Alabama theater will screen blockbuster classics this summer

Alabama theater will screen blockbuster classics this summer

You’ll find everything you could possibly want from movies on one theater’s screen this summer.

The Arts Council of Tuscaloosa’s Bama Art House Film Series Summer 2023 will take place in June and July and will feature five classic movies bringing all the action, adventure, comedy, drama and, most importantly, memories — those you’ve had for decades of watching these films and those your children might create when you are a cool parent who takes them.

Screenings will take place at the Bama Theatre (600 Greensboro Avenue in Tuscaloosa) on June 6 through July 11 at 7 p.m. (with no screening on Tuesday, July 4).

The series theme is “Nostalgic Blockbusters,” and did they ever deliver. They’ll take a break from their standard art house fare in favor of films that have packed theaters for decades since their respective releases (in this case, the 1970s and ‘80s). “Films were chosen based on their overall popularity during that time period and also the wide fan base they continue to attract,” the Arts Council press release said.

Screenings will begin at 7 p.m. with the doors, box office and Bama Bar opening at 6 p.m. Admission is $10 general, $9 students and seniors and $8 Arts Council members. Season pass punch card tickets are $70, good for any ten films in any series. All tickets are for sale at the box office prior to each film.

Watch the trailers and read more about the five blockbusters you can see at the Bama Theatre this summer below.

Jaws (1975)

June 6, 2023

Rated PG | 124 minutes

The granddaddy of summer blockbusters, Steven Spielberg’s beach-set thriller still scares fans into setting foot in the ocean. When a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off Cape Cod, it’s up to a local sheriff (Roy Scheider), a marine biologist (Richard Dreyfuss) and an old seafarer (Robert Shaw) to hunt the beast down. Greatest movie of all time? It’s up there.

The Goonies (1985)

June 13, 2023

Rated PG | 114 minutes

A group of young misfits called The Goonies discover an ancient map and set out on an adventure to find a legendary pirate’s long-lost treasure. See stars you know today as their younger selves including Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Corey Feldman, Martha Plimpton and this year’s Oscar-winner Ke Huy Quan.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

June 20, 2023

Rated PG | 115 minutes

A troubled child summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape from Earth and return to his home planet in Steven Spielberg’s emotionally uplifting (and often devastating) adventure that will forever help you summon your sense of childlike wonder.

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

June 27, 2023

Rated PG | 115 minutes

Archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis can obtain its awesome powers. More Spielberg? Yes, please. The film that kickstarted the legendary director’s adventure series that packs a punch as one of the best movie franchises ever that wouldn’t have worked with anyone other Harrison than Ford wearing the hat and carrying the whip. He will return this summer, so what better way to get excited?

READ: Harrison Ford’s 10 best movies ranked

Back to the Future (1985)

July 11, 2023

Rated PG | 116 minutes

A 17-year-old high school student (Michael J. Fox) is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend and scientist (Christopher Lloyd). A perfect movie from start to finish, one you could watch at any time of day at any point in your life.