This is the best summer for movies in years

It’s been shouted over and over again (by me, actually) for years: The summer blockbuster is dead! Kaput! Pushing daisies! Why on earth would we schlep to a sticky, old movie theater anymore when we can enjoy the comfort and convenience of Netflix, Grubhub and couch?

Making the cinema situation more dire, the past several years of June, July and August releases have been pitiful. In 2019, we were saddled with “Dark Phoenix” and “The Kitchen.” Quadratic equations are more fun. Yet — thank God — our first summer of reopened America is easily the biggest movie season in recent memory. Thanks to a backlog from 2020, there are so many hot flicks that, as a movie critic, I don’t expect to see the sun again till Labor Day. There’s Marvel and musicals, Disney and DC, The Rock and “Respect,” horror and heartwarming.