Roll Call The A.V. Club guide to movies that just feel like summer

Summer movies are a big deal. Movies that come out in May, June, and July gross more money than ones that are released in other months, and are the mega-blockbuster films that keep everyone talking. Still, a summer movie doesn’t have to be about Avengers or Men In Black to be, well, summery. It can be about camp, vacations, or getting high, just as long as it feels like summer. The A.V. Club put together our guide to our favorite summer movies, only some of which were actually released in the summer. Turn on the A/C, turn off the lights, and enjoy the show.

Dazed And Confused (1993)
This is a no brainer. Richard Linklater’s coming-of-age ode to the ’70s reeks of summer (and other, more illicitly reeking stuff). The story of two generations of kids—middle school kids preparing to become high school freshman, and the high school juniors preparing to haze them—Dazed And Confused unfolds over the first day of summer, right after that last school’s out bell tolls. Linklater listlessly follows his sprawling casts of jocks, nerds, and stoners as they cruise around sleepy Austin, Texas, eventually converging at a keg party. The film understands summer as much as a season as a state of mind, marked by endless possibility: no school, summer jobs, and beach days followed by keg-party nights. Now that you’re lucky if you get a “summer Friday” at work and can cut out at 2 p.m., Dazed And Confused is a nostalgic balm for the soul, a reminder of the days when “summer” actually meant something. [John Semley]

Wayne’s World 2 (1993)
Summer’s all about big concert tours, outdoor festivals, and weird adventures, and no movie encapsulates all of that better than Wayne’s World 2. The story of two weird cable access hosts from Aurora, Illinois, who just want to throw a bitchin’ festival in their local park, Wayne’s World 2 is about victory against all odds. Plus, there’s some cool jokes thrown in about roadies, mini-trampolines, and city government along the way. For any music fan, it’s a must-see. And, with some random appearances by rock ’n’ rollers like Aerosmith, it’s a great alternative on to actually going outdoors on some sweltering Saturday. [Marah Eakin]

Summer School (1987)
Summer movies are meant to be breezy, lightweight, and ultimately disposable, and they don’t come more breezy, lightweight, and ultimately disposable than the charming, if easily forgettable, ’80s comedy Summer School. Starring a young Mark Harmon as a slacker gym teacher tasked with teaching a bunch of misfits remedial English over the summer, the movie plays out like The Breakfast Club extended over summer vacation, minus the heavy emotional subtext, plus a kindhearted teacher to show them the way, and with a silly homage to horror movies thrown in for kicks. Dumb? Oh, yes. Entertaining? Certainly it’s entertaining enough to take you back to the carefree days when summer school was the worst thing that could happen to you. And really, what else do you need in a summer film? [Cory Casciato]

National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983)
Ah, the family summer vacation to a large amusement park. It’s a rite of passage every family has, which is why this film still resonated despite being nearly 30 years old. Chevy Chase is the Griswold family patriarch, leading his family on a trip from Chicago to California where they hope to enjoy a fun time at popular amusement park Walley World. Along the way they get lost, leave a dog tied to the back of the car, and then strap a dead grandmother to the car’s roof. The hilarious, crude film is the best of the series (it spawned several sequels) and always serves as a nice reminder of what kinds of adventures can be avoided: Why live those same problems when you can watch and laugh at them from the comfort of your air-conditioned couch? Plus, you get to listen to “Holiday Road” over and over. [Marcus Gilmer]

Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
The unanimous love for Wet Hot American Summer is no secret around these parts, and not only for the surfeit of then-unknown stars in its cast. A spoof of summer-camp movies like SpaceCamp, Meatballs, and Meatballs II, the film adheres so well to the requisite plot points, character arcs, and offbeat wackiness, it could almost play as another product of the genre it’s satirizing. (That is, unless you’re already aware of the absurd deadpanning for which the members of The State are known, which about no one in 2001 was.) That in itself qualifies Wet Hot American Summer as a quintessential summer movie, but memorably absurd scenes—such as grizzled war vet/camp chef Gene’s (Christopher Meloni) Freudian slips to a Jon Benjamin-voiced soup can, or a montage of the gang’s downward spiral during a trip to town, which is “always fun, even for an hour”—lifted the film into its present cult status. It’s arguably the most cleverly funny movie about summer ever made—that is, until we finally get Wet Hot American Summer 2, which is absolutely going to happen. [Steve Moore]