In the past, some people hauled in a couch to settle in for the evening. Others have dressed up like the Pink Ladies from the movie “Grease.” But most bring blankets, chairs or both and kick back with popcorn and refreshments from the pop-up concession stand.
Now that summer has arrived, River City Cinema will return to Pickering Square on Friday evenings. Kickoff for the 13th season of the Cinema Under the Stars Summer Film Series starts at sundown (around 8:30 p.m.) Friday, June 24. This year’s theme is “Summer of Love,” and the series will feature six romantic comedy movies shown on an outdoor movie screen in the square.
“Next year will actually be the anniversary year of the ‘Summer of Love’ in San Francisco, so we’re a year early, but there’s no reason why we can’t have a summer of love in Bangor this year,” Gibran Graham, chair of River City Cinema’s board of directors, said.
The films this summer will be shown chronologically, starting with “Pillow Talk,” a film from the late ’50s, and ending with “You’ve Got Mail,” a late ’90s flick. The series is put on by River City Cinema, a nonprofit arts organization whose mission is to bring diverse films to the region and educate the community about the art and history of film and cinema. It is sponsored by Bangor Federal Credit Union. The series is free and open to the public.
This year’s films include the following:
— “Pillow Talk,” June 24
— “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” July 1
— “Harold and Maude,” July 8
— “The Princess Bride,” July 15,
— “Say Anything,” July 22
— “You’ve Got Mail,” July 29
A rain date has been set for Aug. 5, in case inclement weather cancels any of the films.
“We’ve done everything from sci-fi movies to musicals to courtroom dramas to movies that take you to faraway places, so there have been lots of fun themes throughout the years,” Graham said. Because of the romantic comedy theme this year, the title “Summer of Love” fell into place, Graham said.
Over the years, River City Cinema’s outdoor film series has grown in popularity.
“We had seen [outdoor films] done successfully in other places, and we had the idea to do it in downtown Bangor during the summer as a free event for the community,” Graham said.
It worked, and the community responded.
“Some of our more popular films we’ve seen three or four hundred people set up chairs in Pickering Square for the films,” Graham said.
Graham said he already has seen a big initial response to the movies planned for this year.
“When the drive-in opened up last year we wondered if it would be too much, but we still had a very strong audience. There’s always room for more stuff like that to happen,” Graham said.
River City Cinema has hosted various events in the Bangor area since 2001, including screenings of foreign films, documentaries and independent films at venues such as the Bangor Opera House and the Union Street Brick Church. A new initiative started by the organization is a first Friday night film series held at COESPACE, which takes place during the fall, winter and spring months.
Though the movies will take the big screen, the event overall is really about bringing people together for a great night out, Graham said. “It’s about a sense of community. People congregate and have fun.”
