Stars under the Stars
Art: Miles Parnell
I remember summer drive-in movies when I was a kid. My brother and I would put on our footie pajamas and lounge in the back of our vintage Chevrolet station wagon with sodas, popcorn and brownies (his with nuts, mine without); and mounds of pillows and blankets, which we of course fought over. We would watch the first half of “The Parent Trap” or “Black Beauty” before we fell asleep to the tinny crackling of the window-mounted speakers.
When I was in high school, the number of drive-ins dwindled, and the movie selections deteriorated also, with features like “Death Race 2000” and “Planet of the Apes.” Instead of wrestling my brother for pillows, drive-in movie outings usually involved flipping a coin to see who would hide in the trunk in order to pay a lower entrance price per carload, and drinking cheap wine or generic beer. Later on, as I became a young adult, the refreshments were better—boutique beer from a local brew pub and goat cheese pizza. The company changed from sibling to “date,” and we happily paid full price to back our SUV’s into the space and relax comfortably in our yuppie-mobile recliners.
For those of us who remember those outdoor movies fondly, they have made a comeback in Park City. In 2002, the Sundance Institute expanded its outdoor film series, erecting a big screen at the gazebo in City Park and showing musicals and a few black and white “tough guy-John Wayne” type Westerns.
Watching a movie on a starlit summer night brings back great memories. The wondrous feeling of being at an outdoor amphitheatre is the same, but my need for comfort has grown. Now I take a canvas cot or camp chair, a couple of sleeping bags and quilts, a nice Chardonnay, plastic wine glasses and their holders, and a basket bulging with gourmet picnic items like stuffed grape leaves and Italian bruschetta, with chocolate biscotti and fresh strawberries for dessert.
The Sundance Institute’s Outdoor Film Festival is a great summer activity, and it’s free—so no one has to hide in the trunk. You also don’t have to worry about spilling drinks or dropping pizza crumbs in your SUV, but you do need to be careful not to pick a spot in the park next to the sprinklers.
This summer, the Sundance Institute Outdoor Film Festival presents classic independent films, shown every Friday night from July 7th through August 18th, beginning at dusk. For more information, call 801.328.3456 or view www.sundance.org.
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