At $12 a ticket, especially with cell phones going off, I got pretty discouraged with seeing movies at the movie theater. Then I looked into free movie screenings.
It took some perseverance but I eventually landed two free tickets to a screening of Man on a Ledge. The screening took place on January 3, 2012 at the United Artists Denver Pavilions. The event was sponsored by Gofobo.com, a great resource for finding and being alerted to new listings of free movie screenings and events. On the night of the screening, my husband and I ventured out of our quiet suburb and into the thick of city activity at the 16th Street Mall, home to the United Artists Denver Pavilions.
Our first shock about the screening was the $8 parking; we could have bought one twilight ticket with that money and parked for free at our neighborhood theater. The next shock was the long line of fellow, hopeful, free screening viewers wrapping themselves around the upper level of the theater. Determined to see our free movie, we took our place in line. The queue must have doubled in length between the time we arrived and the time the doors opened.
At one point during our stint outside of the theater, a lady came out and offered screening passes to a future free movie screening in exchange for relinquishing our passes. Several people just behind us took up the offer but we held on to hope. Our perseverance paid off and we eventually made it into the crowded theater. We even got seats next to each other. The introduction to the movie was short and it was made clear that absolutely no recordings of the movie were allowed. I don’t know if it was the warning or that we just got lucky with a good crowd because the viewing of the movie was actually uneventful – no texts and no cell phones!
It’s a fun challenge to get passes to free movie screenings. It also takes some planning and time in line in order to be assured entrance into a free screening; we waited for well over an hour. Standing in line for the screening is truly an event onto itself and should be written off as just part of the experience. The mood in the theater is lively but at least there’s no texting or cell phones.
There are so many different flavors to Colorado’s Front Range movie scene. In addition to being a target area for free screenings of many mainstream movies, the Denver area is home to several film clubs and film festivals. While my husband and I had a great time during our outing to view our free movie screening, our next step is to venture into the other end of the Denver area’s movie viewing spectrum.
The anything but mainstream Denver Film Society houses its own theater complex and runs the annual Starz Denver Film Festival. It collaborates with many local film groups like Mile-HI Sci-Fi and the Tattered Cover Free Classics movie and discussion series. The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) sponsors the Community Cinema event, which offers free screenings of episodes from the Independent Lens series.