Summer Reading for adults: A cinematic experience list

After a day filled with activities there’s nothing better than relaxing on the sofa with a favorite seasonal movie. Whether it’s the carefree vibes, warm evenings outdoors, or picnics in the park - to complete this challenge simply choose a movie that captures the essence of Summer for you. We invite you to borrow a DVD from our extensive collection, or stream a free film on our movie streaming services. To help get you started, we’ve picked some of our favorite Summer films, but feel free to select your own to complete the challenge!

Don't have a DVD player? No problem! You can borrow a DVD player for free with your library card.

The Muppet Christmas Carol
Featuring Kermit as Bob Cratchit and Michael Caine as Scrooge, this is heartwarming from start to finish, with all your favourite Muppets appearing somewhere in between. We love this movie, and we hope you will too!

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas
Not feeling Christmassy? Spare a thought for Jack Skellington, the pumpkin king of Halloween Town, bored of doing the same thing for Halloween every year. Watch him and the ghoulish residents of Halloween town attempt an off-kilter Christmas instead.

Love, Actually
If you need all the feels this time of year, this might be the Christmas movie for you. With a frozen London landscape as its backdrop, follow the relationship ups and downs of eight couples in this romantic comedy.

Die Hard 2
Argue with us all you like, the first two Die Hard movies are Christmas movies (and excellent viewing), and no more said. Like your holiday season action-packed? Need to wind down after lunch with small to medium size explosions on the small screen? We have you covered.

Gremlins and Gremlins 2
Another non-traditional pick, but both these movies are excellent, and the first one is set at Christmas (the second is Christmas-adjacent). A young man breaks three important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town. Slightly controversial opinion: the sequel is better.

Home Alone 1 and 2
Macaulay Culkin is Kevin, a young boy with a line-up of siblings in a large family, left home alone by accident when his family rush to catch a plane. With the run of the house to himself, Kevin gets up to antics till his (apparently vacant) house is targeted by robbers for the holidays, then he goes to town defending his home. Alternately heart-warming and hilarious, with Catherine O'Hara doing a turn as Kevin's mum trying to get home to him.

Arthur Christmas
Need an animated Christmas movie the whole family can enjoy? Try this one from Aardman Animation (of Wallace and Gromit fame). With the voice talents of Jim Broadbent and Hugh Laurie, this is the story of Arthur, Santa's youngest son, saving the day for one child in amongst a high-tech, Christmas-gift-giving operation.

Tongan Ninja
Co-starring and co-written by Jermaine Clement, and featuring songs written by both Flight of the Conchords members, this is the most excellent silliness in a martial arts film wrapper.

Footrot Flats : The Dog's Tail, Tale
A New Zealand classic, originally released in 1986, featuring Dave Dobbyn's classic 'Slice of Heaven' as its title track. This is the movie of the classic NZ cartoon, featuring Wal (John Clarke) and Dog and all the crew.

The World's Fastest Indian
Featuring Sir Anthony Hopkins as Invercargill's Burt Munro, and that infamous lemon tree quote. This is the story of Burt Munro, who in his late 60s set off from the South Island in 1967 across the world to try his bike on the Bonneville Salt Flats in the U.S., and set a new speed record.

Whale Rider
Watch a very young Keisha Castle-Hughes in Niki Caro's amazing film of Witi Ihimaera's Whale Rider. Also featuring Rawiri Paratene and Cliff Curtis, this is a powerful New Zealand classic.

The Princess Bride
Love, friendship, bravery, humour, and so many good quotes. If you've never watched the 1987 classic tale of Buttercup (Robin Wright Penn) and Westley (Carey Elwes), you're in for a treat. (We can hear the theme music now.)

The Goonies
Goonies never say die! Swashbuckling 80s ensemble film with Sean Astin and teen gang escaping the Fratelli crime family and trying to find legendary pirate One-Eyed Willy's subterranean treasure ship to save their town.

Paddington 2
Did you know Paddington 2 has achieved cult movie status? Watch and find out why -- it's genuinely heartwarming, and Hugh Grant flexes his villain muscle.

E.T. : the Extra-Terrestrial
Steven Spielberg's 1982 kids flick where stranded alien is saved from the authorities by kids on bikes. Featuring a very young Drew Barrymoore.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Angela Lansbury (Murder She Wrote) is learning to be a witch by post in a small English village, when she takes in three Blitz children in this Disney classic.

Mary Poppins
Another classic Disney movie. Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke sing their hearts out in this Walt Disney adaptation of P. L. Travers' Mary Poppins books. Want the (sadder) story behind the movie? Watch Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks in Saving Mr Banks.

The Wizard of Oz
Did you know this movie was made in 1939? L. Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz books have been beloved for more than 120 years, and this movie for 90! Watch Judy Garland's quest for home as Dorothy together with her friends.

Star Wars [original trilogy]
Need we say more? Time for a rewatch!

The Karate Kid
The 1984 martial arts drama that launched a franchise. Teen boy moves to Los Angeles, falls in love with girl and attracts the attention of the Cobra Kai karate dojo. Mr Miyagi (Pat Morita) saves the day and teaches karate and life skills (wax on, wax off).

Short Circuit
Number 5 is alive! Early 'what if robots are people' adventure film.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Board the Hogwarts Express at Platform 9 3/4 and go with Harry, Hermione and Ron on their first adventure.

Moana
Lin Manuel Miranda of Hamilton fame wrote many of the songs for this movie, and it also features NZ actors Jermaine Clement, Temuera Morrison and Rachel House (who is amazing as the voice of Moana's grandmother). Set in the Pacific of long ago, Moana must claim her ocean voyaging birthright to save her people, working with trickster Maui (Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, also amazing), to return the Heart of Te Fiti.

Madagascar
Featuring the voice talents of Ben Stiller, David Schwimmer, Chris Rock and Jada Pinkett Smith. Escape the New York Central Zoo (hesitantly) with the Madagascar crew, but watch out for lemurs, and the song 'I like to move it, move it' (it's an ear worm).

Despicable Me
Longtime supervillain Gru is feeling the pressure when he needs to top yet another effort by his rival Vector. As part of a nefarious plan to out-do his rival and infiltrate his lair, he and his (yellow, overall-suited, goggle-wearing, extremely cute) minions adopt three orphan girls. Chaos and love ensue.

Inside Out
Have you ever imagined all the component parts of your mind -- fear, joy, anger as different voices in your head, competing to run the show? This is the premise behind this movie. It's another day in the Control Centre of young girl Riley Andersen's mind, when crisis hits. Team members Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust and Anger must navigate her through the emotional rollercoaster of moving cities and schools.

The Lion King
Rewatch this nineties classic Disney film, with Simba, Nala, Timon and Pumbaa and sing along with Hakuna Matata (what a wonderful phrase...).

Luca
Set in the Italian Riviera in the '50s, a trio of kids share adventures, but two are secretly sea monsters. This one came out in 2021 direct to streaming, and was a COVID at home hit when we all needed heartwarming adventures on our screens to connect us separately in our homes.

The Adventures of Tintin : the Secret of the Unicorn
Made in Wellywood by Peter Jackson and Wētā! Some people accuse this one of straying into uncanny valley territory with its motion capture animation approach, but if you grew up reading Tintin, this is magical. Watch Tintin, Snowy, Captain Haddock, Thomson and Thompson and Professor Calculus come to life in this adventure.

Hotel Transylvania. A Monster Vacation
This is the third movie in the series, but no Adam Sandler for this one. The monster family head off to holiday themselves (no guests!) on a cruise. What could possibly go wrong?

Puss in Boots : the Last Wish
Antonio Banderas's Puss 'n Boots from Shrek gets his own film, and a romantic interest with maybe even more moxie than he does? This film is a lot of fun!

Spider-Man : Across the Spider-Verse
We had to get some Marvel universe in this list somewhere. Miles Morales's Spider-Man teams up with Gwen Stacy's Spider-Woman and a new team of Spider-People to save the day.

Not your cup of tea? Find a film or TV series to watch online with your library card and our Kanopy or Beamafilm online movie platforms - have a browse and get started below!