The HBO Film Festival in Bryant Park has become a summer tradition and inspired other outdoor movie screenings all over Manhattan. Choose from recent blockbusters, classic movies, indie films, and family-friendly flicks at locations uptown and downtown, east and west.
1. HBO Film Festival in Bryant Park
Spread out a picnic on the lawn in Bryant Park and watch classic films in the open air with your fellow New Yorkers. The HBO Bryant Park Summer Film Festival is a New York summer tradition. This year's films include classics from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest to Airplane!
All films begin at dusk (usually between 8 pm and 9 pm), but the lawn opens at 5 pm for blankets and picnicking. See photos of the HBO Film Festival in Bryant Park.
2. Central Park Film Festival
Celebrate movie making in Central Park during this free August film festival. The first film shot in Central Park was Romeo & Juliet (1908). Since then, more than 250 films have used Central Park as a backdrop.
The Summer 2011 film selections are all inspired by music. From August 23-27, enjoy free nightly screenings of films including El Cantante, Bird, Dreamgirls, and Shine a Light. The last night's film will be viewer's choice. Vote for Coal Miner's Daughter or A Star is Born.
Rain or shine, all screenings start at 8 PM. Gates open at 6:30 PM at the Mineral Springs, just north of the Sheep Meadow, mid-park at 69th Street.
3. U.S.S. Intrepid Film Fest
Enjoy classic movies at free screenings aboard the famous U.S.S. Intrepid from May 27-August 19, 2011.
The 2011 Intrepid Summer Movie Series is all about family fun. Films include Spiderman, The Goonies, E.T. the Extra Terrestrial, and Jurassic Park.
4. RiverFlicks for Kids and Grown-Ups
Enjoy free movie screenings with a Hudson River view this July and August. On Wednesday evenings, you can catch movies for grown-ups on the Pier 63 lawn at 22nd Street and the Hudson(including The Social Network, Easy A, and The Town). On Friday evenings, see flicks suitable for the whole family on Pier 46 at Charles Street (like The Karate Kid, Toy Story 3, Despicable Me, and Tangled).
5. River to River Movies on the Elevated Acre
The River to River Festival is hosting a free series of outdoor movie screenings on the Elevated Acre at 55 Water Street, a spectacular open-air plaza that overlooks the East River.
The line-up includes Madonna in Desperately Seeking Susan (June 20), Pacino and DeNiro in The Godfather Part II (June 27), and John Sayles' Harlem-set The Brother from Another Planet. All screenings start at 8pm and feature an opening program of short films.
6. Rooftop Films
Photo courtesy of Sarah Palmer
The Rooftop Films summer series of "Underground Movies Outdoors" will run every weekend through August 20, 2011. Screenings are hosted on the rooftops of venues all over New York City and include after parties with complimentary drinks. Tickets are $10 at the door or online.
7. EPIX Movie Free-For-All in Tompkins Square Park
Rooftop Films (see above) is also teaming up with premium cable chanel EPIX for The EPIX Movie Free-For-All. All summer long, see free movie screenings in four NYC parks: Tompkins Square Park in the East Village, Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City, McCarren Park in Williamsburg, and on the beach at Coney Island.
The Tompkins Square Park line-up includes Thursday night showings of Raging Bull, Coming to America, Star Trek, The Pope of Greenwich Village, Kick-Ass, Rosemary's Baby, and The Godfather.
8. madMovies: A Rooftop Movie Series at The Roosevelt Hotel
The rooftop lounge at The Roosevelt Hotel NYC is hosting a rooftop movie series this summer, complete with movie-theme drink specials. Movie begin at sunset and this summer's diverse line-up includes Dirty Dancing, The Social Network, Casablanca, Grease, and other favorites.
9. Movies in Carl Schurz Park
Carl Schurz Park (East End Avenue and East 86th Street) is hosting two movie nights this August. The theme is "Salute to the Young and the Old" and the very appropriate cinematic choices are Harold and Maude (the unforgettable cult favorite about how love really is strange) and Up (the heartwarming animated tale of the friendship between a lonely widower and a small mailman).
Harold and Maude is playing on Tuesday, August 16th and Up on Tuesday, August 23rd. Films start at 8:30 pm on the hockey court in Carl Schurz Park, near East 84th Street and the John Finley Walk.
10. Cinema Italiano at La Gazzetta
This summer movie series isn't exactly outdoors.The films will be shown at La Gazzetta, an open-air trattoria on Gansevoort Street, so you'll get lots of summer breeze while dining on homemade pasta and truffle popcorn and watching films featuring Italian actors and locations. The shoe goes on every summer Monday night at 8:30 pm and the line-up will include The Graduate, Taxi Driver, Pulp Fiction, Rebel Without a Cause, and An American in Paris.
11. Movies on the Oval at Stuyvesant Town
Outdoor movie season in New York City continues after Labor Day at Stuyvesant Town. Movies on the Oval is a free film series running in both May/June and September. Summer offerings include Legally Blonde and Ocean's 12. In September, you can catch Cabaret, Austin Powers, and The Devil Wears Prada. All films start at 7pm and New York's best food trucks will be there to feed you.
