FLICKS AL FRESCO

14 best Houston-area spots showcasing summer movies under the stars

Catch the family-friendly Lilo & Stitch at Levy Park on June 28.

It's the summer, which means it's time again for various parks, urban spaces, malls, and other open areas to pull out the giant screen, fire up the digital-cinema projector and play some after-dark, outdoor movies for families.

For fans who want to skip the jam-packed indoor movie multiplexes, here are 14 places that are hosting free, open-air picture shows this season.

Axelrad
In honor of Pride Month, this Richmond spot has been having LGBTQ-themed screenings every Monday this month. The next one will be Rent (June 17) and Pride (June 24). 8:30 pm.

Baybrook Mall
The shopping center will have bi-weekly screenings out on the lawn: The Lego Movie (June 18), Incredibles 2 (July 16), Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (August 6), and Zootopia (August 20).

Discovery Green
The Green will give us only one Screen on the Green movie this summer season, and it's Mean Girls (June 29). So, whether you were a friendly high schooler or — gasp! — a Plastic, take a trip down memory lane and check this out. 9pm.

Dow Park
The park at Deer Park will host outdoor screenings of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (July 16) and Flubber (August 12). In case of rain, the screenings will move over to Earl Dunn Gym, and the Citizens Police Academy will be selling concessions. Begins at dusk.

Heritage Place
Over in Conroe, this park has an all-age screenings lined up: The Boss Baby (June 14). If you prefer to lounge in a pool while watching a flick, Conroe Aquatic Center will screen Toy Story (June 14) and the Oscar Johnson, Jr. Community Center Pool will host The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (July 12). 8:15 pm.

Historic Tomball Depot
Every second Saturday this summer, the city of Tomball will have a night of games, crafts, and a movie under the stars. Next month, there will be a Christmas-in-July screening of The Grinch (July 13), followed after that by Incredibles 2 (August 10). 6 pm.

Levy Park Conservancy
The urban space, located in the Upper Kirby District, will have Family Movie Night on the last night of every month this season. First up, there is Lilo & Stitch (June 28), followed by Trolls (July 26) and Solo: A Star Wars Story (August 30). 8 pm.

Market Square Park
This park's summer movie series was supposed to kick off on the 5th with Little Shop of Horrors, but that was cancelled due to rain. Thankfully, it has moved over to June 19. As for later in the season, they got screenings of Spaceballs (July 3) and the not-so-family-friendly Forgetting Sarah Marshall (August 7). 8:30 pm.

Midtown Park
This park will have monthly, first Saturday screenings up until the end of the year. This summer, there will be screenings of Dirty Dancing (July 6), everybody's favorite Patrick Swayze movie (next to Road House, of course), and Central Intelligence (August 6). 7 pm.

Miller Outdoor Theatre
The legendary outdoor theatre will be dropping a few outdoor screenings this summer. This month, there will be a screening of Crazy Rich Asians (June 14). There's nothing in July, but the following month will give us Black Panther (August 20) and Top Gun (August 21). 8 pm.

Saengerfest Park
The Galveston park will have Movie Nite on the Strand on the first Friday of the summer months, with Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (July 6) and Ralph Breaks the Internet (August 3). There will also be a special, Apollo 11-anniversary screening of First Man (July 20). 8 pm.

The Square at Memorial City
At the moment, this spot appears to only have one Friday Family Movie Night planned this summer: The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (June 14). You can bring your blankets and lawn chairs, or grab a patio seat at Maggiano's Little Italy or The Cheesecake Factory for a dinner-or-a-movie experience. 7 pm.

Sugar Land Town Square
This location's Movies Under the Moon is another series that will go on right up to December. As for what they have for the summer, there will be second-Saturday screenings of Smallfoot (June 15), The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (July 13), and Christopher Robin (August 10). 8:30 pm.

VFW Park
The City of Katy launches its Katy Summer Nights movie series with a screening of The Emperor's New Groove (June 15) and plenty of yummy popcorn. Other as-yet-determined movies will unspool on July 12 and August 8. 8 pm.

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Movie Review

28 Years Later revives zombie franchise for new generation

Photo by Miya Mizuno

Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Alfie Williams in 28 Years Later.

The 2000s brought two of the best zombie movies ever made in 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later. Both films, despite being made by different filmmakers, featured intense action with fast-moving zombies, harrowing sequences, and real emotional connections with their main characters. Now the original director and writer — Danny Boyle and Alex Garland — have returned with the first of a possible three sequels, 28 Years Later.

The rage virus from the first two films that turns humans into insatiable monsters has successfully been contained to the United Kingdom, and one group of survivors has managed to band together on a small island off the coast of England. We’re introduced to the group through Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), his wife, Isla (Jodie Comer), and his son, Spike (Alfie Williams).

Isla is sick with an unknown illness, while Jamie is set to take the 12-year-old Spike on his first trip to the mainland to hunt zombies. That trip not only gives Spike an education as to the different types of feral zombies that now populate England, but also a clue that other people have survived there. When he discovers that one of them may be a doctor, he makes plans to take his mother there in hopes of finding a cure for whatever ails her.

While the first two films were notable for their brisk pace that kept the potency of the stories high, Boyle and Garland almost go in the opposite direction for much of this film. The first 90 minutes are relatively slow, with only a couple of sequences that raise the blood pressure. The final half hour or so go a long way toward filling that void, so it’s clear that the filmmakers were biding their time for the story to come in the sequel. A bit more balance in this film would have served them well, though.

What they do show involves some weird, wild stuff that is objectively upsetting, even for fans of the genre. The zombies have evolved in strange ways, giving them a variety of body shapes and abilities to suit the environment in which they live. These storytelling choices may thrill some and have others scratching their heads. Another human character living on his own (played by Ralph Fiennes), appears to have gone the way of Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now, with a revelation that is bone-chilling.

Boyle, who’s directed everything from Trainspotting to Slumdog Millionaire, doesn’t have a signature style, and he makes some choices in this film that test your patience. He occasionally employs an odd technique in which the film stutters, for a lack of better term. It’s a bit jarring, especially since it doesn’t seem to improve the storytelling. He also inserts scenes from older films involving medieval warfare that emulate the bow-and-arrow weaponry used by characters in this film, but the exact connection he’s trying to make is unclear.

The young Williams has a lot put on his shoulders in the film, and he proves to be up to the task of carrying the story. He isn’t precocious or annoying, instead reacting almost exactly like you’d expect a boy of his age to do when faced with extreme situations. Taylor-Johnson and Comer are good complements for him, drawing him out with their polar opposite characters. Fiennes makes a huge impression in the final act of the film, while Jack O’Connell makes a very brief appearance, teasing a bigger role to come.

It’s difficult to fully judge 28 Years Later because it’s designed to only give you part of the story; part 2, The Bone Temple, is due in 2026, while a third film will follow if the first two do well. This film has its moments and winds up on the positive side of the ledger, but it’s also a frustrating experience that could have used a more stand-alone story.

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28 Years Later is now playing in theaters.

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Movie Review

28 Years Later revives zombie franchise for new generation