Movies under the stars
Published Saturday July 4th, 2009
If you find summer Sunday evenings are too nice to spend inside, but you're in the mood to see a movie, head for Barracks Square.
The Under the Stars Classic Film Series is back for a new season. It kicks off at dusk on Sunday, July 5 with The Day the Earth Stood Still from 1951, a science fiction thriller starring Michael Rennie and Patricia Neal.
"We always do older, classic films," says David Seabrook, manager of Fredericton Tourism. "And we do it in Barracks Square, so you're surrounded by this national historic site. It's very atmospheric."
Every Sunday night, from July 5 to Aug. 23, organizers set up the film projector and the large screen they created to entertain locals and visitors of all ages with a wonderful array of films.
"We partner with the New Brunswick Film Co-op and each night we show a New Brunswick short by a local filmmaker and then we follow it with a classic feature film," says Seabrook.
The local short has been part of the presentation since the Under the Stars Classic Film Series began seven years ago.
"We wanted to provide a platform for local filmmakers to showcase their work because, quite frankly, other than the Silverwave Film Festival, New Brunswickers often don't get a chance to see this local creativity," he says.
"The real nub of it is the classic films, so we're showing films like Casablanca this year, the original Batman from 1966, Gidget Goes to Rome from 1963, James Bond's Thunderball from 1965," he says.
"Often, we do a film like Journey to the Center of the Earth. If there is a modern remake, we'll show the old one."
They look for iconic films, he says, starring people like Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant.
"What we've found, since we've done it, is on a good weather night, this square can be filled with up to 600 to 700 people."
Inside or outside, a movie isn't a movie without the appropriate treats, so organizers have that aspect of the experience covered as well.
"We have an old-fashioned popcorn machine, pop and chocolate," says Seabrook.
Participants are asked to bring their own seating with them when they come.
"People bring their blankets, their lawnchairs and if you're a visitor from out of town, we'll give you a lawnchair (to use)," he says.
"We have an area in the front where we put a rope down and in that area it's blankets only, then the chairs go in the back."
The Under the Stars Classic Film Series was the brain child of Seabrook and John Christenson, who at the time was president of the New Brunswick Film Co-op, says Seabrook.
"The first night we did it, we used the CD player from my house, the sound system that the city rents for the concert series and the projector we borrowed from the city's IT (department)," he remembers.
"John and I set it all up and we were sitting here thinking 'this is going to be a good film, but it'll be just us.'"
If they had gotten 50 people, he says, they would have been amazed. They ended up getting 400 people out to that first classic film.
"We couldn't believe it. It has always had those kinds of numbers, it's tremendously popular," he says.
Over the years, the organizers have come up with some theories about why it's so successful.
"One is that for older people these films are nostalgic. But for young people, there's sort of a retro-cool about them. We try to show as many films as we can that people go, 'You know, I've never seen that.' It's always that film you see in the video shop where you say, 'I can see that next week,' because it's not a new release," he says.
Because these are classic films, says Seabrook, they appeal to an incredibly wide demographic.
"People will come and they'll bring their children. A mother and father will sit in a couple of lawnchairs and young children will be lying out on a blanket and about midway through they'll fall asleep."
He says he knew they had something special when one night he and Christenson were sitting in lawnchairs, ready to watch the film and sitting to one side of them was a couple in their 80s holding hands and on the other was a mass of teenagers on a blanket. "They were both having a completely different experience, but they were both having a ball," he says.
"I don't think we really expected it, but there is a tremendous sense of community when you have people of all age ranges in a national historic space ... it's a nice atmosphere."
The Under the Stars Classic Film Series has proven to be popular with locals and tourists alike.
Plus it's helping to make Barracks Square a culturally vibrant space, he notes.
"People enjoy it, it's a real social occasion. And there are hardcore regulars who sit in the same place each week," he says. "It's a great experience and I love coming."
So does Carol Brander. The local woman has been a regular at the film series since it began.
"I like the movies, they're good movies, and the atmosphere is nice," she says.
"They're wonderful people, whether they're locals or visitors."
No one is obnoxious or rude, making Barracks Square a nice place to be on Sunday evenings in the summer.
Brander brings her own seat and sometimes brings her own snacks, but she does occasionally buy her snacks there as well.
"The ones you do buy don't cost an arm and a leg," she says, which helps keep this event financially in reach for most people.
She is looking forward to the film series starting again this year, she says, adding, "I wish it had already started."
Aside from offering great films, the series is a wonderful social event.
"I like to see the reactions of out-of-towners, they're amazed by this," she says. "A lady from Texas, a couple years ago, in her red 10-gallon hat and purple boots was taking photographs all over the place and she said, 'We don't have anything like this in Texas.'"
Brander says it's nice that this is something families can go to and take their children.
"I've seen babies go to sleep in the grass," she says. "It's just a nice atmosphere."
The Under the Stars Classic Film Series is free of charge and is held in Barracks Square on Sunday evenings at dusk from July 5 to Aug. 23. Bring your lawnchair or a blanket to sit on.
The films being shown are: July 5: The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951); July 12: Casablanca (1942); July 19: Batman: The Movie (1966); July 26: Adventures of Robin Hood (1938); Aug. 2: Gidget Goes to Rome (1963); Aug. 9: The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942); Aug. 16: Thunderball (1965); and Aug. 23: Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959).
For more information, visit www.tourismfredericton.ca.
Disabled
Search Articles
More CE Network Sites & Partners:
