“Summer movie” is one of those phrases like “beach novel” or “toilet wine” that causes an immediate, involuntary adjustment of our expectations. (I was going to say “lowering of expectations,” but we make some mighty tasty toilet wine here at Screengrab headquarters.) When we hear “summer movie,” we think of explosions or aliens or exploding aliens, even though by Hollywood’s calendar, there is no time of year that isn’t appropriate for movies about exploding aliens. But by that same token, there are summer movies that feature hardly any exploding aliens at all. To kick off the season, the New York Times asked several motion picture luminaries to ruminate on their favorite summer movies, with surprising results.

Neil LaBute, who would probably like you to forget he directed the remake of The Wicker Man, selects Dr. Zhivago for what turns out to be a pretty good reason. “The only thing more pleasing, however, than a film that really feels like summer is one that is completely the opposite, but viewed during those blistering months… To sit back at a weekday matinee would be heaven; to see those terrific actors and those amazing locations come to life again, to shudder and actually feel chilled when Yuri and his family walk through the 'ice palace' for the first time. The frost that grows on everything in that scene like an albino moss is such a fresh, beautiful image in Dr. Zhivago.”

Sony Pictures Classics co-president Michael Barker has an even more offbeat choice. “Watching Brewster McCloud at a Texas drive-in blew my teenage mind during the summer of ’71. Living on the wrong side of the tracks (the dry part of town) in South Dallas, a late Saturday night could only mean a double or triple bill at the Astro Drive-In. We threw the lawn chairs in the trunk of the car, as well as a teenager or two, and arrived just before dusk to see the main feature… Brewster McCloud was highly anticipated in Texas because it was the first movie made in the Astrodome, that great modern Texas landmark. The trailer also promised some action, some comedy, a little sex and a slam-bang ending. Brewster McCloud had all that, but oh, so much more.”

And then there’s Larry Charles, director of Borat, who brought a date to a Divine movie. Read all about it here.