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Queens Drive-In presents fall schedule
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th is Halloween, the Queens Drive-In
— a partnership between Museum of the
Moving Image, Rooft op Filmsand New
York Hall of Science — will present a
series of scary movies, including a selection
of double features as part of its fall
season, which concludes at the end of
November.
Th e Queens Drive-In has promoted a
safe communal moviegoing experience
in New York City during the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic, while sustaining
jobs and supporting New York and the
larger fi lmmaking community.
Since August, it has been presenting an
exciting mix of new and classic movies on
a 62-foot-wide screen featuring bright 4K
projection in Flushing Meadows Corona
Park on the grounds of the New York Hall
of Science, located at 47-01 111th St. in
Corona. A portion of the ticket sales are
donated to nonprofi t organizations that
serve the hardest-hit communities in the
borough.
Th e Queens Drive-In has also served
as a venue for major fi lm festivals, allowing
for in-person events for the New York
Film Festival and NewFest.
Scheduled programs for October and
November include the following:
“Moonstruck” + “Love is Short
(Films),” Th ursday, Oct. 15, 7 p.m.
Recommended for ages 10+ (Rated PG)
“Moonstruck” stars a revelatory Cher
in her Oscar-winning role as Loretta
Castorini, a young Brooklyn widow who
is supposed to marry Johnny Cammareri
(Danny Aiello) but falls for his brother
Ronny (Nicholas Cage) instead. Fueled by
an Academy Award-winning screenplay
by John Patrict Shanley, “Moonstruck”
endures a quintessential New York love
story.
Preceded by the short fi lm program
“Love Is Short (Films),” stories of wayward
loves and unexpected romantic entanglements:
“Waiting For Sun,” an ode to art
and music of El Barrio; and “Who Can
Predict What Will Move You?” More info.
(Double Feature Presentation)
Kirsten Johnson: “Dick Johnson is
Dead” + “Cameraperson,” Saturday, Oct.
17, 6:30 p.m.
Th e darkly and funny wildly imaginative
fi lm is a love letter from a daughter
to a father, blending fact and fi ction
to create a celebratory exploration
of how movies give us the tools to grapple
with life’s sadnesses and challenges.
Followed by Johnson’s groundbreaking
“Cameraperson,”a moving glimpse into
one fi lmmaker’s personal journey and a
thoughtful examination of what it means
to train a camera on the world. Th e event
is courtesy free of Netfl ix. Free with RSVP.
“Black Panther,” Sunday, Oct. 18, 6
p.m.
Th e late Chadwick Boseman portrayed
the King of Wakanda — and Marvel hero
Black Panther — with fi erce dignity and
sly charisma, in this acclaimed, groundbreaking
action movie. Lupita Nyong’o,
Danai Gurira and Letitia Wright co-star
as the strong, brilliant women who provide
support, while Michael B. Jordan
embodies his nemesis, Erik Kilmonger.
Th is fi lm is part of a free screening series
presented by Councilman Francisco
Moya. Free with RSVP.
“Bad Hair,” Wednesday, Oct. 21, 7 p.m.
Set in 1989, “Bad Hair” follows an ambitious
young Black woman who gets a
weave in order to succeed in the imageobsessed
world of music television.
However, her fl ourishing career comes at
a great cost when she realizes that her new
hair may have a mind of its own. Th is fi lm
is preceded by a program of short horror
fi lms. More info.
“Be Water,” Th ursday, Oct. 22, 7 p.m.
“Be Water” chronicles actor and martial
artist Bruce Lee’s deadliest days as the
son of a Chinese opera star and his steady
childhood in Hong Kong. His ambition
ever rising, Lee eventually made his way
to Los Angeles, where he strove to break
into American fi lm and television. “Be
Water” is told by the family, friends and
collaborators who knew Lee best, with an
extraordinary trove of archive fi lm providing
an evocative, immersive visual tapestry
that captures Lee’s charisma, his passion,
philosophy and the eternal beauty
and wonder of his art. Courtesy of ESPN.
Free with RSVP.
(Double Feature Presentation)
Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” + “Th e
Birds,” Saturday, Oct. 24, 6:30 p.m.
Recommended for ages 12+
Hitchcock’s horror game-changer
“Psycho” is a fi lm of square intensity, at
once austere and baroque in style, and
so shockingly perverse in its implications
that it cracked cinema wide open forever.
Followed by “Th e Birds,” Hitchcock’s masterpiece
of avian horror, in which Tippi
Hedren’s mod socialite Melanie Daniels
fi nds herself fl eeing for her life from
swarms of seagulls, jays, hawks and sparrows
gone curiously amok in Bodega Boy,
California. More info.
“Nosferatu” (with live music) +
“Young Frankenstein,” Sunday, Oct. 25,
6:30 p.m.
Th is silent classic fi lm is an unnerving
— and unoffi cial — adaptation of Bram
Stoker’s novel “Dracula.” Elegant expressionist
visuals make this a work of poetic
horror, but it’s Max Schreck’s terrifying
makeup and performance that make the
fi lm truly unforgettable. Followed by Mel
Brooks’s “Young Frankenstein,”nominated
for two Oscars, this fi lm features Dr.
Frederick Frankenstein, American grandson
of the infamous scientist, who’s hellbent
on proving himself. Chaos, hilarity,
and syncopated soft -shoe jazz performances
ensue. More info.
“Get Out” + “Badadook,” Th ursday,
Oct. 29, 6:30 p.m.
“Get Out” is about Chris Washington
(Daniel Kaluuya), a young black photographer
who spends the weekend with
his white girlfriend (Allison Williams)
and her affl uent family. His unease turns
to horror once he fi nds out about the
Sunken Place, and must fi ght to get out.
Th e fi lm is a brutally honest take on racism
in American society. “Th e Badadook”
is a fi lm about a single mother and her
unruly 6-year-old son contend with a storybook
ghoul that terrorizes their home.
More info.
“Halloween” + “Th e Texas Chainsaw
Massacre,” Friday, Oct. 31, 6:30 p.m.
“Halloween” is about a masked maniac
(Michael Myers) stalking babysitters
in suburban Illinois. Th e fi lm is followed
by “Th e Texas Chainsaw Massacre” where
a group of young people are unwittingly
plunged into a nightmare as they fi nd
themselves hunted down by a cannibalistic
clan of maniacs. More info.
“Little Shop of Horrors” +
“Beetlejuice,” Saturday, Oct. 31, 6:30 p.m.
In “Little Shop of Horrors,” a fl ower
shop assistant becomes a sensation
when he discovers a carnivorous plant.
Th e fi lm is an irreverent marvel, featuring
toe-tapping songs by Alan Menken
and Howard Ashman, who would go
on to write the music for “Th e Little
Mermaid” and “Beauty and the Beast.” In
Tim Burton’s ghost classic, “Beetlejuice,”
a family is terrorized by their new home’s
deceased former owners and a rogue poltergeist
they’ve hired to scare them off , is
played with frenetic energy by Michael
Keaton. More info.
“Coco,” Sunday, Nov. 1, 6 p.m.
In this animated fi lm, young Miguel
desperately wants to be a musician, but
music is forbidden in his family because
of events that took place many generations
ago. When Miguel stumbles into the
Land of the Dead and meets the ancestors
who forever banned music, he may get the
chance to become a great musician like
his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz. Th e Oscarwinning
fi lm is one of Pixar’s very best, a
joyous and poignant celebration of family,
love, and following your dreams, as well as
reminder of the importance of respecting
one’s ancestors. Th is fi lm is part of a free
screening series presented by Councilman
Francisco Moya. Free with RSVP.
“Th e Nightmare Before Christmas,”
Sunday, Nov. 1, 6 p.m.
Recommended for ages 7+ (Rated PG)
Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King
of Halloweentown, longs for something
more in life, and he thinks he has found
it when he stumbles upon the brilliant
twinkling lights of Christmastown. He
then becomes determined to have it all
for himself. Th is fi lm is also part of a free
screening series presented by Councilman
Francisco Moya. Free with RSVP.
Tickets: Free; $35 (single feature) or
$45 (double feature); members of the presenting
organizations receive a 15 percent
discount. For tickets, visit rooft opfi lms.
com/drivein/queens. To sign up for email
updates visit QueensDriveIn.com.
Photo courtesy of the Queens Drive-In
/QueensDriveIn.com
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