Let’s Go To The Drive-In

Sag Harbor Cinema’s (SHC) Drive-in series continues at Havens Beach with films every Sunday night that offer a true salute to the summertime spirit, brought to the comfort of your car.

Sunday, August 2 brings Benh Zeitlin’s “Beasts of the Southern Wild” to the screen at Havens Beach. The film transports viewers to a mysterious and magical world through the eyes of an audacious six-year-old named Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis in the breakout role that earned her an Academy Award nomination-the youngest nomination in history at age 9). This charming fable centers around Hushpuppy who lives with her father Wink (Dwight Henry) in “The Bathtub” — a forgotten and physically crumbling, yet spiritually vibrant bayou community. When melting ice-caps threaten to flood their community, which would unleash prehistoric aurochs (the titular ‘beasts’), and Wink’s health wanes, Hushpuppy must tap into her heroic bravery to save her world. “‘Southern Wild’ is a hypnotic bit of cinematic poetry that is as vivid as its lead character's imagination,” said critic Michael Compton. This dreamy summer dystopian-action-fable feels as visceral as it did when it premiered nearly a decade ago.

“The light, the colors, the air, the heat, the smells, the sounds, the water, the adventure, the romance, the daydreams, the late nights, the everlasting memories, even the scorching asphalt… there is nothing like ‘the feeling of summer.’ And cinema has captured it so well in so many different ways,” says Sag Harbor Cinema artistic director Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan, adding: “To celebrate that feeling seemed like a natural subject for this series. Especially this particular year, and through a program of outdoor screenings.”

Here’s the rest of the line-up:

August 9 — Three surfers navigate the waves, growing up, and the Vietnam draft during the mid-1960s in John Milius’ “Big Wednesday,” his semi-autobiographical love letter to Malibu.

August 16 — A recent grad (Jesse Eisenberg) is stuck working at Pittsburgh's local theme park with its quirky crew during the summer of 1987 in Greg Mottola's bittersweet comedy “Adventureland.”

August 23 — Ridley Scott's thrilling and unforgettable road movie about two best friends (Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon) on the run from their lives and the police in “Thelma & Louise.”

August 30 — Rob Reiner’s timeless coming-of-age film “Stand by Me,” originally a novel by Stephen King, follows four teenage boys (River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Wil Wheaton, and Jerry O’Connell) who set off on an adventure through rural Oregon to find the body of a missing boy.

Drive-in tickets are $40 per vehicle and available online only at sagharborcinema.org. Screenings start approximately at 9 p.m. and the park opens at 8:30 p.m. Havens Beach is located just off Bay Street in Sag Harbor.