6- THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FILM
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2002
Drive-ins,local theaters offer cheap flicks
By Molly Gise
Kansan staff writer
When money is scarce and lines are long, KU students have movie options besides the multiplex theaters in Lawrence and Kansas City,Mo.
Students can take advantage of the fair weather and take in a movie from their cars at the I-70 Four Screen Drive-In in Kansas City, Mo.
"Everything is bigger than life here," said John Campe, manager of the theater, 8701 E.40 Highway.
While drive-in theaters may seem an artifact from the past, the I-70 drive-in has had recordbreaking seasons for the past two years, Campe said.
The outdoor experience is part of the fun at drive-in theaters, said Leah Rutz, Woodinville, Wash., senior.
"It's a social thing," Rutz said. "You can talk to people, and you don't disturb everyone around you."
Most drive-in movie theaters, like the I-70 drive-in, offer a double feature for the price of a ticket.
The drive-in theater will remain open until the end of October. Tickets are $6.
Students who want to remain closer to home can take advantage of the movie program offered by Student Union Activities. Most of the movies SUA offers are shown at Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union.
The SUA program is divided into feature films and spectrum films, said Dawn Shew, program adviser for the Kansas Union. The feature film committee of SUA shows new releases and sneak previews, while spectrum films include older movies, cult classics, foreign films and movie events, like a drive-in showing of The Exorcist offered at 10 p.m. Sept.28 at the Memorial Stadium parking lot.
A year-long SUA movie pass costs $25. Tickets without a pass cost $2.
"We don't do it for the money. We do it as a service to the students," Shew said. "We would have to oversell the theater just to break even."
The SUA movie program is almost entirely run by students, Shew said. Student committees choose and schedule the movies, work the box office and tear tickets.
Students can purchase snacks in the union or bring their own food.
"Anything we do so it won't cost money, we'll do that," Shew said.
"We're not putting the smack down on the guy who has popcorn in his backpack," Shew said.
Students can step back in time and enjoy a beer while watching a movie at Liberty Hall, 642 Massachusetts St.
Liberty Hall has offered movies off and on since about 1912, said Darren Fox, manager of the cinema. The first talking film in the area was shown there in the 1920s, Fox said.
The cinema at Liberty Hall offers beer, wine and mixed
drinks to of-age movie patrons. On Wednesday nights, moviegoers can buy $1 pints of beer from Free State Brewing Company next door.
Liberty Hall shows movies that aren't shown at mainstream movie theaters. Art films and foreign movies often flicker across the cinema's two screens.
"It's going to be a slightly different experience," Fox said.
The atmosphere of Liberty Hall attracts moviegoers like Jake Mooney, Overland Park senior.
At the larger of Liberty Hall's two theaters, the audience watches the movie from a balcony. Heavy velvet curtains hang in the entrance of both theaters. Murals decorate the walls of the large theater.
"The atmosphere itself is intriguing in that it's different." Mooney said. "It's a more intimate setting."
Liberty Hall used to be an opera house, Fox said, which explains the building's interior.
Movie deals
1-70 Four Screen Drive-In
8701 E. 40 Highway
Kansas City, Mo.
Double feature, $6
Showtimes: (816)861-0500
SUA feature films
Woodruff Auditorium, Kansas
Union
Year-long pass, $25
Single ticket, $2
Showtimes: www.suaevents.com
Liberty Hall
642 Massachusetts St.
Two-for-one Tuesday, $6
Matinee, $3.75
Wednesday night beer pints, $1
Showtimes: 749-1912
Tickets at Liberty Hall cost $3.75 for movies before 6 p.m.
Evening movies cost $6.
On Tuesday nights, Liberty Hall offers a two-for-one special. The weekly special, which started about 10 years ago, brings in a large crowd, Fox said.
— Edited by Amanda Sears