New Jersey Stage logo
New Jersey Stage Menu


Montclair Film's Free Movie Night Under the Stars Returns for 2024

originally published: 05/06/2024

(MONTCLAIR, NJ) -- Montclair Film has announced the return of its annual Movie Night Under The Stars summer series. All films will start at sunset and will be free and open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs, blankets, and picnics. This year's lineup includes Barbie, Napoleon Dynamite, and The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

The series kicks off with last summer’s smash hit Barbie shown on Lackawanna Plaza (near Crane Park) on Sunday, June 23 (rain date June 30). This film is presented in partnership with the Montclair Center BID and is part of their Summer Sunday events in Montclair Center.  Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the colorful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans.

On Sunday, July 21 (rain date July 28), Montclair Film will feature the cult classic, Napoleon Dynamite in Essex County Anderson Park.  Pre-show dance lessons will be provided by AC Dance of Bloomfield, NJ. This beloved indie classic was made almost almost 20 years ago. Since then much has changed; but the characters, as enduring as they are endearing, stay in our hearts. Appealing to the inner - teenager in each of us, the story, and more importantly the dialogue, makes Napoleon Dynamite one of the most quoted movies of our time. The film makes us laugh - and laugh hard - over and over again.

Finally on August 24 (rain date August 25), they present The Super Mario Bros. Movie in Essex County Brookdale Park Archery Field. From Nintendo and Illumination comes a new animated film based on the world of Super Mario Bros. Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (collaborators on Teen Titans Go!, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies) from a screenplay by Matthew Fogel (The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, Minions: The Rise of Gru), the film stars Chris Pratt as Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek and Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike.

While registration is not required, it is recommended that you register on montclairfilm.org to get up to date information in the event of a weather delay.




Advertise with NJ Stage for $50-$100 per month, click here for info



“We are very excited about this year’s lineup,” said Executive Director/Co-Head Beth Gottung. “We are thrilled to be able to offer this free program each year to our community and we look forward to welcoming everyone to enjoy these terrific films.”

Montclair Film, a non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization connects filmmakers from around the region and world with audiences by presenting films and year-round programs that engage, educate, and entertain through the power of visual storytelling. In addition to owning and operating The Clairidge, Montclair’s six screen art house cinema, the organization also hosts the annual Montclair Film Festival which will take place from October 18-27, 2024. Montclair Film is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and all programs are made possible with funds from the New Jersey Department of State, Division of Travel and Tourism, as well as the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, among many others. Montclair Film provides unique and meaningful ways to engage with diverse, creative, and sophisticated audiences and seeks sponsors for its signature film festival, educational programs, and other year-round community events that attract more than 46,000 annual attendees and generate more than 800 million media impressions yearly.




Advertise with NJ Stage for $50-$100 per month, click here for info


FEATURED EVENTS

To narrow results by date range, categories,
or region of New Jersey
click here for our advanced search.


New

New Jersey Film Festival: IT’S A to Z: The ART OF ARLEEN SCHLOSS & Demi-Demons

Friday, January 31, 2025 @ 7:00pm
NJ Film Festival
71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
category: film

Click here for full event listing

 

New

New Jersey Film Festival: The Accidental Spy

Saturday, February 01, 2025 @ 5:00pm
NJ Film Festival
71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
category: film

Click here for full event listing

 

New

New Jersey Film Festival: Shorts Program #2 - The Hollowing, Brooklyn, Disoriented, Phantom Limb, Help Yourself, Dinner at Manny’s

Saturday, February 01, 2025 @ 7:00pm
NJ Film Festival
71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
category: film

Click here for full event listing

 

New

New Jersey Film Festival: No Somos Maquinas: We Are Not Machines

Sunday, February 02, 2025 @ 5:00pm
NJ Film Festival
71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
category: film

Click here for full event listing

 

New

New Jersey Film Festival: God Teeth & The Traumatist

Friday, February 07, 2025 @ 7:00pm
NJ Film Festival
71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
category: film


Click here for full event listing

 

More events

Event Listings are available for $10 and included with our banner ad packages






Advertise with New Jersey Stage for $50-$100 per month, click here for info




 

EVENT PREVIEWS

Amazing

Amazing Feature God Teeth screens at the New Jersey Film Festival on February 7!

For many, the process of finding footage online and crafting a well-thought-out plot and connection between these shots may seem incredibly daunting and time-consuming. For musician and filmmaker Robbie C. Williamson, it is an exciting opportunity to craft something extremely unique and intriguing. Williamson’s found footage film God Teeth represents this excitement and exemplifies the exceptional results of his long-term efforts and passion for storytelling.



Immersive

Immersive The Hollowing screens at the 2025 New Jersey Film Festival on February 1st!

The Hollowing, directed by Steven Weinzierl, follows a couple as they try an experimental therapy to test the compatibility of their relationship. They are placed into a sleep state and are put into a false reality together. This dream-like version of their life showcases the mundane, everyday scenarios of a relationship to the more supernatural and grotesque elements that are unearthed by this therapy. It starts off with relatable feelings of relationship trouble while introducing and building up who the characters are and their relationship to each other, before taking dramatic turns and heightening the stakes of the relationship between the two as the therapy procedure continues. The film plays with the line between reality and dream in a way that is both noticeable and unnoticeable, creating a sense of suspense that is only heightened by the events unfolding onscreen. The film also showcases stellar cinematography and lighting that make the false reality just as immersive for the audience as it is for the characters.



Emotive

Emotive short Phantom Limb plays at the New Jersey Film Festival on February 1!

Alice Jokela’s Phantom Limb is an experimental short film that immerses the audience in the emotional journey of navigating trauma and the search for autonomy. The short film centers on Violetta (Shay Yu), a young woman who lost her right arm in an electrical shock accident while tagging in an underground railroad with her boyfriend. With her body forever altered, Vi wrestles to build a sense of identity while coping with the emotional impact of her trauma. In an interview with The New Jersey Film Festival, Jokela expressed her intention to create a film focused on female rage and the overt trauma that often goes overlooked or misunderstood because of the internal, invisible nature of pain. This is reflected in the short film, as those around Vi misperceive her emotional scars. Vi’s story emphasizes how internal trauma can be complex for others to recognize, especially when it’s not immediately visible.



Two

Two riveting shorts The Hollowing and Brooklyn screen at the New Jersey Film Festival on February 1!

How a filmmaker utilizes certain filmmaking techniques holds the power to change the film in immeasurable ways. Achieving the best look and flow of the film requires evaluating things such as lighting, color, and composition and determining how they can be applied. The outcome of these evaluations is a carefully articulated and well-done film that crafts an interesting narrative told not just through storytelling but through every part of the film. Two examples of this are The Hollowing, by Steve Weinzierl, and Brooklyn, by Timur Guseynov, both films that tell their stories well through various cinematography and filmmaking language techniques such as color, lighting, and frame composition.



It’s

It’s A to Z: The Art of Arleen Schloss New Jersey Film Festival Filmmaker Video Interview

Al Nigrin, Executive Director and Curator of the New Jersey Film Festival, sits down with Stuart Ginsberg, Director of It's A to Z: The Art of Arleen Schloss, for a filmmaker video interview at EBTV.