Texas Outdoor Movies

Socrates Sculpture Park announces its summer outdoor cinema slate

Outdoor Movies in the Park — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 15:16:26 +0000

The summer’s movie season may be winding down, but two Queens-centric cinema series will offer a smorgasbord of classics and foreign films through mid-August.

Socrates Sculpture Park has unveiled the second half of its summer Outdoor Cinema slate, which will show on a large screen along the East River in Long Island City, while Manhattan’s Film Forum is screening a series of 1930s pictures that were primarily shot in Astoria.

The sculpture park is hosting screenings curated by Astoria’s Museum of the Moving Image and Brooklyn’s Rooftop films as part of its 12th annual outdoor movie series. Each event is free and accompanied by musical performances as well as food from the film’s country of origin.

The park’s August slate will kick off with “Sita Sings the Blues,” an animated version of the Indian epic poem the “Ramayana” set to the 1920s jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw. The film, which has become a cult hit, will be preceded by sitar player Indrajit Roy-Chowdhury and the Aug. 4 event will include food from Long Island City Indian eatery Five Star Restaurant and Banquet.

“We’re really excited about this one,” said Shaun Leonardo, the park’s special events coordinator. “Animated films are really magical at this venue. We thought it would be great to screen at the park.”

On Aug. 11, Socrates will show “Mid August Lunch,” an Italian comedy about a middle-aged man living with his demanding elderly mother. Food at the event will be provided by Long Island City’s Vesta Trattoria, while music will be performed by Le Nozze di Carlo, a five-piece group that plays its own songs as well as traditional Italian classics on the accordion, base, drums, guitar and soprano saxophone.

The series’s final screening on Aug. 18 will be Colombia’s “The Wind Journeys,” which follows the story of a retired musician and his teenage companion as they attempt to return an accordion that is apparently possessed by the devil.

“It’s one of those films that will screen well in the park because of its amazing scenery and colors,” Leonardo said.

Music for the event is not yet confirmed, but food will be provided by Astoria’s La Fonda Antioquena.

Each screening begins at sunset.

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The Film Forum, located at 209 W. Houston St. in Manhattan, is screening a series of films set along the Hudson River, including a number of western Queens locales, through Aug. 10.

“It was a hopping place,” said Bruce Goldstein, director of the repertory programming for the theater, of Astoria. “I think Paramount Pictures saw Astoria as an ideal situation because they were looking to sign Broadway talent, which they thought was the future of talkies. There was more room in Astoria, but the sets were really tight when you compare them to Hollywood movies. You’d never see the camera pull back to show large dance numbers.”

Movies that have already screened as part of Hollywood on the Hudson include 1934’s “Crime Without Passion,” the Marx Brothers’s “Animal Crackers” and 1933’s “Moonlight and Pretzels.”

On Aug. 3, the theater will show “The Smiling Lieutenant,” a 1931 comedy shot at the former Paramount Studios site in Astoria, as well as “Laughter,” a 1930 screwball comedy set in Manhattan.

“Lieutenant,” which was directed by Ernst Lubitsch, stars Maurice Chevalier as a rogue who is in love with a violinist played by Claudette Colbert, but is already married to princess Miriam Hopkins. In the picture’s most memorable number, Colbert advises Hopkins on her relationship with Chevalier with the song “Jazz Up Your Lingerie.”

The film shot at Paramount, which was once located in the site now belonging to Kaufman Astoria Studios.

“Laughter,” directed by Harry D’Abbadie D’Arrast, follows the story of ex-Follies girl Nancy Carroll’s escapades in Manhattan with Fredric March, who has recently returned from Paris, despite being married to the wealthy Frank Morgan.

The final screening of the series will be “The Emperor Jones,” a 1933 film starring Paul Robeson as Brutus Jones, a man who escapes from jail after killing a guard and, through ambition, ends up becoming the ruler of a Caribbean island. The film, which is based on a Eugene O’Neill, at Eastern Service Studios, an Astoria studio where a handful of films were shot in the 1930s.

“I don’t think Hollywood would have made this film,” said Goldstein of the independent picture. “It was too arty. The print we have from the Library of Congress is uncensored. It’s a powerful movie.”

The movie will be accompanied by the 1929 short film, “St. Louis Blues,” which starts legendary blues singer Bessie Smith and was primarily shot in Gramercy Park.

For showtimes, visit the theater’s web site at filmforum.org.

Read film reviews by Nathan Duke at criticalconditions.net.

Holmen Area Historical Society announces free outdoor movie nights

Outdoor Movies in the Park — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 14:15:22 +0000

The Holmen Area Historical Society will replicate the good old days when free outdoor movie nights were regular occurrences and big social events in small towns throughout the region.

A short Red Skelton film opens the Free Movie and Cowboy Sing-a-long event Aug. 4, followed by a classic John Wayne and Katherine Hepburn collaboration, “Rooster Cogburn.”
The movies will be shown inside the giant tractor barn at at Yahnke Antique Green, W6816 Village View Lane, just off Highway D.

A sing-a-long featuring cowboy songs will be led by Dave Skoloda beginning at 7:45 p.m. The movies start at 8 p.m. or as soon as it is dark.

Participants can bring their own blankets or picnic chairs, according to Judy Hoffman, historical society president.

The book, “Growing Up in Holmen” as well as 2010 Holmen Historical Society calendars will be available for purchase.

Popcorn and soft drinks will be available for purchase. Freewill donations will be accepted.

Free parking with rides available from the parking area to the movie site will be provided.

The event is sponsored by Chuck Olson of Coldwell Banker/River Valley Realtors; Kit Johnson of American Family Insurance; Holmen Hardware Hank and Rental; Holmen Portable Sanitation; and River Bank, Holmen.

Outdoor Cinema with a Movie on the Beach

Outdoor Movies in the Park — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 13:14:38 +0000

This Friday night Callaway Gardens’® Robin Lake Beach becomes an outdoor cinema with a Movie on the Beach.

Robin Lake’s sandy beach will be the seating and the stars the backdrop for evening’s viewing of the award-winning movie Blind Side. Projected onto an inflatable, 35-foot wide screen, the movie will be shown with a digital projection system with surround sound.

Prior to show time, guests can enjoy the 8 p.m. FSU Flying High Circus’s Friday night special show Spectacular.

Showtime will immediately follow at dusk (generally around 9:15 p.m.). Guests may want to bring a blanket or lawn chair. The Beach Pavilion will be open for snacks and beverages prior to the movie.

A Movie on the Beach is a great way to end a full day of family fun at Callaway Gardens. Guests visiting the Gardens during the day will be admitted to the movies at no additional cost.

Day admission is $18/adult; $9/child (ages six to 12); children five and younger are admitted for free.

The Gardens and its attractions are open daily during the Summer from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Beginning at 6 p.m. admission is $9/adult; $4.50/child (ages six to 12); children five and younger are admitted for free.

Admission will be complimentary for annual pass holders and military (active and retired with ID) and up to five guests in the same vehicle.

Be sure to check out Callaway’s additional special Summer attractions including Iceberg Island (fee), a floating water playground, the Xcelerator (fee), the world’s largest inflatable waterslide and paddleboats (fee) – all on Robin Lake.

These are in addition to the beloved traditional beach attractions included with admission — miniature golf course, shuffleboard, table tennis and the FSU Flying High Circus, an acrobatic circus with six weekly performances.

In addition, the 12th annual Sky High Hot Air Balloon Festival at Callaway Gardens Labor Day Weekend will include a “Movie on the Beach.”

On Saturday, September 4, a movie will be shown at dusk. The public is invited to vote on the family movie to be shown on this date by visiting the Callaway Gardens’ Facebook page to vote between August 2 and August 16, 2010.

Carman and Community Chamber of Commerce’s Outdoor Movies at Ryall Park Faces Ad Ban

Outdoor Movies in the Park — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 11:14:05 +0000

A ban on advertising could be something of a kink in the Carman and Community Chamber of Commerce’s Outdoor Movies at Ryall Park.

Executive director Rosemarie Grusska said there cannot be any advertising by way of T.V., radio and newspapers of the forthcoming movie nights in August and September. And that includes advertising the names of the movies.

However, Grusska said, posters are permitted.
“It’s very niche and detailed, you got to watch,” she said of the licensing rules.

The ban is part of license from Audio Ciné Films Inc. based in Montreal and provides movies for groups wanting to show them as a fundraiser.

“We’re not commercial,” an ACF spokesperson said. “We do not compete with movie theatres.”

The first movie night at the park is scheduled for August 5 starting at 8:30 p.m. There will be more movie nights the following two Thursdays.

After a two-week break there will be more movie nights for the last four Thursdays of September, with the start time moving up to 8 p.m.

Grusska said the youth group from the Carman Mennonite Church will be serving drinks and popcorn.

The cost of the movie license is sponsored by the Town of Carman, RM of Dufferin and the CIBC Carman branch.

For more information on the movie nights call 750-3050 or go to www.carmanchamberofcommerce.com.