ROB SCHMITZ, HOST:
For many kids, summer means camp. And even if you've never been to a sleepaway camp, you might recognize the experience from a whole array of movies. Some can be sweet like "Theater Camp"...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THEATER CAMP")
NOAH GALVIN: (As Glenn Winthrop) We're theater people. We know how to turn cardboard into gold.
SCHMITZ: ...Or totally absurd, like 2001's "Wet Hot American Summer."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER")
CHRISTOPHER MELONI: (As Gene) Finish off the taters.
A D MILES: (As Gary) And then what did you say?
MELONI: (As Gene) And then what did I say?
MILES: (As Gary) You said you were going to go fondle your sweaters.
SCHMITZ: On this week's Cineplexity, we're talking about what makes a great summer camp film. We're joined by two NPR movie lovers who spent many a summer swatting away mosquitoes at camp - editor Kira Wakeam and ALL THINGS CONSIDERED producer Avery Keatley. Hello to you both.
KIRA WAKEAM, BYLINE: Hey, Rob.
AVERY KEATLEY, BYLINE: Hey.
SCHMITZ: So you both went to summer camp. What are some memories that really stick out about that experience?
KEATLEY: Yeah. I think, for me, the highlight of my camp experience was a day called Messy Marathon. So Messy Marathon was basically a bunch of regular camp games, but they made them gross. So think about, like, musical chairs, but instead of chairs, they're buckets of chocolate milk that have been sitting out in the August sun.
SCHMITZ: Ugh.
KEATLEY: Or, like, passing a watermelon covered in Crisco or trying to pop bags of mashed potatoes tied to somebody's ankle. It was just totally gross and messy, and it reminds me of this epic food fight scene in the movie "It Takes Two," where a bowl of macaroni salad lands on Steve Guttenberg's head and his love interest, Kirstie Alley, can't keep it together, and the cafeteria explodes.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "IT TAKES TWO")
KIRSTIE ALLEY: (As Diane Barrows) You wouldn't dare. (Screaming) Oh.
(LAUGHTER)
ALLEY: (As Diane Barrows, yelling) Food fight.
KEATLEY: Messy Marathon was basically a kid's perfect dream of a food fight, but it was outside, which was smart.
SCHMITZ: (Laughter) Yeah, I assume there are washing machines at camp.
KEATLEY: That's a good...
WAKEAM: There is laundry. There is.
SCHMITZ: OK, good. Good.
KEATLEY: Yeah, yeah.
WAKEAM: Yes.
SCHMITZ: OK.
WAKEAM: That's one of my favorites, Avery, too. I went to camp, Rob, for, like, over a decade.
SCHMITZ: Wow.
WAKEAM: And I start - yeah, I started as a camper. I stayed for a few years as a staff member. And so it's kind of hard for me to choose a favorite memory. But what I will say is one of the best days of summer every year was visitors day. That's when your parents would come up, and we'd all get to go into town for the day, which was a huge treat.
SCHMITZ: Into town.
WAKEAM: Yeah, very special - and you could get anything you couldn't get at camp. And one of the main things we'd come home with, of course, is food - junk food, specifically. And it really reminds me of this very hilarious scene in one of my favorite camp movies, "Heavyweights," in which the campers finally get access to all of their junk food that has been taken away from them earlier in the film by the camp's owner, this fitness guru, Tony Perkis, who is hilariously played by Ben Stiller.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "HEAVYWEIGHTS")
BEN STILLER: (As Tony Perkis) Tomorrow morning at 0600, everyone who has not met their weight loss goal will join me on a 20-mile hike.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters) What?
STILLER: (As Tony Perkis) Pack light, boys. The party's over.
WAKEAM: And they're at this huge bonfire gorging themselves, too, on pizza, chips, candy. They're covered in chocolate, the works.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "HEAVYWEIGHTS")
DAVID BOWE: (As Chris Donelly) I thought they were supposed to be on diets.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) I think they're cheating.
WAKEAM: And that scene is a slightly exaggerated version of what would happen post-visitors day, but really only slightly.
SCHMITZ: Visitors day sounds really fun. Summer camp movies are already a pretty specific genre, but, you know, let's break them down even further to summer camp crushes, which I assume happen at every single camp in the world, right? Am I right?
WAKEAM: I mean...
KEATLEY: Oh, pretty crucial to the experience.
SCHMITZ: Yeah, yeah.
WAKEAM: Yes, I'm going to agree with Avery there. The crushes at camp are a huge part of the experience. Unfortunately, for me, they were mostly unrequited crushes...
SCHMITZ: Aw.
KEATLEY: (Laughter).
WAKEAM: ...With camp hot boys who were a little out of my league at the time. This is one of my favorite threads running through one of my favorite camp movies, which you mentioned in the intro, "Wet Hot American Summer." It's a huge ensemble cast with some of your favorite comedic actors, Amy Poehler as the hilarious counselor - theater counselor Susie.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER")
AMY POEHLER: (As Susie) I would like to announce that Ben and I are planning to produce a musical number from "Godspell" for the talent show tonight.
BRADLEY COOPER: (As Ben, clearing throat).
POEHLER: (As Susie) I'm sorry. Ben is producing. I'm directing slash choreographing.
COOPER: (As Ben) I'm only speaking...
WAKEAM: There's Paul Rudd, Ken Marino, and they're all spending their last day at Camp Firewood in Maine, and they are getting it to high jinks.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) Hey, Neil. What's up?
JOE LO TRUGLIO: (As Neil) Victor abandoned the raft trip. And now the kids are about to go over Devils Canyon rapids.
(SCREAMING)
KEATLEY: I think on the opposite end of the spectrum from "Wet Hot American Summer," which is pretty raunchy, a movie that captures a sweeter, more innocent version of that is Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MOONRISE KINGDOM")
JARED GILMAN: (As Sam) What do you want to be when you grow up?
KARA HAYWARD: (As Suzy) I don't know. I want to go on adventures, I think, not get stuck in one place.
KEATLEY: "Moonrise Kingdom" tells the story of Suzy and Sam. They are these two kind of, like, lonely preteens who meet on an island where Sam is camping with his scout troop. They hatch a plan to run away together, and this completely Andersonian (ph) plot ensues as...
SCHMITZ: Yes.
KEATLEY: ...More and more people kind of get folded into the high jinks.
SCHMITZ: More high jinks.
KEATLEY: More high jinks, right?
WAKEAM: (Laughter).
SCHMITZ: High jinks all around.
KEATLEY: And the consequences of them running away - this film just revolves around their attempts to kind of act on their feelings of young love, which is sweet and silly because they're kids. Their life savings is in the form of nickels.
SCHMITZ: (Laughter) OK. So unfortunately, not everyone has an amazing time at camp. Are there movies where we get to see that side of the story? - and noting that, say, like, "Friday The 13th" is a movie that is also set at a camp.
KEATLEY: Yeah. And there's nothing worse kind of than being somewhere you don't want to be as a kid and not having the power to change that. And that is basically the premise of the movie "Holes," based on the book of the same name, which I think basically every millennial was required to read in elementary school. It stars a Disney Channel-era Shia LaBeouf as the main character, Stanley Yelnats. He's this ill-fated kid whose family is cursed and basically ends up at a work camp for teenagers. And the kids at the camp are forced to dig holes all over this hot, dried-up lakebed. Mr. Sir, a character played by Jon Voight, explains.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "HOLES")
SHIA LABEOUF: (As Stanley Yelnats) What am I supposed to be looking for, Mr. Sir?
JON VOIGHT: (As Mr. Sir) You're not looking for anything. You're building character. You take a bad boy, make him dig holes all day in the hot sun, and it turns him into a good boy. That's our philosophy here at Camp Green Lake.
KEATLEY: This movie sort of follows, like, a long tradition of stories about kids who are kind of forgotten by adults or mistreated by the systems that are supposed to care for or reform them. But I think this kind of qualifies as a camp movie because, without spoiling too much, in the end, it's the kids against the counselors, and there are some real moments of connection between the kids who are at the camp as they try and figure out what's going on and how to get out of this camp that they're in.
WAKEAM: Yeah, I - you know, actually, that sort of relates to one of the major themes that we see in a lot of these camp movies. It's not exactly camp-gone-wrong or people who dislike camp, but there is a camp, and it's campers that are threatened by some kind of larger outside force. That is essentially the plot of "Heavyweights," which I talked about earlier.
SCHMITZ: Right.
WAKEAM: You know, this idyllic and accepting weight loss camp for boys, Camp Hope, is sold to an insane fitness guru who puts the campers through hell trying to make them lose weight. You know, so there's always some ragtag bunch of outsiders up against some bigger force, and they have to come in and save the day. That actually is also the plot of "Theater Camp," which you talked about in our intro.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THEATER CAMP")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As character) Look, Troy, I don't need to tell you that the bank has filed a notice of default.
JIMMY TATRO: (As Troy Rubinsky) What?
WAKEAM: It tells the story of AdirondACTS, a theater camp in upstate New York that becomes at risk of financial insolvency and foreclosure. And, you know, as usually happens in these camp movies, the lovable if annoying theater misfits, they manage to work together enough to keep the camp from being sold to the highest bidder.
SCHMITZ: You know, summer camp is really - it's a very special period of time. It's a - adolescents, many who don't know each other. You've got not too much supervision, and then you have this defined period of time. So it's - in some ways, it sets up some interesting films. I mean, is that the reason why Hollywood keeps going back to this genre?
WAKEAM: Yeah, I mean, I think the best camp movies are the ones that can kind of, like, put you in a place and feel like a kid, you know, to transport you.
SCHMITZ: Right.
KEATLEY: Yeah.
WAKEAM: And it is this contained atmosphere where you can have all these different adventures, and again, the high jinks can ensue. It becomes this really sort of fruitful environment in which to make a movie, I think. And it is this really magical feeling, you know? And my favorite camp movies, whether they're silly or serious, are the ones that sort of transport me back to that place and being that child that I was at that time.
KEATLEY: Yeah, I think it's this sort of, like, beautiful balance of constraint and freedom, right? Like, life at camp is pretty regimented.
WAKEAM: Yeah.
SCHMITZ: Right.
KEATLEY: You wake up when the PA system...
WAKEAM: Yeah.
SCHMITZ: Yeah.
KEATLEY: ...Goes off. You meet at flagpole. Your meals are at scheduled times. Your activities are at scheduled times. But there's also this just complete sense of freedom - right? - that you're getting to do everything that a kid wants to do. You get to be with your friends all day. You get to try new activities. You stay up late in your bunks. You eat too much candy. And I think, for me, the best camp movies remind us of what it is like to feel safe and free in equal measure at that time of life.
SCHMITZ: Returning to our childhoods.
KEATLEY: Yeah.
WAKEAM: Yeah.
SCHMITZ: That was NPR's Kira Wakeam and Avery Keatley. Thanks to you both for joining us.
KIRA WAKEAM AND AVERY KEATLEY: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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