Today is the last day of summer. Yes, September 22nd. Can you believe it? Here in the desert the temperatures haven’t yet cooled off but we are hoping for cooler winds.

I’ve been meaning to tell you about the gems we managed to catch this summer. And today seems like the perfect (or last) opportunity.

3. Amy   You probably bopped down  the road (or flicked to your mp3s in annoyance) at Amy Winehouse‘s brassy vocals. This documentary shows a teenager’s trajectory from vocalist to megastar including unseen family home videos and diaries. Rehab will never sound the same.

2. Cartel Land Two men taking the law into their own lands. One, Dr. Jose Mireles, in Mexico, arming civilians against the cartels while treating pediatric patients. The other, Tim Foley, patrols the ‘cocaine corridor’ of Arizona while training others in his vein of neighborhood patrol. You might wish for a tighter connection between these stories but most of the time you’ll be wondering how the filmmaker got the cartel footage.

1. Dope I can’t get into mainstream high school movies like The Breakfast Club or even Ferris Bueller’s Day Off because the high schools, dilemmas, and characters were nothing like my own. Granted the goings on in Malcolm’s neighborhood in south LA aren’t my north Florida town either. I did find his life on the fringe, with his geeky friends, more familiar, than jocks and cheerleaders. The wide range of ethnicity in this cast will leave you hopeful for more of the same, coming soon to a theater near you.

What movies did you enjoy this summer? There’s still time to squeeze a few more in before the holiday blockbusters take up all the screens.