Endgame kicked off the 2019 summer movie season and it was a pretty good one. Over the years, comic book movies and super-hero movies served at tent poles to the summer season. There was more than one year in which I'd mark release dates on the family calendar hanging on the fridge for all to see. The summer movie season is my favorite season of the year.
In 2020, however, it's a different story. Many of the films have been pushed back already. Wonder Woman 1984 got bumped to August. Christopher Nolan's Tenet still hangs onto its mid-July date, so maybe it'll stay. But most of the others will be fall or December movies. Because nothing quite says Merry Christmas like a Top Gun sequel.
What's a movie goer to do?
I've been thinking it over in recent days and I've come up with an idea: Build your own summer movie blockbuster season.
This is 2020, so the some anniversaries--ten years or five years--are easy to calculate. The biggest movie I was already planning to re-watch was The Empire Strikes Back (on VHS!), which turns forty next month. The other obvious one is Jaws which is forty-five in June. Back to the Future is thirty-five this year. Curious, I paged through the various "Movies in [fill in the blank year]" lists and compiled a list of movies that were released in the summer months going back all the way to 1975. I chose 1975 because I can actually remember going to the cinema that year. And I only selected years ending in zero or five.
I'll post the list at the end of this piece, but my guiding idea was movies I'd actually seen. There are a few exceptions, noted with an asterisk. Those are films I've come to watch but didn't at the time of release.
A couple of Disney films popped up. The Apple Dumpling Gang is, perhaps, the first film I saw in a cinema because I have distinct memories of it. Oh! Heavenly Dog and The Last Flight of Noah's Ark are, I hope on Disney+.
The one oddball is 1980's The Kidnapping of the President. That title stopped me and, it turns out, the film stars William Shatner. That's enough for me.
I honestly haven't made my own list yet, but, as I wrote at the beginning of this post, there will be one exception: Avengers: Endgame. I've only seen it twice and, well, having seen those recent posts where someone synced up audience reactions to a couple of big moments in the movie, I want to revisit again. So, already on the calendar for next Friday, 24 April, is Endgame.
Why do this? Well, to build anticipation. I'm no medical professional, grocery professional, or any other kind of worker whose job is deemed essential and has to venture out into the public day after day. My part in this great Coronavirus year of 2020 is to stay home, stay healthy, and stay out of the way.
So I'm manufacturing a movie release schedule to build up excitement to re-watch some old favorites. And, no: I'm not jumping the gun on them. If there's a movie I haven't seen in a long time that originally was released in June or July--say, Jaws or Inception--then I'm waiting until those dates (or the nearest approximation).
Call me odd, call me weird (which my wife does frequently), but I'm looking forward to it. I'm also looking forward to returning to a theater when it's all safe to do so. I love movies, and I really love watching them in a theater.
Here's the list, broken out by year and then by month. Enjoy.
Summer Movies for 2020
1975
Jaws - June 20
The Apple Dumpling Gang - July 1
1980
The Empire Strikes Back - May 21
*Airplane - July 2
The Last Flight of Noah's Ark - July 9
Oh! Heavenly Dog - July 11
*The Kidnapping of the President - Aug 15 (Prime)
1985
A View to a Kill - May 22
Rambo: First Blood Part II - May 22
Fletch - May 31
The Goonies - June 7
Cocoon - June 21
*Pale Rider - June 26
Back to the Future - July 3
*Silverado - July 12
Teen Wolf - Aug 23
1990
Back to the Future Part III - May 25
Total Recall - June 1
Dick Tracy - June 15
Die Hard 2 - July 4
Ghost - July 13
Presumed Innocent - July 27
Darkman - Aug 24
1995
Crimson Tide - May 12
Die Hard with a Vengeance - May 19
Batman Forever - June 16
2000
U-571 - Apr 21
Gladiator - May 5
Mission Impossible 2 - May 24
Chicken Run - June 21
The Patriot - June 28
X-Men - July 14
What Lies Beneath - July 21
Space Cowboys - Aug 4
2005
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - May 19
Batman Begins - June 15
War of the Worlds - June 29
2010
Iron Man 2 - May 7
Toy Story 3 - June 18
*Knight and Day - June 23
Inception - July 16
*The Expendables - Aug 13
2015
Avengers: Age of Ultron - Apr 13
*Mad Max: Fury Road - May 7
Tomorrowland - May 8
Inside Out - May 18
*San Andreas - May 27
Jurassic World - May 29
Ant-Man - June 29
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation - Jul 23
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. - Aug 7
2019
Avengers: Endgame – Apr 26
**BY DATE**
APRIL
U-571 - Apr 21
Avengers: Age of Ultron - Apr 13
Avengers: Endgame – Apr 26
MAY
Gladiator - May 5
Iron Man 2 - May 7
*Mad Max: Fury Road - May 7
Tomorrowland - May 8
Crimson Tide - May 12
Inside Out - May 18
Die Hard with a Vengeance - May 19
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - May 19
The Empire Strikes Back - May 21
A View to a Kill - May 22
Rambo: First Blood Part II - May 22
Mission Impossible 2 - May 24
Back to the Future Part III - May 25
*San Andreas - May 27
Jurassic World - May 29
Fletch - May 31
JUNE
Total Recall - June 1
The Goonies - June 7
Dick Tracy - June 15
Batman Begins - June 15
Batman Forever - June 16
Toy Story 3 - June 18
Jaws - June 20
Cocoon - June 21
Chicken Run - June 21
*Knight and Day - June 23
*Pale Rider - June 26
The Patriot - June 28
War of the Worlds - June 29
Ant-Man - June 29
JULY
The Apple Dumpling Gang - July 1
Airplane - July 2
Back to the Future - July 3
Die Hard 2 - July 4
The Last Flight of Noah's Ark - July 9
Oh! Heavenly Dog - July 11
*Silverado - July 12
Ghost - July 13
X-Men - July 14
Inception - July 16
What Lies Beneath - July 21
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation - Jul 23
Presumed Innocent - July 27
AUGUST
Space Cowboys - Aug 4
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. - Aug 7
*The Expendables - Aug 13
*The Kidnapping of the President - Aug 15 (Prime)
Teen Wolf - Aug 23
Darkman - Aug 24
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