See It Big: Summer Movies (’70s & ’80s Edition)
May 5 — Jul 23, 2023
It may be as American as apple pie, but the summer movie is still a relatively recent phenomenon. Steven Spielberg’s Jaws revolutionized the industry with its June 1975 media blitz, instantly iconic branding, and mammoth success (it didn’t hurt that the film was brilliant). George Lucas followed suit and upped his buddy’s ante two summers later with Star Wars. After this, every movie studio began to rethink its annual release slate to capitalize on audience expectations for summer spectacle. Of course, the summer movie is not all about adventure and horror: as the seventies gave way to the eighties, multiplexes saw more varieties of films, from romantic comedies to adult erotic thrillers to serious social dramas. This series brings together selections from the first two decades of the American summer movie, as well as some smaller hot-month titles released to appeal to alternative art-house crowds. Kick back and enjoy these summer movies the way they were meant to be seen.
