Where to head for outdoor movies in Colorado this summer

We Coloradans like our outdoors and we like our movies. And we love when we can combine the two pleasures.

Here are some choice places to catch movies under the open night sky this summer. A caveat: Make sure to check out the venues’ websites for what you can and can’t bring.

Film on the Rocks

This annual rite of viewing and listening pleasure launched its pairing of movies and bands in late May.

When: Mostly Tuesdays, sometimes Mondays. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Bands play at 6:50 p.m. Movies start at dusk.

Where: Red Rocks Amphitheatre, 18300 W. Alameda Pkwy., Golden.

What: “The Blues Brothers” with Hearts in Space and Dragondeer (Tuesday). “Die Hard” with In The Whale and James and the Devil (July 2). “The Hunger Games” with Vicci Martinez (July 15). “The Princess Bride” with the School of Rock Nat’l All Stars (July 23). “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” with School of Rock – Denver/Boulder (Aug. 23).

Cost: $12 general admission for advance tickets. More expensive on day of the show.

Highlight: It’s always nice to see a new face amid the usual (and adored) suspects of this most popular of summer events. Katniss Everdeen strides onscreen, bow and quiver at the ready, in “The Hunger Games.” Vicci Martinez plays onstage (July 15). denverfilm.org.

Historic Elitch Gardens Theatre Film on Fridays

There’s something deceptively high-low, classy-culty (both!) about this series’ sophomore-year offerings. The elegant throughline is that each film features an actor who performed at the famous north Denver theater (which continues to fundraise for a renovation).

When: Friday, July 12, July 26, Aug. 9 and Aug. 23. Lawn seating begins at 7 p.m. Screenings start at dusk, preceded by live music.

Where: 4655 W. 37th Ave. (at Utica). Major cross streets, 38th and Tennyson.

Cost: $5 suggested donation. Kids under 13 free. Cash only.

What: Things kick off Friday with the sci-fi classic “Forbidden Planet,” starring Walter Pidgeon (at Elitch in ’64), Anne Francis and Leslie Nielsen. Pauline Kael dubbed the outerspace adventure, loosely based on Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” as “the best of the intersteller productions of the ’50s.”

Other films include: “High Noon” (July 12), with Grace Kelly (Elitch ’51). “The Poseidon Adventure” (July 26), with Jack Albertson (Elitch ’66). “Top Hat” (Aug. 9), with Ginger Rogers (Elitch ’75) and Fred Astaire, and a to-be-voted-on, special-selection screening.

Highlight: Set sail on the fantastically doomed S.S. Poseidon in the iconic disaster flick “Poseidon Adventure.” Fellow passengers include Gene Hackman, Roddy McDowall, Stella Stevens, Ernest Borgnine and the not-as-buoyant-as-she-looks Shelley Winters. “There’s got to be a morning after” for some, not all. historicelitchtheatre.org.

Larimer Square Summer Film Series

At night, the LoDo block between 14th and 15th streets on Larimer is one of the most alluring stretches in town. Outdoor lights create a crisscross roof over the street, home to some of Denver’s best regarded restaurants. Among them: Rioja, Tag, Capital Grille and Tamayo. Maybe that’s why the Larimer Square folks launched what they call the Ultimate Dinner and a Movie. Reserve a table outside via one of the many participating restaurants, eat and take in a movie. We think it’s a rather swank idea.

When: Aug. 1 and Sept. 12. Other dates to be announced.

Where: Larimer Square. $8 valet parking is available at 15th and Larimer. There’s early seating at 6 p.m. and later seating at 8:30.

What: “Caddyshack” (Aug. 1). 4 p.m. Outdoor bars open for happy hour and patrons can test-drive sponsor BMW’s rides. At 7 p.m., it’s dinner time. At 9 p.m., the movie gets underway.

Cost: No admission. Patrons make a reservation for dinner as they normally would at any restaurant.

Highlight: “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (Sept. 12). What could beat a nice cocktail, elegant eats and Truman Capote’s most divine invention, a woman named Holly Golightly portrayed by a wonder named Audrey Hepburn? All we can say is there will be no “mean reds” this night. Subject to change. larimersummerfilmseries.com.

Aspen Grove Free Family Film Festival

When the Austin, Texas-based theater/distributor/all-around film-loving outfit Alamo Drafthouse decided to put down stakes in Littleton, it reached out to the community by sponsoring that burg’s popular Aspen Grove film gatherings for kids and their movie-loving chaperons.

When: Tuesdays. Festivities begin at 6 p.m. Movie at dusk. Bring your own chair or rent one.

Where: 7301 S. Santa Fe Drive.

What: “The Goonies” (Tuesday). “Despicable Me” (July 2). “Iron Giant” (July 9).

Highlight: If “The Big Lebowski” is the quintessential outdoor cinema flick for adults, Richard Donner’s 1985 adventure “The Goonies” vies for the family-flick mantle. ” ‘Goonies’ is just an awesome movie for the family, and we happen to have tons of pirates in Colorado who want to come out for it,” says Alamo honcho Tom Defrancia. In other words, “Argh, mateys!” drafthouse.com.

Star Bar

Hit the Star Bar patio for Wednesday film night at this downtown spot. They dubbed this Wednesday’s double bill “BroBack Mountain” in honor, no doubt, of the bromance aspects of its two vintage action flicks: director Kathryn Bigelow’s “Point Break,” with Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze, and the late Tony Scott’s “Top Gun,” with some guy named Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer.

When: Wednesday at 9 p.m.

Where: 2137 Larimer St., between 21st and 22nd streets.

Cost: No cover. starbardenver.com.

The Irish Pub

It’s a mini pub crawl with movies! After Wednesday’s Star Bar viewing, head to the hipper everyday Broadway strip and the patio at the Irish Rover Pub for its Thursday Rooftop Patio screenings. Next up: “The Goonies” (Thursday) and “Mean Girls” (July 11).

When: Thursdays at 9 p.m.

Where: 54 Broadway

Costs: No cover. theirishroverpub.com.

Boulder Outdoor Cinema

This Saturday-night happening combines choice outdoor fare (“Princess Bride,” “Wayne’s World,” “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” and “The Big Lebowski”), with beats from area bands such as the Backwoods Galaxy (featuring Dave Pucul) and the Whiskey Bottles.

When: Gates open at 6 p.m. Bands begin at 7:30. Movie starts at dusk.

Where: The lot behind the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, 1750 13th St., Boulder.

What: New movie each week.

Costs: $5 suggested donation.

Highlight: Nominated for the 2013 Oscar for best original screenplay Wes Anderson’s “Moonrise Kingdom” might just be the coolest film screening outdoors this summer — which is sort of apt, given the story finds two precocious youngsters traipsing about the New England woods, while Bill Murray, Frances McDormand and Bruce Willis search for them (July 27). boulderoutdoorcinema.com.

Lisa Kennedy

Author: Mile High Mamas