SANTA CRUZ — Going to the movie theater can be an expensive experience, especially as the average ticket price climbs to $11.53, but sometimes people could use a little break from perusing several different streaming sites to watch a movie in their own homes. As always, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk has provided the appropriate compromise this summer by taking the movie experience out of a theater auditorium and putting it on the sands of Main Beach, showcasing a different classic or recent Hollywood hit and, most importantly, making it all free. Free Movies on the Beach returns for nine weeks starting June 14 with a lineup of cult classics and recent blockbusters. It will all kick off as it usually does with a screening of a local classic: “The Lost Boys.” Joel Schumacher’s 1987 film follows the Emerson brothers as they try to settle in their new town Santa Carla — the self-proclaimed “Murder Capital of the World” — and soon find that many of the town’s denizens are vampires. Santa Carla should look familiar to residents, as the movie was shot in Santa Cruz and features many scenes that take place at the Boardwalk, making it the best venue to view this cult classic. June 21’s screening is of the 2014 animated film “The Book of Life” about a bullfighter who goes on an adventure in the afterlife on Day of the Dead. The film features the voice talents of Diego Luna, Zoe Saldana, Channing Tatum and more. The fun continues June 28 with “Barbie,” last year’s runaway hit starring Margot Robbie as the titular iconic Mattel doll who tries to navigate the real world after experiencing an existential crisis in her home of Barbieland. The film was the highest grossing of 2023 and won a Best Original Song Oscar for Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” Just in time for the Independence Day aftermath comes a film celebrating one of America’s favorite pastimes: youth baseball. July 5 will bring a screening of the 1993 cult classic “The Sandlot” about a group of young baseball players growing up in the San Fernando Valley in the summer of 1962. Speaking of sports culture in the ’60s, the following week’s film will showcase exactly that, only with a different summer sport. July 12 will feature a screening of Bruce Brown’s 1966 documentary “The Endless Summer,” which follows surfers Robert August and Mike Hynson as they travel the world to catch waves and create a time capsule of surfing culture at the time in the process. Given the many surfing haunts they visit, naturally, some of the scenes were filmed at Steamer Lane. July 19 will bring a screening of “Wonka.” The third live-action adaptation of Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” this time stars Timothée Chalamet as Willy Wonka in his early days of making chocolate. As with previous adaptations, it is a film that will bring audiences into a colorful world of pure imagination. While enjoying the summer off, take an opportunity to live vicariously through a character who famously took a day off from school. July 26’s featured film is “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” John Hughes’ 1986 cult hit starring Matthew Broderick as the title character who fakes an illness to skip school and then embarks on a trip to Chicago with his best friend and girlfriend. Another film based on a popular toy line will take the spotlight Aug. 2: “Trolls.” The 2016 Dreamworks animated film, which has spawned two sequels, centers around the titular characters who have to save their village from giants called the Bergens. Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake lead an all-star voice cast. The summer of movies concludes Aug. 9, but it all comes full circle with a screening of another ’80s cult phenomenon: “The Goonies.” The Steven Spielberg-produced movie follows a group of kids from Oregon who embark on a quest to find the long-lost treasure of 17th-century pirate One-Eyed Willy. All screenings will begin at 9 p.m. Friday nights in front of the Colonnade, 400 Beach St. Families are encouraged to bring blankets or low-back chairs and purchase Boardwalk treats such as kettle corn, saltwater taffy, corn dogs and turkey legs. Admission is free, and seating is first-come, first-served. Each movie features a 15-minute intermission. With the exception of “The Lost Boys,” which is rated R, all movies are rated either PG-13 or lower. Smoking, alcohol and glass are forbidden on the beach. A limited number of assisted listening devices are available by the miniature golf kiosk inside the Neptune’s Kingdom Family Entertainment Center. Those requesting closed captioning or other special accommodations must call the manager on duty at 831-423-5590 at least 48 hours before the screening. For more information, go to SantaCruzBeachBoardwalk.com.
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