(Photo: Courtesy of Metrograph)
The Lower East Side’s new cinephile paradise is joining the city’s summer tradition of (mostly free) outdoor film screenings. Next Tuesday, Metrograph will be showing The Wizard of Oz (the classic one, not that J-Franks nonsense) in Seward Park, at Essex Street. As Metrograph knows, half the pleasure of going to the cinema is to gorge yourself on snacks, so there will be complimentary popcorn for movie-goers to munch on while they watch Dorothy follow the yellow brick road.
Sorry, everyone, the movie will not be synched to Dark Side of the Moon— mainly because this collaboration with Henry Street Settlement, a local nonprofit community organization, is an expansion of Metrograph’s weekend matinees for kids. (For more adult fare, mosey over to the Free Films in Tompkins, which launched last night). The free screening starts at sundown (around 8pm), and moviegoers are encouraged to bring blankets, chairs, snacks, and, fine, an iPod playing Pink Floyd.
Michael Lieberman, Metrograph’s head of publicity, explained that this is the theater’s first foray into outdoor screenings, with another movie (Wreck It Ralph) planned for August 16.
However, more films are likely to be added to the lineup in the summers to come. “I think this is certainly something we’ll continue doing,” Lieberman said.