The Six Films Defining Our Summer

Summer movies aren't a genre so much as a mood; heat, restlessness, something a little reckless happening just off-screen. Some of the best examples of it are decades old and still hold up; a couple of the newest ones are about to test whether the mood can survive an IMAX budget. Here's what's in rotation this week, old and new.

Jaws (1975):

The original summer movie, and still the standard everything else gets measured against. A beach town, a monster, and Spielberg proving that what you don't show is scarier than what you do.

Do the Right Thing (1989):

Spike Lee's Brooklyn block on the hottest day of the year, where the heat isn't background noise, it's the plot. Nothing about it has aged into irrelevance.

Monsoon Wedding (2001):

Mira Nair's Delhi wedding under a marigold-drenched sky, chaos and heat and family all doing the same job at once. Still the reference point for how to shoot a South Asian summer without softening it for anyone.

The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999):

Amalfi Coast glamour with a con artist underneath it, proof that the most dangerous person at the party is usually the one everyone likes best. Sun-soaked and quietly menacing in equal measure.

The Odyssey (in theaters July 17):

Christopher Nolan's take on Homer, shot entirely on IMAX film, with Matt Damon as Odysseus trying to get home. The most expensive thing Nolan has made, and the first real test of whether an ancient epic can open like a summer tentpole.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day (in theaters July 31):

Tom Holland back under the mask, world having forgotten Peter Parker exists, powers doing something new. The closest thing this summer has to a guaranteed opening weekend.