Superman (1978)  

Remains the best superhero movie ever made, and Christopher Reeves is the best Superman. Periodtt!!

Beat The Devil  (1954)

Summer is for Laffs – why not start on the sweltering Italian coast – Beat The Devil is, if not a laugh riot, funny, innovative & original. Written as it was filmed on location by Truman Capote & John Houston, daily churning out pages for an all-star cast including Humphrey Bogart, Gina Lolobrigida & Peter Lorre as a subtle spoof on The Maltese Falcon, a hit from 10 years earlier – the movie always feels adult & on edge, like last year’s Triangle Of Sorrow — or even Airplane! Or Top Secret –  maybe that’s a stretch, but pop them into this Summer when in need of clocking straight-up maximum Laffs per second.

Cast Away (2000) 

Summer is for Young Love & The Blue Lagoon with Brooke Shields & Christopher Atkins is where to find it. If you were 13-year-old me, you could not get enough of the young golden Mr. Atkins & would soon advance to multiple repeated viewings daily of The Pirate Movie on Prism (early Philadelphia cable) & then, of course, graduating to A Night In Heaven, where Christopher Atkins actually plays an exotic male dancer. Still, The Greatest American Movies transcend even the world’s Greatest Movie Stars — tug at you – hold you – why only a monster does not well up with tears when Sean Penn hugs Michelle Pfeiffer exclaiming ‘My Lawyer For Free – My Lawyer For Free’ in I Am Sam. Cast Away might have been dismissed without its star power. Still, it’s a testament to Tom Hanks, Robert Zemeckis & writer Broyles Jr that the movie puts each of us alone on a deserted island & then quite literally delivers us to our own crossroads.

Nashville (1975)

Every Summer has its own playlist & movies have always been a part of the soundtrack. The Summer of 1978 had both Thank God It’s Friday & Grease playing in my town & 10 year old me was gay Gay GAY with delight! But an argument can be made that the Donna Summer disco-themed trash classic Thank God It’s Friday, which takes place over one zany night in an LA Disco rooted just three years earlier in Robert Altman’s star-studded masterpiece Nashville & if you have not seen it, layers & layers of wonderment, delight & horror await you as dozens of seemingly unrelated lives intersect over one hot summer day In Nashville. If you haven’t explored the joys & depths of Robert Altman movies, start here. 

Mad Max Fury Road (2015)

Summer is for Popcorn Movies that propel you through time and space into a universe all of its own. Buckle in tight – This is one of the best. No need for 3D or 4D — Mad Max Road of Fury never lets up, never stops moving & will leave you breathless.

Marty Sokol is a producer, writer & nightclub owner in Los Angeles, CA.

Thank you so much, Marty!!!

Until next time!