Summer nights should be spent outdoors, something Bethel Woods Center for the Arts understands, which is why beginning this coming Monday, you can eschew the air-conditioned cinema and lay out beneath the stars while cult classics play on the Terrace Stage as part of their Moonlit Movie Mondays series. Drama, comedy, fantasy, and independent films will all be represented, and in case you’re worried about the weather before buying tix (prices and other info on their site), rain dates for each screening are scheduled for the following Tuesday.
Meanwhile, in case you’ve yet to catch any of the crowd-pleasers lined up by Bethel, or are wondering whether it’s worth making the trip with family, food, and blankets in tow, here are a few fun facts to bear in mind about this season’s lineup.
July 11—Back to the Future (1985)
- Yes, a bit of fatigue has set in after its 30th anniversary rollout.
- But, ironically (or aptly, we suppose), it remains unflappably timeless.
- Also, for all the BTTF movies didn’t anticipate correctly, there’s so much they virtually got right.
July 25—The Breakfast Club (1985)
- Because who doesn’t want to spend two hours of their summer freedom in detention with the Brat Pack.
- If everyone really gets into the spirit, you could walk away from Bethel with fists raised high in unison a la Judd Nelson.
- Plus, with that soundtrack, it’s like attending a concert and movie in one.
August 1—Labyrinth (1986)
- David Bowie may be gone, but he certainly isn’t forgotten, and true to form, he rules a mystical and musical Muppet world.
- Not to mention, what better way to celebrate the Starman himself than underneath a (hopefully) clear summer sky?
- Come for the atmosphere, stay for Hoggle.
August 15—Here Come the Videofreex (2016)
- Ever wonder what mainstream media fails to tell you? Here are your answers, via a rogue group of flower-power-era “freex” with hand-held cameras and a mission.
- Fittingly, the video collective this new doc turns its gaze on met at the Woodstock Film Festival in 1969, the very site that Bethel Woods Center for the Arts now sits on.
August 22—Grease (1978)
- What more fitting way to conclude these “Summer Nights” than by projecting the movie musical that inspired the Broadway production (and, more recently, the strange-but-endearing TV staging of said theatrical show).
- And given that, sadly, this will mark the beginning of summer’s end, you might want to dust off your leather jackets for this showing; it could get a bit chilly once the sun sets.
