The Coastal Star writers and editors share their favorites of the season
Baseball and summer go hand in hand. Yes, 1989’s Field of Dreams is a baseball classic, but calling it just a sports flick doesn’t do it justice. ’It is also about redemption, about second chances, about family’ and more, our writer Rich Pollack says. Photos provided by the movie distributors
It’s August and it’s hot.
Why not escape to the movies?
You won’t need to drive to the cinema. Just plant yourself comfortably on a sofa or recliner in your air-conditioned home.
What to watch? Here are our staff recommendations — the classics edition — for our first-ever Summer Movie Round-Up.
Go get that popcorn popping and make sure to have cool drinks on hand. Milk Duds are optional.
Field of Dreams
— Rich Pollack’s pick
“Hey, is this heaven?” an incredulous Shoeless Joe Jackson asks in the 1989 movie Field of Dreams.
“No,” says protagonist Ray Kinsella, “it’s Iowa.”
That iconic line from what is considered a quintessential summer movie is so good that it is actually repeated one more time, toward the end, when Ray meets a younger version of his father, which heals many old wounds.
Several elements make Field of Dreams a great movie. First and foremost, it’s about baseball and about how baseball transcends time. If you love the game, you have to love the movie.
But it is also about redemption, about second chances, about family and about taking a chance on something that sounds crazy. What really makes it great is that it’s a very well-done feel-good, family friendly film that leaves you smiling as the credits roll by at the end.
Available on Hulu and YouTube TV with a subscription, or on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV and Fandango for a rental fee.
Bill Murray has a hilarious tussle with a gopher in 1980’s Caddyshack. Our writer Brian Biggane says this quirky homage to golf is ’as enjoyable as a birdie on the 18th hole.
Caddyshack
— Brian Biggane's pick
Ask golfers — including me — to name their favorite summer movie and chances are they’ll answer with one that’s as enjoyable as a birdie on the 18th hole: Caddyshack (1980).
Bill Murray has played a lot of great comedic roles, but his stint as groundskeeper Carl Spackler is hard to top. Most of his appearances are technically little more than cameos, but the one of him proudly showing Chevy Chase his dumpy living quarters is classic.
Ted Knight as the smug rich guy Judge Smails, Rodney Dangerfield as the overbearing Al Czervik, and Chase as Ty Webb team up for what ESPN has called “the funniest sports movie ever made.”
Also, it doesn’t hurt that I played the course a few years after the 1980 release of the film when it was called Rolling Hills down in Davie.
Available on Amazon Prime and Apple TV.
Paws Up for Pets columnist Arden Moore can't get enough of 1996’s Independence Day. It feels good to see the entire world ’unite to battle menacing alien invaders,’ she says.
Independence Day
— Arden Moore’s pick
Thirty years ago — July 4, 1996, to be exact — I opted to celebrate Independence Day by heading to a movie theater in Philadelphia to catch the sci-fi blockbuster Independence Day. It felt fitting to watch this flick starring Will Smith, Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum in the country’s first national capital. That added to my feeling of patriotism.
I also loved the plotline: All of us — the entire world — unite to battle menacing alien invaders. It was one of the first large-scale disaster flicks. It’s been 30 years. Time for me to re-watch it at home enjoying my own homemade popcorn. Highly recommend!
Available on Hulu and YouTube TV.
1986’s Stand by Me is ’a journey through self-discovery and the loss of innocence,’ Tots & Teens columnist Faran Fagen says.
Stand by Me
— Faran Fagen's pick
Directed in 1986 by the late great Rob Reiner, Stand by Me is not only a wonderful summer film, it is one of my favorite movies of all time.
Set in 1959, it follows four young friends who embark on a trek along train tracks to find a missing boy’s body, only to discover a deeper bond and inner strength.
It takes place right at the end of summer as the four boys are set to enter junior high. These best friends know things will change and “cherish these moments” of a journey through self-discovery and the loss of innocence.
But the most endearing feature of this film is the close bond of the four boys and the beautiful friendship only young boys can feel. The boys know each other so well and will do anything for each other. Anyone watching this movie will remember their closest childhood friends and revel in the nostalgia as summer wanes. Available on Amazon Prime
Finding Faith columnist Janis Fontaine says the 1987 love story Dirty Dancing is also ’a story about families, how they grow and change.’
Dirty Dancing
— Janis Fontaine’s pick
Dirty Dancing (1987) was set in 1963 at Kellerman’s, a grand resort where wealthy families summered in luxury in New York’s Catskill Mountains. Thick woods opened up to spring-fed lakes so pristine you could drink from them.
For most, this movie is a love story. But for me, it was a story about families, how they grow and change, and I fell in love with Jerry Orbach as Dr. Jake Houseman, Baby’s father. Even though he favors the villain (Robbie) and misunderstands Johnny, he proves he trusts his daughter when he lends her a lot of money, no questions asked, and when she needs him later, he’s there, coming to Penny’s rescue with compassion. The scene where he jumps out of bed and runs up the wooden steps to Penny’s cabin is one of my favorites.
After, he and Baby argue on the porch in the rain. She says, “If you love me, you have to love all the things about me.” We understand love is imperfect.
Then, at the end of the movie, Dr. Houseman does something extraordinary: He apologizes to Johnny. “When I’m wrong, I say I’m wrong,” he says. A real man admits his mistake.
Available on Hulu with a subscription or available for rent through Prime Video.
Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in 1953’s Roman Holiday. Dining columnist Jan Norris says the flick ’makes my heart smile and tweaks my journalist's sensibilities.’
Roman Holiday
— Jan Norris’ pick
Roman Holiday (1953) is a William Wyler movie that makes my heart smile and tweaks my journalist’s sensibilities.
Seeing it as a teen, I found it funny and romantic, and with Italy all the rage for fashion, travel and culture, Rome was a dreamy destination, even in black and white.
Reporter Gregory Peck and his photographer buddy Eddie Albert stumble onto the story about a hooky-playing, naive princess sightseeing in Rome as a commoner.
Audrey Hepburn, in an Academy Award-winning role, sneaks away from her embassy’s royal handlers to explore the city’s landmarks, guided by her cunning new “friends” who are recording her every move. Peck and Albert set her up in numerous photogenic situations — dollar signs in their eyes.
But (spoiler alert), she must return to the embassy. Peck grows a conscience, and a payoff is eschewed in the end.
The ballroom “reveal” is one of the great movie endings. Wyler is a genius at pacing.
It’s a fairy tale and escapism to be sure, but funny and poignant in all the right places.
And … Rome. By all means, Rome.
Available on YouTube, Google Play and Fandango.
Our writer Ron Hayes has nothing but admiration for Charlie Chaplin in 1940’s The Great Dictator, which he finds both ’deadly serious’ and ’very funny.’
The Great Dictator
— Ron Hayes’ pick
For a quarter century, Charlie Chaplin was a slapstick tramp with a bowler hat and a funny walk, moving through a silent world.
And then in 1940, he wrote, produced, directed and starred in The Great Dictator.
For the first time, Chaplin spoke on screen, and what he had to say was still very funny, but in between the puns and pratfalls, deadly serious.
Chaplin plays two roles — Adenoid Hynkel, dictator of Tomainia, and a nameless Jewish barber. Jack Oakie is Benzino Napaloni, Il Duce of Bacteria.
The Great Dictator is a withering attack on Hitler, Mussolini, Nazism, fascism and antisemitism.
And it’s also very funny.
In his 1964 autobiography, Chaplin wrote that if he had known about the Holocaust then, he would not have been able to make the film.
We know, and that makes The Great Dictator all the more moving, especially the final moments, when Chaplin breaks character and speaks directly to the camera, to you and me, and to the future.
Available on HBO Max, as well as the free Kanopy streaming service and from the Boca Raton Public Library. DVD copies are available at Palm Beach County Library branches and the Delray Beach Public Library.
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Copy editor Victoria Preuss says Body Heat (above) had ’sizzling chemistry’ and, for her, a paycheck (below).
Body Heat
— Victoria Preuss’ pick
The 1981 film Body Heat nudged up the Fahrenheit with sizzling chemistry between William Hurt and Kathleen Turner and, allegedly, humid Florida summer weather.
Except the latter was movie magic.
The bandshell scene where the characters Ned Racine and Matty Walker first meet was filmed on Hollywood’s beach one night in November 1980, and I was there as an extra.
The hundred or so of us had been told to wear summer/beach clothes, so folks were in bathing suits, shorts and tank tops and the like. I wore a Hawaiian shirt and shorts — and carried a thick Irish sweater.
Not only did we not face summer heat, but it was downright cold and windy as take after take was filmed and the night wore on.
A combo on the bandshell stage repeated the same few bars of music while the scene played out — over and over. Extras on the benches fanned themselves with a printed “program” — an attention to detail that I loved.
Between takes, I pulled my sweater up around my shoulders. Each time cameras started to roll I shoved it down behind me on the bench. (Truthfully, though, I was in the middle of the “audience” and not visible on screen at all.)
Some extras got to walk in or out of the seating area or along the nearby shops while Ned chatted up Matty.
Luckily, the shops stayed open for real, and during longer breaks I got some hot tea.
My Central Casting pay stub shows I took home $33.10, less taxes, for my night of memories.
I spent it all on cold medication.
Available for rent on YouTube, Google Play Movies, Apple TV, Fandango and Amazon Prime.
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