Often, when a movie comes out, students aren’t quite sure if they want to see it. They might be too busy or don’t want to spend the money. And even if the movie ends up becoming a blockbuster, students miss out either because of indecisiveness or busy schedules.

Students that realize they wanted to see a movie, but were too late, have a chance to do so — for free — a few nights on campus every weekend. The movies are presented by a sub-committee in the student-run entertainment organization University Union called UU Cinemas.

This weekend’s movie, “Despicable Me 2,” will be showing at 8 p.m. on Thursday and Sunday at the Goldstein Student Center on South Campus, and then at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday in the Gifford Auditorium. The popular sequel to “Despicable Me” follows the story of the former super-villain Gru, who has been asked to become a member of the Anti-Villain League. He is paired up with undercover league member Agent Lucy Wilde, and together they investigate potential evil plots.

“This semester, with the introduction of the Indie Series lineup, UU Cinemas is screening more films than usual,” said Chaz Pence-Griffin, one of UU Cinemas’ directors. “We have a total of 19 scheduled screenings this semester.”

Most movies are screened on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. There are some special Quad screenings as well, during which UU sells popcorn as an added treat.

When considering the schedule of which movies to screen, Pence-Griffin said UU pays attention to what students want, critical reviews, DVD release dates and the academic calendar. Before showing the movies, UU must gain access to their rights.

“University Union purchases the rights to films from a film distribution company prior to each semester,” Pence-Griffin said. “We work with marketing agencies to coordinate advance screenings.”

And because UU has been screening movies for about 40 years, they have developed working relationships with marketing agencies.

Students encourage others to grab a couple of friends and see a movie, free of charge, since not having to pay for a ticket is especially kind on a college student’s budget. Another plus is that the screenings are on campus.

“The selection of movies is pretty good because there’s a wide range, including comedies, action-adventures and so on,” said Robert Amos, a sophomore communication and rhetorical studies major.

Ashley Silverstein, a junior anthropology major, agreed and said she goes to the events when she can because UU does a good job of selecting movies.

Said Silverstein: “I want to see pretty much all of the movies they’re showing. There are only so many weekends in the school year, so the selection that they’ve got with the amount of movies they’re showing is really good, in my opinion.”

Fall Semester Lineup:

“Despicable Me 2” Oct. 10 – 13

“Grown Ups 2” Oct. 17 – 20

“The Conjuring” Oct. 24 – 27

“Monsters University” Oct. 31 – Nov. 3

“We’re the Millers” Nov. 7 – 10

“The To Do List” Nov. 14 – 17

“Elysium” Dec. 5 – 8

 

Published on October 9, 2013 at 10:23 pm

Contact Claudia: ctceva@syr.edu