2 Places to Watch Outdoor Movies in NYC During August

You don’t have to retreat into an air conditioned tomb to catch movies in NYC this month. Now you now have access to free movies from now until September 28. That’s right, summer doesn’t end with the beginning of the school calendar! So pop up your favorite bag of popcorn and show up at the following venues:

Czech Center

If you’re artsy, into cultural immersion, and not afraid of subtitles, head over to the Czech Center, aka The Bohemian National Hall

Scene from Girlie

that has been home to New York’s Czech community for more than a hundred years. Climb up onto the roof and get a dose of Czech films during the center’s summer movies series every Tuesday at dusk. Here are some key shows:

August 17 – From Subway, With Love – This romantic comedy presents a story of two women, twenty year old Laura, and editor at a woman’s weekly, and her widowed mother, a translator-interpreter Jana who both tirelessly seek Mr. Right.

August 24 – Girlie - A teenager finds looking for love in the former Czechoslovakia isn’t always easy. Ema (Dorotka Nvotova) is a 17-year-old girl living in a faceless city in the Czech Republic. Her main diversions are flights of fantasy and looking for the perfect boyfriend, Things get complicated when the father of a potential mate meets Ema’s mother.

August 31 – Waiter, Scarper – follows the adventures of a twice-divorced bookseller who is addicted to womanising and struggling to find resources to support the army of children he has fathered. Posing as a waiter in the bars and cafes of Prague, he takes the customers’ cash and then makes a sharp exit leading to all kinds of comic hi-jinx.

September 7 – Roming – a father and son embark on a road trip to discover the mysterious Gypsy fire while rekindling their own relationship.

September 28 – Seclusion Near a Forest - In this film, a couple, after seeing the lovely job a friend of theirs has done in converting an old mill house into a cozy mansion, moves into an old farmhouse after persuading the current owner, an old man, to leave. But before they can get him out the door, he falls ill and must go to the hospital. They suddenly realize that they have feelings for this feisty old gentleman.

No reservations, seats are on a first come-first served basis. If rooftop capacity is reached, films will be screened simultaneously in the first floor cinema. Doors open at 6pm, screening starts at the dusk. In the event of rain, films will be screened inside in the Czech Center Cinema at 8:30pm. 321 E 73rd St between First and Second Aves 646-422-3399

Central Park

Perhaps you feel the need to re examine some popular classics that you took for granted back in the day. Now the Central Park Conservancy Film Fest: ‘Fame’ to ‘King Kong’ gives you the chance to pay closer attention this time around…under the stars of

Central Park Film Festival

course. Films featured here are free showcasing NYC icons ranging from the Empire State Building in King Kong to the City’s subway in The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3:

August 24 – Fame - This classic ’80s musical flick follows students through their audition, training and graduation at the New York City High School for the Performing Arts.

August 25 – The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 - A remake of the 1974 crime thriller, armed men hijack a New York City subway train and hold passengers hostage in return for a ransom. Dispatcher Walter Graber (Denzel Washington) is left to face off with the crime’s mastermind (John Travolta).

August 26 – Saturday Night Fever – This disco classic follows Tony Manero (John Travolta), a Brooklyn youth who feels his only chance to make it in life is as king of the dance floor.

August 27 – King Kong - In this 1933 cult classic stop-animation film, a giant gorilla called Kong attempts to possess a beautiful blond actress.

All showings are rain or shine north of Sheep Meadow, behind Mineral Springs located mid-park at 69th Street. Gates open to the public at 6:30 pm. with films starting at 8 p.m. Enter the Park at 72nd Street.

photos courtesy of Czech Center NYC and Central Park Conservancy