In this Movie Memory Machine: Five For mini-episode, Landen and Truman celebrate the surprisingly tender vibes of The Last Song with five more films that capture the spirit of young love, bittersweet endings, and life-changing summers. From classic dance floor rebellions to indie heartbreakers, these picks offer a full spectrum of emotional rites of passage—and a few lingering regrets about DVDs lost to strawberry-eating potheads.
Films Discussed:
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Dirty Dancing (1987)
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The Way, Way Back (2013)
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The Edge of Seventeen (2016)
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Like Crazy (2011)
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The Spectacular Now (2013)
Topics Covered:
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Dirty Dancing as the ultimate That One Summer movie
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The Way, Way Back and Sam Rockwell as a teenage dream mentor
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The Edge of Seventeen and Hailee Steinfeld’s underrated greatness
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Like Crazy as the bittersweet evolution of young love
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The Spectacular Now and the authenticity of young performances
Key Takeaways:
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Patrick Swayze carried a watermelon and a soundtrack straight to our hearts
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Coming-of-age films peaked hard in the early 2010s indie boom
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Miley Cyrus’s earnest performance in The Last Song holds up better than expected
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Love can bloom in a summer...and dissolve just as easily when September hits
Listener Prompt: What’s your favorite That One Summer movie? Tell us using #MovieMemoryMachine.
Support the Show! Help keep Movie Memory Machine ad-free and artist-owned! Here’s how you can support us:
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Become a Patreon supporter – For as little as $1/month, you get access to bonus content for all shows on the Grunt Work Podcast Network. Join at https://patreon.com/gruntworkpod
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Leave a rating and review – On Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen.
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Like, follow, and share on social media – We’re @MovieMemoryMachine on YouTube and @MovieMemoryPod on Letterboxd.
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Tell a friend – Word of mouth is how we grow.
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Join our Discord – Vote on whether films stay in modern memory or are left forgotten. Visit https://www.moviememorymachine.com for access.
Follow Us: 🌐 Website: https://www.moviememorymachine.com 📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MovieMemoryMachine 🎞️ Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/moviememorypod/
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