While summer doesn't officially start until June 21, Memorial Day marks the unofficial beginning to the hottest season at the movies.

Summer loses some of its meaning when you're an adult, since it no longer comes with a moths-long break from the grind.

Nevertheless, we can all still enjoy a good movie about summer vacations. After the jump, check out eight of our favorites.

8. "The Great Outdoors" (1988)

During the '80s, John Candy was in quite a few movies in which family summer vacations gone awry. In this one, a summer trip to the lake takes a turn for the worse when obnoxious in-laws Dan Aykroyd and Annette Bening show up.

7. "I Know What You Did Last Summer" (1997)

In this teen horror flick, four friends, including Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jennifer Love Hewitt deal with the guilt of a bad deed done the prior summer.

6. "Summer School" (1987)

Fun-loving gym teacher Mark Harmon is forced to teach summer school to a motley collection of highly unmotivated students. He develops a crush on a fellow summer school teacher, played by Kristie Alley, and learns that he's a better shaper of young minds than he'd ever imagined.

5. "Sandlot" (1993)

A shy new kid in a new town makes friends and learns about life after joining a summer sandlot baseball team.  Set in 1962 California, this nostalgic film did well enough to spawn a much less memorable sequel.

4. "Wet Hot American Summer" (2001)

Janeane Garofalo, Paul Rudd, David Hyde Pierce and a whole bunch of actors from MTV's sketch comedy show "The State" ham it up in this cult spoof of summer camp movies.

3. "Meatballs" (1979)

Bill Murray plays an apathetic camp counselor who is forced to lead his charges in color wars against the wealthy camp on the other side of the lake. This Canadian film was Murray's first big screen starring role.

2. "Dirty Dancing" (1987)

Jennifer Grey rebels against her overbearing parents by striking up an unlikely romance with a dance instructor in the Catskills. The hit film was the first to ever sell a million copies on home video.

1. "National Lampoon's Vacation" (1983)

Ah, the Family Truckster. Anyone who's ever taken a classic American road trip can relate to this cross-country comedy, starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Anthony Michael Hall, Christie Brinkley, John Candy and Randy Quaid. It's the ultimate summer vacation movie -- and arguably the ultimate family movie, as well.

- Contributed by Jeremy Taylor

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