Summer is a great time for watching movies. You don’t have to go to class in the morning, so you can stay up late. Your friends will be around, so you can have big movie-watching parties. And there are a lot of movies made just for summer vacation. There are many “classic” summer vacation movies, and you could spend several nights watching them all—here’s a short list to get you started.

Summer School—who wants to go to school in the summer? No one. But watching a movie about it isn’t so bad! An entire class of misfits (and one hot foreign exchange student) and a teacher who not only doesn’t want to be there, but also doesn’t know how to teach, combine for some pretty hilarious situations. Combine that with a few very early shots of well-known actors and actresses and an 80’s rock soundtrack, and you have a winner of a movie!

Summer Rental—a John Candy tale about a family vacation gone awry. Plans don’t work out, restaurants run out of lobster, and a sailboat race for the ages make for one of Candy’s best. This is a great one to watch if you’re going out to the beach the next day (the movie poster says pretty much everything you need to know).

National Lampoon’s Vacation—almost everyone has seen one of National Lampoon’s movies, be it Animal House, Christmas Vacation, or Vegas Vacation. The original, though, is a little less common. But it’s worth finding a copy to watch the Griswold family try to get to Wally World in one piece. Another “how could this get any worse?” movie that will keep you laughing for a long time.

Dirty Dancing—whether or not you’re into the popular chick flicks, you should check this one out. It’s a (now-)classic romance story with few pretentions and an uncomplicated plot. So why is it worth watching? Because it’s fun! If you’re rolling your eyes right now, just trust me . . . give it a shot (it’s a great summer “staying-in date” movie).

The Sandlot—another classic. There’s little that needs to be said about this one. Smalls and the gang battle The Beast for a baseball and get into numerous other summer antics. If this doesn’t make you feel like a kid again, I’m not sure what will! No matter how many times you’ve seen this movie, no matter how old you are, and no matter which kinds of movies you like, you just can’t pass this one up.

As always, if you have any questions, comments or funny stories you'd like me to share about college or the blog, email me at stu@stuvu.com