Free Movies

Austinist has the scoop on the Movies in the Park screenings at Republic Square Park this fall. The movies all start around sundown and admission is free. The series opened last night with Grease, a movie I saw for the first time at a drive-in (on Metairie Road ... it's a strip mall now).

But this year, Movies in the Park isn't limiting itself merely to movies. If you saw Grease last night, you were treated to live music beforehand from an oldies band. Live music, Austin, pretty standard stuff ... but look at these upcoming listings:

Saturday 9/9: The Muppet Movie ... with an appearance from the film's composer, Paul Williams

Saturday 10/7: Rock 'n' Roll High School ... with an appearance by actress P.J. Soles (as well as live music, but no actual Ramones are involved)

Did I mention this is all free?

Unfortunately, the Austin Parks Foundation hasn't updated their Web site with the fall series, and I can't find much information on the Rolling Roadshow page, so the Austinist article has the most complete info at this time. If anyone tracks down a full listing of the films, let me know.

This week's News from Slackerwood at Cinematical is now live. I'm still deciding whether to go to the Preston Sturges double-feature at The Paramount -- Hail the Conquering Hero isn't on DVD yet in this country, so I at least should see that one. Besides, I haven't yet been to a summer movie at the Paramount this year. The Sturges double-feature isn't one of their usual tried-and-true crowd pleasers, so I feel like maybe I should support the films if I want to see more programming along those lines.

I neglected to mention some of the free movies showing during the day this week as part of "kids club" series at various theaters: Lakeline is showing March of the Penguins (which doesn't strike me as a children's movie, at all) Tuesday-Thursday at 10 am; Westgate is showing Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit, also Tuesday-Thursday at 10 am.

Ain't It Cool News is sponsoring a free preview screening in Austin of Monster House on Monday, July 10, although they haven't yet finalized the details on time and place. (Tim League is involved, so that does narrow the venue possibilities somewhat.) I was feeling disinclined to see the film until I noticed the cast includes Steve Buscemi, Catherine O'Hara, and Fred Willard. Plus, you know, FREE.

Visit the AICN site for details on how to sign up for the Monster House admission list. You must be on the list to get into the screening, so do it now if you're at all interested. And if you see any AICN folks at the screening, wish them a happy anniversary ... the site turned 10 years old yesterday.

[via Matt Dentler's Blog]

I love free movies. And free Marx brothers movies? Hard to top that. The San Antonio Street Cafe, a kosher cafe near the UT campus, has been showing Marx brothers films every Wednesday night at 8 pm, and will continue to show double features through August 2. This week features two of the best: Duck Soup and A Night at the Opera. The cafe is offering all kinds of wacky discounts and free extras: this week, special guests will be on hand to make soup and to perform covers of opera music. We own most of the Marx brothers' movies on DVD, but these films truly spring to life with an audience.

[via GreenCine Daily]

Lauren at Metroblogging Austin recently posted an upbeat story about her experience at last week's Nueva Onda Movie Night. I'm happy she had a good time ... because I'm on the programming committee for the monthly outdoor screenings.

Naturally, I want to encourage all of you to go to Nueva Onda's movie nights, which are on the second Wednesday of each month, starting around 8 pm (or a little later, whenever it gets dark enough). Admission is free. You can order giant plates of nachos or enchiladas, have some beer, and enjoy a variety of short narrative and documentary films (or the occasional feature). Get there a little early if you want a good table where you can eat and watch the movies, or else you can move your chair when the movies begin. You can flicks [at] nuevaaustin [dot] com (join the mailing list) to find out in advance about the film lineup for the next month's screening.

Also, if you are a filmmaker and you have some short films or features stashed away, why not submit them to Nueva Onda for consideration? jette [at] celluloideyes [dot] com (Email me) for more information about where to send a copy of the film, etc. You don't have to live in Austin to submit a film -- last week's theme was "World Short Films."