Photography courtesy of Saint Louis Art Museum
Summer can blow by in a whirl of errands and hustle. Perhaps that’s why watching movies—particularly of the summer variety—has remained such a revered staple. To sit quietly for two hours during these warmest months is to savor a season before it evaporates altogether.
SAINT LOUIS ART MUSEUM'S OUTDOOR FILM SERIES
July offers numerous opportunities for repose in front of the big screen, including the Saint Louis Art Museum’s annual Outdoor Film Series on Art Hill, which starts rolling on Friday with Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and music from the Rhythm Section Road Show. Free screenings of “movies St. Louisans love” will play every Friday for the next four weeks. Food trucks will hawk food, bands start playing at 7 p.m., and movies start at 9 p.m. The rest of the schedule is:
- July 18: Funny Face with Brothers Lazaroff
- July 25: Field of Dreams with iLLPHONiCS
- August 1: Meet Me in St. Louis with Miss Jubilee and the Humdingers
ST. LOUIS FILMMAKERS SHOWCASE
Also opening this weekend is the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase at the Tivoli Theatre at 6350 Delmar. The 14th annual event, hosted by Cinema St. Louis, screens films with strong local ties and those that were directed, edited, produced, or written by St. Louis natives. It runs from Sunday to July 17. Tickets are $12, or $10 with a student ID.
A total of 94 films will be shown over the five-day event, including full-length documentaries, fiction features, and several genres of shorts compilations—often a crowd favorite, says Cinema St. Louis executive director Cliff Froehlich.
Standout feature-length films include Elegy to Connie, a documentary that employs stop-motion animation in its retelling and analysis of the events surrounding the Kirkwood City Council shooting of 2008, and A Portrait of St. Louis at 250 Years, a documentary and environmental portrait of the city made for the city's 250th anniversary. A full program schedule is available here.
MORE MOVIES
Busy this weekend? The metro area offers more chances to catch a film under the stars this summer:
Ballpark Village
Movies are shown from 7 to 10 p.m. on the Busch II Infield at Ballpark Village, 601 Clark. $1 entry. You can find more information on the event flyer.
- July 28: Back to the Future
- Aug. 25: Teen Wolf
- Sept 29: A League of Their Own
Chesterfield
Movies are shown from 8 to 10 p.m. at Chesterfield Amphitheater, 631 Veterans Place. Admission is free. Visit chesterfieldamphitheater.com for more information.
- July 25: Despicable Me 2
Grafton
Movies are shown outside at dusk at Piasa Winery and Pub, 224 W. Main. Admission is free. More information is available at piasawinery.com/events.html.
- July 16: Mary Poppins
- July 23: Home Alone
- July 30: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Aug. 6: Sound of Music
- Aug. 13: Clueless
- Aug. 20: Big
- Aug. 27: Rattle and Hum
- Sept. 3: Rocky Horror Picture Show
Lake St. Louis
Movies are shown at dusk in the Boulevard Park Amphitheater. Admission is free. More information is available at lakesaintlouis.com.
- July 18: Despicable Me 2
- Aug. 18: Free Birds
St. Peters
The movie will be shown at 7:30 p.m. at City Centre Park Amphitheater, next to the Rec-Plex South, at 5200 Mexico. Admission is free. More information is available at stpetersmo.net/movies-in-the-park.aspx.
- Aug. 29: The Lego Movie
Webster Groves
Concerts begin at 7 p.m., followed by movies at 9 p.m., at the Old Orchard Gazebo, located at Big Bend at South Old Orchard. Admission is free. More information is available at explorewebstergroves.com/old-orchard.
- July 11: Music by Tickets to the Beatles, followed by Yellow Submarine
- July 18: Music by North of the Quarter, followed by Sharknado
- July 25: Music by Anita Rosamond, followed by A Christmas Story
Webster University
Unless otherwise noted, Webster University Film Series screenings are at 7:30 p.m. at Winifred Moore Auditorium, located at 470 E. Lockwood on the university campus. Admission ranges from free to $6. Details are available at webster.edu/film-series/film-series-calendar.html.
- July 11: Stripped
- July 17: Antarctica: A Year on Ice
- July 24: Sculpture City - North Star: Mark di Suvero
- July 25: Evergreen: The Road to Legalization
- July 29: Winter in the Blood
- Aug. 1: Charlie Chaplin: Still Funny After All These Years
- Aug. 6: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Schlafly Bottleworks, 7260 Southwest)
