol. I saw it way back on either VHS or HBO and didn't care for it all. The last couple of years I've been meaning to take another look at it and I gotta say I was actually pretty bored with it. There's an impressive cast but it just doesn't do anything for me. Murray's speech to the camera at the tail end was pretty impressive but other than that I found it to just be an awful bore.

Christmas in Connecticut (1945) I always wonder how uptight people really were back in the black and white days or if it's just the rose-colored lens of the cinema. When an old woman sees an unmarried man and woman walk into a bedroom at 11:00 at night and then she goes totally nuts and quits her job because of it...well, it's hard to follow along with a movie like that. There's some pretty silly stuff that happens in this flick, but all in all you can't really beat classic Hollywood's depiction of post-wartime Christmas.

Random Sweetness

Some random photographs that I've snapped on my journeys....




< An autographed photo of Jim Varney as Ernest P. Worrell on display at Mr. Ed's Elephant Museum in Orrtanna, PA.

Really cool Yogi & Boo Boo lollipops promoting the recent movie. I picked these up at an RV show from a Jellystone Campground booth.

I love when they do plush of obscure or forgotten about characters. The Disney Store has (among other great plush) Clarabelle Cow and Professor Ludwig Von Drake. Both of these characters were all but forgotten, but now kids know them thanks to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

How sweet would it have been to have this as a kid. It's a replica of Oscar Mayer's famous Wienermobile, but it's a kid's ride on toy. You would have been pretty darn cool riding around the neighborhood in that as a kid, until you got to the age where kids started making jokes about you sitting on a wiener.

Happy Easter!

Classic Commercial Sunday - #55 Ernest Film Festival

My Week In Movies - Roly Poly Fish Heads

Piranha (2010) Anyone who is interested in seeing this movie should not be disappointed. This 3-D adventure from last summer is wall-to-wall gore and nudity and it's all done in the name of fun. I'm not one for gory pictures, but Piranha is so much fun. It doesn't take itself seriously and it's hard to really buy into the over the top gore. One of my favorite actresses, Elizabeth Shue, is on hand as the local police officer who must save her Spring Break crazy town from the tiny little jaws of prehistoric mutant fish. Trust me, you haven't seen this much blood and boobies since a double feature at an 8th grade sleepover. This movie is filled with reasons for it's R rating: strong language, graphic nudity, sexual situations, gory horror violence, and recreational drug use.

Ernest Goes To Camp (1987) My kids and I have been watching the Ernest TV series which I finally picked up on DVD and they are loving it. They wanted to see more of ol' Ernie Baby so we popped in the first of Ernest's nine feature length films. It's a great summer movie that really captures the spirit of summer camp and it serves as a great vehicle for the Ernest character. Ernest is a handyman at a camp where he dreams of one day being a full fledged counselor. His dreams finally come true when he's put in charge of a group of misfit kids from a local detention center. There's a food fight, Ernest gets hit with alot of different things and tons of bits from Ernest's famous commercials are worked into the story. Before it's all over, the camp goes head to head with an evil land developer. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love evil land developers! As with all the Ernest movies, it's rated PG - this time for some violence. Good fun for the whole family.

Lady and the Tramp (1955) There's not much to say about this Disney classic except that it's easily in the top ten of Disney's greatest animated achievements. My kids love dogs and dog movies so it really was a crime that they hadn't seen this one yet. They loved it! It's rated G, although there is some discussion of canine promiscuity.

February Movie Count: 14
Best New Viewing: Splendor in the Grass
Best Rewatch: Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird
Worst Movie: The Filthiest Show in Town
2011 Movie Count: 34

Hey Vern, It's More Ernest on DVD!

Golly Bob Howdy, I have been waiting for somebody to release Hey Vern, It's Ernest! on DVD. Haven't you!? You know, the Emmy award winning Saturday morning show staring Ernest P. Worrell and all his buddies and alter egos!

Once again I'm sending kudos to the dudes at Mill Creek Entertainment for making this dream a reality. All 13 episodes of the wacky show will come in one handy dandy set for the unbelievable price of Ten Bucks! Can you believe that!? I can't wait to scoop up a copy and finally put to rest my grainy VHS copies that I taped in reruns off the old Family Channel back in the early 90's.


Each episode revolves around a central theme and is filled with quick skits and jokes from Ernest and his off-screen buddy Vern along with the rest of the neighborhood: Auntie Nelda, Dr. Otto, Sgt. Glory, My Father the Clown, Existo the Magician, Earl the Barber, and of course Chuck and Bobby.


My kids have seen a few episodes and they really enjoyed them. Can't wait to sit down and enjoy `em all once again. Hey Vern, It's Ernest! The Complete Series plops on DVD January 18, 2011.

And speaking of our good buddy Ernest, if there is some reason why you don't have all these movies in your personal DVD library by now - here's the perfect chance to pick them up. Mill Creek has licenced from Disney the rights to Ernest films #1, 3 & 4; Ernest Goes to Camp (1987), Ernest Goes to Jail (1990) and Ernest Scared Stupid (1991). They are all coming out, also on January 18, in a triple feature pack. (It looks like Disney has hung onto the rights to 1989's Ernest Saves Christmas.)

In Goes to Camp, Ernest is a handyman at a summer camp who helps the camp fight against some evil land developers. I love evil land developers! In Goes to Jail, our hero is a janitor at the fictional Howard County Bank where a wacky case of mistaken identity ends up with Ernest in jail. Like in real, really, really, really, really real prison. You know, the hoose-gow, the slammer, the joint, Alcatraz, San Quentin, Sing Sing! And Scared Stupid is the Halloween entry in the franchise which I have gone on about before on this blog.

Obviously, all three are really fun films. This new triple feature DVD might be worth the purchase for die-hard fans if the films are presented in widescreen. Only Camp and Christmas got a widescreen release when initially released to DVD in 2002. Next up, I'd like to see them do a triple feature set for the very excellent Ernest Rides Again (1993) along with Ernest Goes to School (1994) and the horribly embarrassing Slam Dunk Ernest (1995).

Ebert Scared Stupid

Honestly, I would have payed double the admission price to sit with my back to the screen and just watch Siskel and/or Ebert's face while screening 1991's Ernest Scared Stupid. Just the fact that two esteemed film critics who enjoyed Merchant Ivory productions and French New Wave Impressionist Cinema ever sat through an Ernest film warms the depths of my heart.

30 Theatrical Obscurities

Here's the follow up to the other day's repost of movies that I've seen in the theatre that nobody else has. Some of the movies on this list you've probably heard of before, but you don't know somebody who paid good money to sit in a dark theatre and watch `em!

The Phantom (1996) - I honestly don't remember anything about this movie except that it's based on an old radio show, we got free Phantom rings when we saw it, and it's probably the only time anyone has gone to see a movie staring Billy Zane.

Godzilla 2000 (1999) - Part of the late 90's trend of tacking on "2000" to your movie title a year or so before the turn of the millennium...I'm a hero in my kid's eyes because I saw this in the theatre. We recently watched it and they fell in love with Godzilla. They are already making me promise them that I'll take them to the next Godzilla movie that comes out.

Recess: School's Out (2001) - This was actually a pretty decent animated movie based on a TV show that I've never seen once.

Doug's First Movie (1999) - This is another decent animated movie based on a TV show, except I had seen the Doug TV show before. This will go down in my history books as the most expensive movie ticket I ever paid for because I made my friend run a red light on the way to the theatre. A few weeks later he got a ticket in the mail and I felt it only right to pay the fine. But in my defense it was Doug's first movie!

The King and I (1999) - Back when I had to see anything animated released to a movie theatre, this was pure kiddie crap and I'm quite sure I slept through 90% of it.

Wing Commander (1999) - I've been told that I was in such a deep sleep during this unbelievably horrible film that I couldn't even be awakened to walk out of the movie half way through it.

Drive Me Crazy (1999) - The big screen debut of Melissa Joan Hart! I was so there!

Meet The Deedles (1998) - One of the great works by master thespian Paul Walker, here he plays one of a duo of brothers who save the Prairie Dog population of Yellowstone Park by teaching them how to surf. Good stuff!

The Beautician and The Beast (1997) - Ah, who can forget when the world was in a Fran Dresher craze. We loved her so much she got her own movie...with Timothy Dalton in it even! My attendance at this film was based on the selection process of least objectionable film playing at the second run theatre on a Saturday night. (I wonder what we passed up!?)

Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie (1997) - Everybody saw the first Power Rangers movie opening night, right!? But only a select few saw the sequel a few years later, which was actually pretty good.

McHale's Navy (1997) - I admit, I was on a bit of a Tom Arnold kick for a while. I'm pretty sure this completely humorless film put the final nail in the coffin of my T.A. fandom.

The Trigger Effect (1996) - This was a pretty intense yarn about what would happen if the whole country lost electricity. Good movie, but after I walked out of the theatre I never heard a single thing about this movie ever again.

The Stupids (1996) - Oh Tom Arnold, how much money did I spend on your movies?

Mystery Science Theatre 3000: The Movie (1996) - A movie based on a TV show about people watching movies. Saw it!

Barb Wire (1996) - Not only did I see this Pam Anderson snooze fest of an action pic, I saw it at a critic's screening at 9:30 in the morning. That's a special memory, my friends!

Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy (1996) - Again, why do I go see movies based on shows I've never seen!

House Arrest (1996) - This movie is good as nuts, where Jamie Lee Curtis and Kevin Pollack get locked in the basement by their kids and the kids don't let them out until they stop fighting and promise not to get divorced. And then other kids in the neighborhood bring their parents over and they are all locked in the basement. Man, that's a good film!

Joe's Apartment (1996) - A movie based on an MTV station ID featuring singing cockroaches...that has ME written all over it, doesn't it?

New York Minute (2004) - After years of following Mary-Kate and Ashley on their various direct-to-video adventures where they traveled to different countries and met boys and tried on clothes, I was all about a big screen outing for the sisters Olson. What it turned out to be was 90 laugh unfilled minutes of lame reasons and excuses to get the girls wet and/or semi-nude. Sounds like a sure-fire recipe for a great film, but it somehow didn't work!

The Substitute (1996) - I have a pretty good memory when it comes to my film going experiences, but I really wish I remember the chain of events that led me into a theatre to watch a Tom Berenger thriller.

Spawn (1997) - Again, why?

Mimic (1997) - I believe I was attracted by the one-two punch of Mrs. Mira Sorvino and Mr. Charles S. Dutton.

Jerky Boys: The Movie (1995) - Here's the thing, I'm not a fan of The Jerky Boys. You remember them, they made prank phones calls and released them on CD. Anywho, not only was I one of the 9 people who ever saw this in the theatre, I also ended up seeing them live in concert. The concert was way worse than the movie...and the movie was pretty freakin' bad!

Dice Rules (1991) - My first NC-17 movie.

National Lampoon's Senior Trip (1995) - This was back when the National Lampoon name meant something!

Ernest Rides Again (1993) - The 5th Ernest film, and the last one to get a theatrical release. I hung in there with Ernest all the way to the end! RIP Ernest, knowhutImean!?

Mannequin 2: On the Move (1991) - There are two types of people in this world: those who liked the first Mannequin and those who liked the second one better...I fall into the later category.

Lobster Man From Mars (1989) - I saw a movie...in a real movie theatre...called Lobster Man From Mars. Think about that for a while.

Drive-In Double Feature: Free Willy 2 & Under Siege 2 (1995) You read that right.

My Christmas Time In Movies Part 2

Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas (1999) [NR] In my opinion, one of the most overlooked Christmas movies of the season. This theatrical worthy direct-to-DVD movie is made up of three short stories each with a Christmas theme and all staring the cast of major Disney animated characters. The first story is a take-off on the Groundhog Dog idea and Huey, Dewey, and Louie end up having to celebrate Christmas day over and over again. In the middle segment, Goofy tries to prove to his son Max that Santy Claus really does exist. And finally, Mickey and Minnie star in their own version of O'Henry's The Gift of the Magi.

While this movie is brief, clocking in at just around an hour, it is a beautifully animated film considering the direct-to-DVD budget this project must have had. The film does not have the obnoxious fast and furious pace that so many animated movies do. There are several moments in the film where the soundtrack is nothing more than the characters talking. And the characters are actually given some mature roles to carry. As dumb as this might sound...and adding to the fact that these cartoon characters are in their 70's...you actually come away from this picture feeling like you know these beloved characters a little better. The Goofy segment in particular is filled with some emotional moments that really humanize the Goofy character. I always enjoy when cartoon characters are treated in a mature manor, and Once Upon A Christmas does a good job of giving Mickey and the gang more to do than run around and get hit with pies.


Ernest Saves Christmas (1989) [PG] If I haven't already decided it before, I think it's official this year that Ernest Saves Christmas (the 2nd of 9 Ernest movies) is my absolute favorite Christmas movie. It's such a well done movie with so many great little touches and a heart warming Christmasey story that I can't think of a Christmas flick I love more!

In this comedy, Santa arrives in Orlando, Florida to find his replacement. Upon his arrival at the airport, Santa meets up with cab driver Ernest. Ernest ends up getting involved in helping Santa find the new guy for the job. As I've said on numerous occasions, and I'll say it again: When you mix Ernest P. Worrell with a holiday only good things can happen! This film has it's heart in such the right place that I don't know how anyone could watch it and not at least crack a smile. And the best part about it, as with all the Ernest films, there is absolutely nothing objectionable for the kids to see. It's a great family picture. I was excited to share it with my kids this year. At first they didn't know what to make of Ernest, and let's face it - most people don't, but before long they were laughing along with this fine holiday classic!

Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) [PG] Oh...this movie is sooooo bad! This entire movie feels like such a giant poop on the grave of poor ol' Dr. Seuss. He would have hated this movie! The original animated television special of this story was the only filmed adaptation of Seuss' work that he liked - and that had to be, in part, that it stuck so closely to the book. But this live action offering adds so much unnecessary, boring, pointless shenanigans to the Grinch tale that it's just painful to watch. Jim Carey is funny as the Grinch, and he has a few really good moments but when you watch this film you gotta be wondering if everybody involved thought they were making a good movie. Seriously folks, given the choice between this movie and a sea-sick crocodile...I'd take the sea-sick crocodile!

Ernest Plugs Christmas

One of my very favorite Christmas movies is Ernest Saves Christmas from 1989. You usually don't have trouble finding it somewhere on TV every weekend in December. Here's a cool TV ad for the film, which doesn't feature any clips from the movie just Ernest doing what he does best: selling directly to Vern...