Summer Rental (1985)

Summer Rental came out 30 years ago in the summer of 1985. I only saw it for the first time recently, and liked it. John Candy is amusing in it as a Chicago dad who takes his wife and two kids (one is Joey Lawrence) to Florida.

They rent a beach house and predictably, some things go wrong, which brought to mind a Jimmy Stewart movie called Mr Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962), which this is sort-of like.

The movie ends with the family entering a sailing race with the help of a pirate played by Rip Torn. It is worth seeing if you are curious about the other films in John Candy's filmography.

Movie theaters of Miami, Florida USA

Took most of these pics on my Miami sightseeing trip last week. Enjoy!!!

CAMEO THEATER in South Beach

Built in 1936 as a movie house. Today it is a nightclub and hosts rock concerts. 

TOWER THEATER in Little Havana

Opened in 1926. Still shows movies today! This week: A Separation.

TRAIL THEATER in Little Havana 

Here's another Miami landmark in the "Calle Ocho" neighborhood, the Trail Theater, which opened in 1930 as a movie house but is now a vibrant performing arts center. 

ACE THEATER in Coral Gables

Sadly, the Ace theater is not doing too good these days;  it's closed and boarded up.

First opened in 1939. 

MIRACLE THEATER in Coral Gables

An 80+ year old theater, it's now a performing arts center along the so-called "Miracle Mile" shopping district in Coral Gables. 

GATEWAY THEATER in
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORDIA

23 miles north of Miami is the lovely city of Fort Lauderdale, and the world famous GATEWAY theater. Here, in 1961, the premiere of Where the Boys Are - filmed in FL - was held. The movie was a huge hit and started the whole "spring break" craze here. 

 

Below: the movie's stars Jim Hutton and Paula Prentiss at the premiere

This week, the Gateway was showing 2011 Oscar Winners such as The Artist and A Separation. 

Here's a video clip of the 1961 premiere of the movie

Hope you enjoyed this post on Florida theaters

The Burt Reynolds museum in Florida

This weekend I visited the Burt Reynolds & Friends Museum, a neat little museum in South Florida that is home to the actor's awards, gifts from his 50-year career in show business. 

The museum has lots of neat photos of Reynold's early life in Florida and his football days at FSU.

SPORTS 

Yearbook photos, humanitarian honors, and lots of sports memorabilia, including singed footballs, baseballs (Mickey Mantle, Stan Musial among them), jerseys, caps, you name it. 

 

Signed photos from Walter Payton, Jack Nicklaus, Sugar Ray Leonard, and tons more. Here's one from Russell Crowe from a movie called Mystery Alaska where he played a hockey player. 

 

Westerns

An entire wing is devoted to his Western films and memorabilia from the western shows (including Gunsmoke) and movies (100 Rifles) in the early part of his career.

Signed photos from the cast of Gunsmoke

1970s movies

A canoe used in Deliverance. The museum curator told me that last year, the four main actors from the film (Reynolds, Jon Voight, Ronny Cox, and Ned Beatty) hosted a Q&A here and filmed a segment for the upcoming 40th anniversary DVD of the film.

1980s films

Lots of cool stuff from his movies, including hits like Smokey and the Bandit 

Hundreds of autographed photos

AWARDS

I love seeing awards on display like this. It's so neat to see. After you watch the Oscars or an awards show and see the star win, you hardly ever see the trophies again. Here, Burt has put them all on display for his fans to enjoy. 

Golden Globes

Nomination certificates

Another nomination

Reynolds's sole Emmy win for Evening Shade

Here's an Oscar nomination certificate for Boogie Nights (1997)

Lots of People's Choice Awards

Here is an award recognizing Burt as the #1 Top Box Office Star of the Year (there are 5 of these)

New York Film Critics Award