It's time to get real for a minute. This summer has not been great for movies. In fact, it's been an outright disappointment.
The film lineup these last few months has been a mixture of lackluster letdowns, movies that were kind of okay, and then full-on disasters. It's a real shame, too, because there was a lot of potential this summer. Moviegoers went into the season excited about a lot—there was some stellar onscreen talent poised to impress—but what we got was really just a lot of regurgitation. If there was a name on a theater marquee that didn't have a "2" after it, then it must have been because it fell of during a storm.
But no matter. There's no point in lamenting what could have been; what's done is done, and the world has to make its peace with this summer's slate. So instead, it's worth looking back at some of the truly great summer movies from the past. We've dug through all the archives to pull out our absolute favorite summer releases in recent history (emphasis on recent, because otherwise this list would be way too long.)
The result is a roundup of films to call upon when the disappointment over Summer '16 is just too great. There are big-budget war movies, there are crying-laughing comedies, there are rom-coms...and of course, some actually quality award winners, too. After all, while we normally look to summer movies to provide us with some feel-good escapism and top-notch effects, a little bit of highbrow never hurt anybody.
So go ahead, click through to find out our favorites of all time and let's all pretend this summer never happened.