Free Outdoor Movies!

New Yorkers, bookmark this page! Here is your one-stop guide to all of the many free outdoor screening series this summer. So what are we seeing this summer?

BRYANT PARK

The most well-known of the various screening venues is usually the most creative with its choices, but you can always count on a number of popular picks. All are on Monday nights.

June 21st Goldfinger

June 28th Carousel

July 5th The French Connection

July 12th My Man Godfrey

July 19th The China Syndrome

July 26th Monty Python and the Holy Grail

August 2nd Rosemary's Baby

August 9th The Goodbye Girl

August 16th 12 Angry Men

August 23rd Bonnie and Clyde

RIVER FLICKS (Hudson River Park)

Just like last year, the theme is movies from the previous summer. So I've pretty much seen all of these, but watching The Hangover outside could definitely be fun. Wednesday nights.

July 7th The Hangover

July 14th I Love You, Man

July 21st The Proposal

July 28th District 9

August 4th Julie & Julia

August 11th Public Enemies

August 18th Star Trek

RIVER FLICKS FOR KIDS

Same series as above but for kids and on Friday nights. I'm always down for Muppets.

July 9th The Wizard of Oz

July 16th Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

July 23rd The Great Muppet Caper

July 30th Monsters vs. Aliens

August 6th Big

August 13th Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

August 20th Annie

SUMMER ON THE HUDSON (Riverside Park South)

Another series that seems to lean towards the recent movies. Also on Wednesday nights.

July 7th NeverEnding Story

July 14th Pan's Labyrinth

July 21st Inkheart

July 28th The Fall

August 4th Big Fish

August 11th Stranger than Fiction

MOVIES WITH A VIEW (Brooklyn Bridge Park)

Lives up to its title - this is the best view of any of these series. But you can't always hear when the subway goes by. Thursday nights.

July 8th Annie Hall

July 15th Monsters vs. Aliens

July 22nd The Big Lebowski

July 29th Rear Window

August 5th Brokeback Mountain

August 12th Dreamgirls

August 19th The Blues Brothers

August 26th Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

September 2nd Public's Choice

RIVER TO RIVER FESTIVAL (Movie Nights on the Elevated Acre)

More Muppets! Also Thursday nights.

July 29th Broadway Danny Rose

August 5th Auntie Mame

August 12th The Country Girl

August 19th The Muppets Take Manhattan

INTREPID SUMMER MOVIE SERIES
Watch movies on a boat. Saturday nights.

May 28th Top Gun
June 19th Field of Dreams
July 9th Ghostbusters
July 23rd The Goonies
August 6th Raiders of the Lost Ark
August 20th Rocky

ROOFTOP FILM NOIR/VAULT OF HORROR SCREENINGS (Tony Dapolito Recreation Center)

I think this is a new one. Friday nights.

July 8th Laura

July 15th Double Indemnity

July 22nd Sunset Boulevard

July 29th All About Eve

August 6th Freaks

August 13th Invasion of the Body Snatchers

August 20th Night of the Living Dead

August 27th Rosemary's Baby

CENTRAL PARK

Not yet listed; check back later for schedule

Technological Problems / Free Stuff to Do

Sorry for the lack of posting this week, but this time I've got an excuse: after five years of faithful service, my laptop has died. This will soon be remedied however: today I plan to go to the Apple Store and get myself a long-needed replacement. That's right, I'm going Mac. So now the question is just whether I'll be able to recover my old files. Is it weird that, after my music of course, what I'm most concerned about losing is all my little lists of movies to see and books to read?

While I'm in transition, I thought I'd let all the New Yorkers know about some of the fun summer opportunities this week. I'll do my regular breakdown of the outdoor movies within the next few days, but there's even more going on.

First off, this Sunday is Bastille Day, and that means a big street fair on 60th Street from 5th Ave to Lex. If you find yourself craving crepes and can-can dancing, it's the place to be. More info  

Next, as the picture above shows: FREE New York Philharmonic in Central Park. TWO chances to watch: Tuesday and Friday (though Friday has fireworks). If you're more of an outer boroughs type, you can also go to Prospect Park on Wednesday or Van Corlandt Park in the Bronx on Thursday. More info

Lastly, restaurant week starts Monday (and goes through July), so make your reservations now if you want to enjoy $24.07 lunches and $35 dinners at some of the city's nicest restaurants. Full list of restaurants  

Restaurant week menus

FREE PINKBERRY!

Free Pinkberry today from 5-9! Yay!

Get Ready for Outdoor Movies

One of my favorite parts about being in New York over the summer is the free outdoor movies. You have a little picnic, enjoy the weather, and see a classic film you somehow missed, all for free. So if you're going to be in New York this summer, you may want to bookmark this page, as I've compiled all (ok, most) of the different schedules for summer 2009. Which ones are making your summer to-do list?

BRYANT PARK
This is the biggest and most well-known of the outdoor movie venues, and usually has the movies I'm most interested in seeing. This year I'm putting all 3 of the August movies at the top of my list.

June 15 The Sting
June 22 Breaking Away
June 29 Gold Diggers of 1933
July 6 Dog Day Afternoon
July 13 How Green Was My Valley
July 20 Harold and Maude

July 27 The Defiant Ones

August 3 Kramer vs. Krame

August 10 The Magnificent Seven

August 17 Close Encounters of the Third Kind

RIVER FLICKS (Hudson River Park)
Everything's from last summer, but those do make fun movies to see outside.

July 8 Iron Man
July 15 Vicky Christina Barcelona
July 22 The Dark Knight
July 29 Hancock
August 5 Tropic Thunder
August 12 Sex and the City
August 19 Pineapple Express

RIVER FLICKS FOR KIDS
It's Friday nights and there will be kids, but for Muppet Movie or Ghostbusters it may be worth it.

July 10 Wizard of Oz
July 17 Kung Fu Panda
July 24 Ghostbusters
July 31 Star Wars: The Clone Wars
August 7 Muppet Movie
August 14 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
August 21 Curious George

MOVIES WITH A VIEW (Brooklyn Bridge Park)
You can't always hear due to the subway, but the view is fantastic.

July 9 Raising Arizona
July 16 The Maltese Falcon
July 23 Paper Moon
July 30 To Catch a Thief
August 6 The Return of the Pink Panther
August 13 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
August 20 Catch Me If You Can
August 27 Edward Scissorhands

SUMMER ON THE HUDSON (Riverside Park South)

July 8 The Age of Innocence
July 15 Wall Street
July 22 Dinner at Eight
July 29 The Out-of-Towners
August 5 Drums Along the Mohawk
August 12 Sweet Smell of Success

RIVER TO RIVER FESTIVAL (Movie Nights on the Elevated Acre)

July 6 The Seven Year Itch
July 13 The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
July 20 West Side Story
July 27 Sweet Smell of Success

Shakespeare Preview

The best part of living in New York City in the summer is the multitude of free events around the city. There's outdoor movies in Bryant Park, outdoor concerts at Summer Stage, and biggest of all, Shakespeare in the Park. Even though it's only February, today's announcement of this summer's productions lets us all look forward to summer all the more.

First, from June 9th - July 12th, is Twelfth Night. Now, this isn't as high-profile a play as recent Shakespeare picks (Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth), but it does have something those other plays didn't: Anne Hathaway (Lauren Ambrose must be pissed). After shedding her Disney image (and clothes) in Brokeback Mountain and Rachel Getting Married, Hathaway's taking the next step in proving her acting mettle by going live, playing Viola. Makes waiting in line 6 hours for tickets a little more worthwhile.

As for the non-Shakespeare play (August 11th - September 6th), this year it's The Bacchae, a Greek tragedy by Euripedes that somehow slipped through Columbia's Core Curriculum, making it the only Greek play I haven't read (yes, that's hyperbole). No cast has been announced yet, just that the score will be composed by Philip Glass. Since last year this slot was filled with the hugely successful revival of Hair, it's going to take a lot more than Philip Glass to make this not feel like a letdown. Maybe they should consider casting Anne Hathaway.

Free Movies!

Part of the reason I've been able to see as many movies as I have this fall is free movie screenings. As you may or may not know, most major movies hold free screenings before their release as a way of building buzz for the film. If you know where to look (and are willing to wait in the cold), you can catch all the top movies without busting your budget. I'll take you through some of the main sites to find passes.

Curbside Booty
This blog's stated purpose is recycling, but it is hands down the best place to find out about free movie screenings in New York. It doesn't hold its own screenings, but it's a good central resource to find out about other sites' offerings. As it lists two to three movies a week on average, it's one to check regularly.

Fat Wallet Forums
This is a message board where free screening aficionados post codes and locations for screenings. It is not city-specific, so New York screenings are rare. But it's great for providing access to tougher sites like Gofobo and The Screening Exchange. It's also good for giving the links to studios' screenings, especially Fox Searchlight. My link above is to the newest page as of this posting, so you always have to click to the most recent comments.

Film Metro
This is one of the biggest free screening websites, and one of the worst for New York. Every now and then they get a screening, but it always fills up within seconds. If you're outside New York though, you might stand a better chance.

Village Voice
The Village Voice has a ton of great promotions, sometimes including movie screenings. If you sign up for their Movie Club, they'll e-mail you when they have one. It's been awhile since they've done a movie screening, but you can enter contests for dinners, concerts, and other events.

New York Observer
Similarly, if you sign up for the New York Observer's Cinema Club, they will e-mail you whenever they have a movie screening. And they do a lot of screenings.

Time Out New York
They don't hold many screenings, but it's easy enough to get a pass from the site.

Edge New York
This gay-themed New York magazine often lists screenings no one else has. They don't seem to have any at the moment though.

If you check all of these sites regularly, you're bound to catch a free movie a week. As for timing, you're generally let into the theater 45 minutes before start time, so: If it's summer, the movie is high-profile, and the screening is at a big AMC theater, you want to be there over 2 hours early. If it's cold or raining, the movie has no big stars, and it's playing at an art house theater, 45-60 minutes should do it. If the screening fits somewhere in between, use your discretion.