Pasadena Summer Cinema Features 19 Films in Free Outdoor Settings

With nearly 20 screenings during the month, Old Pasadena Summer Cinema is the largest free open-air film festival in California and draws a broad local and regional audience. – Courtesy photo

Old Pasadena Summer Cinema returns for another year as a month-long, free movie series featuring screenings in predominantly outdoor locations. Running from July 1 – July 29, this annual summer film program celebrates motion picture in all forms, offering a variety of audience-pleasing movie titles and genres in unique locales throughout the historic district of Old Pasadena. With nearly 20 screenings during the month, Old Pasadena Summer Cinema is the largest free open-air film festival in California and draws a broad local and regional audience. All the Old Pasadena Summer Cinema screenings are free and open to the public.

Three screenings in Central Park are themed events that include special activities and the chance to picnic in the park prior to each film. Bring your own chairs and blankets to Central Park. Films begin at 8:30pm and pre-activities begin at 6:30pm.

Date Night: Saturday, July 8: The Sting (1973) PG. Register for a spot on a walking tour of Old Pasadena filming locations of The Sting with Pasadena Walking Tours, which includes a Prohibition-era cocktail at POP Champagne & Dessert Bar. Pre-film activities at the park include live ragtime music with Holly Street Stompers, swing dance lessons with Dance Street Studio, and a Prohibition-themed photo booth. Purchase $10 tickets for the Walking Tour.

Family Night: Saturday, July 15: Wreck-It Ralph (2012) PG. Join Neon Retro Arcade at the park with an arcade pop-up, costumed characters from the movie, superhero face painting, frozen goodies from Kona Ice, and a raffle.

Ladies’ Night: Saturday, July 22: Mamma Mia (2007) PG-13. Grab your besties and head to the park for a bohemian evening under the stars. Enjoy henna tattoos, hair braiding, and more with Gypsy Bazaar, learn to dance the Hustle with Dance Street Studio, and groove to an ABBA-inspired DJ.

Enjoy another open-air option at One Colorado with films projected in the charming courtyard. Look for family favorites like Jurassic Park, Hug, and Inside Out; two films that champion the underdog, Freedom Writers and Remember the Titans; and recent films like The Martian and Doctor Strange. Seating is provided at One Colorado, but be sure to arrive a little early for best options.

Distant Lands Travel Bookstore screens four travel-related films inside the store, including Samsara, a documentary filmed over five years in 25 countries around the world, and Riding Solo to the Top of the World, a remarkable chronicle of the people and places filmmaker Guarav Jani encountered during his time in the Changthang Plateau region of India near the Chinese border. Another indoor option, Flower Pepper Gallery, screens the beautifully animated Song of the Sea and stop-motion animation Kubo and the Two Strings.

Finally, Old Pasadena audiences have the chance to see a new documentary, The Cat That Changed the World, that follows the mountain lion P-22 in Griffith Park and the efforts to develop a wildlife crossing at Liberty Canyon in Los Angeles. Following the July 13 screening at the Pasadena Senior Center, the filmmaker and featured wildlife experts will be on hand for a panel discussion with filmgoers.

Full Line-up of 2017 Old Pasadena Summer Cinema Program:

Saturday, July 1
Jurassic Park (1993) PG – 127 min
Location: One Colorado, 41 Hugus Alley 8:30 p.m.
Summary: The classic sci-fi adventure that made the field of paleontology seem thrilling, Jurassic Park follows two dinosaur experts – Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) – as they tour a new island “amusement park” that hinges its success on DNA harvested from pre-historic insects and the living dinosaurs that resulted from this grand experiment.

Thursday, July 6
Song of the Sea (2014) PG – 94 min
Location: Flower Pepper Gallery, 121 E. Union St. 7:30 p.m.
Summary: Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2015, Song of the Sea is a beautifully animated film that tells the tale of Saoirse, a mute child who is the last in a long line of “selkies,” women in Irish and Scottish legends who transform from seals into people. She escapes from her grandmother’s home to journey back to the sea and to free fairy creatures that are trapped in the modern world.

Friday, July 7
Samsara (2011) PG-13 — 102 min
Location: Distant Lands, 20 S. Raymond Ave. 8 p.m.
Summary: Director and cinematographer Ron Fricke offers a striking glimpse into some of the world’s most remarkable happenings in a visually spectacular documentary. Filmed on five continents in 25 countries, Samsara transports us to the varied worlds of sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial complexes, and natural wonders.

Freedom Writers (2007) PG-13 – 123 min
Location: One Colorado, 41 Hugus Alley 8:30 p.m.
Summary: Assigned the thankless task of teaching freshman English at a gang-infested Long Beach, California high school, a 23-year-old teacher, Erin Gruwell resorts to unconventional means of breaking through to her hardened students: having them keep journals about their violent, troubled lives. Based on a true story, the film stars Hilary Swank as Gruwell.

Saturday, July 8
The Sting (1973) PG – 129 min
Location: Central Park, 275 S. Raymond Ave. 6:30 p.m. Music + Special Activities; 8:30 p.m. Film
Summary: In Chicago in 1936, a young con man seeking revenge for his murdered partner teams up with a master of the big con to win a fortune from a criminal banker. The classic film starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman was inspired by real-life cons perpetrated by brothers Fred and Charley Gondorff.
Special Activities: Old Pasadena served as a filming location for The Sting; our guided Walking Tour will visit several filming locales – please register in advance. At the park, enjoy live ragtime music with Holly Street Stompers, swing dance lessons with Dance Street Studio, and a Prohibition-themed photo booth.

Remember the Titans (2000) PG – 113 min
Location: One Colorado, 41 Hugus Alley 8:30 p.m.
Summary: A true story of African American coach Herman Boone, portrayed by Denzel Washington, and his attempt to integrate the T.C. Williams High School football team in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1971. Boone is told by a member of the school board that if he loses even a single game, he will be dismissed. Subsequently, the Titans go through the season undefeated while battling racial prejudice before slowly gaining support from the community.

Thursday, July 13
The Cat That Changed the World (2017) NR –  75 min
Location: Pasadena Senior Center, 85 E. Holly St. 7 p.m.
Summary: A new documentary follows the story of Griffith Park mountain lion P-22, detailing his plight at being hemmed in by freeways and urban sprawl and the efforts to develop a wildlife crossing at Liberty Canyon in Los Angeles. Following the screening, the filmmaker and featured wildlife experts will be on hand for a panel discussion with filmgoers.

Friday, July 14
Riding Solo to the Top of the World (2006) NR – 94 min
Location: Distant Lands, 20 S. Raymond Ave. 8 p.m.
Summary: Cinematographer-turned-director Guarav Jani captures the remarkable sights of one of the world’s tallest mountain range, Changthang Plateau, in India near the Chinese border. The documentary showcases how Jani made his film entirely on his own and offers a remarkable chronicle of the people, places, and things he encountered along the way.

The Martian (2015) PG-13 – 144 min.
Location: One Colorado, 41 Hugus Alley 8:30 p.m.
Summary: After an exploratory mission goes awry, lone astronaut Mark Watney (played by Matt Damon) must fend for himself along on the hostile surface of Mars in an extraordinary attempt at survival. Back on Earth, an international coalition of scientists launches a rescue mission in defiance of NASA protocol.

Saturday, July 15
Wreck-It Ralph (2012) PG – 101 min.
Location: Central Park, 275 S. Raymond Ave. 6:30 p.m. Special Family Activities; 8:30 p.m. Film
Summary: Neon Retro Arcade and Old Pasadena Management District host Family Night in the park, featuring the tale of a video game villain who wants to be a hero. He sets out to fulfill his dream but in the process, creates chaos to the arcade he calls home.
Special Activities: Enjoy a video arcade “pop-up,” costumed characters from the movie, superhero face painting, and treats from Kona Ice.

Ocean’s Eleven (2001) PG-13 – 116 min
Location: One Colorado, 41 Hugus Alley 8:30 p.m.
Summary: A rag-tag group of con artists and ex-cons team up for the ultimate heist in this high-profile remake of the 1960 Rat Pack favorite. This “carefree caper movie” stars George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, and Matt Damon, among other Hollywood power-players.

Thursday, July 20
Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) PG – 101 min
Location: Flower Pepper Gallery, 121 E. Union St. 7:30 p.m.
Summary: After accidentally summoning an ancient spirit, a young Japanese boy named Kubo is separated from his mother and embarks on a journey to discover the truth about his missing father. Along the way, he befriends the kindhearted Monkey and the clumsy Beetle as he fends off the vengeful Moon King and two evil twin sisters with his shamisen, a magical stringed instrument.

Friday, July 21
A Good Year (2006) PG-13 – 117 min
Location: Distant Lands, 20 S. Raymond Ave. 8 p.m.
Summary: Gladiator duo Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe again join forces for an adaptation of author Peter Mayle‘s best-selling novel about a cutthroat London-based investment banker who relocates to Provence in hopes of selling a small vineyard he has inherited from his recently deceased uncle and learns to appreciate a slower pace of life.

Hugo (2011) PG – 126 min
Location: One Colorado, 41 Hugus Alley 8:30 p.m.
Summary: Martin Scorsese’s gorgeous adaptation of Brian Selznick’s award-winning novel “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” follows a Parisian orphan, Hugo, who lives in a Parisian train station following his father’s death and learns to maintain its massive clocks. His efforts enable him to ferret away clock parts for a secret and magical invention.

Saturday, July 22
Mamma Mia! (2008) PG-13 – 108 min
Location: Central Park, 275 S. Raymond Ave.  6:30 p.m. Special Activities; 830 p.m. Film
Summary: It’s Ladies’ Night in the park, with a bohemian evening under the stars before the upbeat musical Mamma Mia offers a picturesque escape to the Greek Islands.
Special Activities: Enjoy henna tattoos, hair braiding, and nails with Gypsy Bazaar, learn to dance the Hustle with Dance Street, and groove to an Abba-inspired DJ.

Doctor Strange (2016) PG-13 – 115 min
Location: One Colorado, 41 Hugus Alley 8:30 p.m.
Summary: After a car accident leaves him with nerve damage that ends his career as a New York neurosurgeon, Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) travels to Kathmandu in the hope of finding an otherworldly cure for his injuries. There, a powerful mystic known as the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) accepts him as her pupil and trains him in the art of sorcery.

Friday, July 28
Cairo Time (2009) PG – 90 min
Location: Distant Lands, 20 S. Raymond Ave. 8 p.m.
Summary: A couple plans a three-week vacation in Cairo, but when the husband gets waylaid for work, he asks his former security officer and longtime friend Tareq to serve as his wife Juliette’s tour guide. He never imagined that they would fall in love, but the more time Tareq and Juliette spend together the more difficult is becomes for them to deny their intense attraction to each other.

School of Rock (2003) PG-13 – 108 min
Location: One Colorado, 41 Hugus Alley 8:30 p.m.
Summary: After being kicked out of a rock band, Dewey Finn (Jack Black) becomes a substitute teacher at a strict private school and turns them into rock star proteges – with the ulterior motive of competing against his former band for a battle-of-the-bands cash prize.

Saturday, July 29
Inside Out (2015) PG – 95 min
Location: One Colorado, 41 Hugus Alley 8:30 p.m.
Summary: In Pixar’s beautifully animated film, 11-year-old Riley, uprooted from her Midwest life when her father starts a new job in San Francisco, struggles with a range of emotions after the move. Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler) tries to guide her, but the stress of the move brings Sadness (Phyllis Smith) to the forefront. When Joy and Sadness are inadvertently swept into the far reaches of Riley’s mind, Anger, Fear, and Disgust conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house, and school.

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