Outdoor film screenings 2008

David Jenkins packs his picnic rug, sarnies and brolly and looks ahead to this summer’s alfresco film screenings in the capital

It’s that time again: the grey clouds are parting for just long enough to hoist up a big screen, crank up some belting speakers and kick off this year’s slate of outdoor film screenings. And 2008 promises to be an interesting year – there’s a nod to more diverse films and interesting locations.

The Scoop Film Season
Until June 27
We’re already a week into the short season of 'More Movies' screenings at The Scoop, the sunken theatre on the South Bank next to Boris’s glass testicle. This week’s screenings are ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’, ‘Henry V’ and ‘Michael Clayton’. Next week’s are Bruce Robinson’s ‘Withnail & I’, Nic Roeg’s ‘Don’t Look Now’ and that evergreen favourite ‘The Sound of Music’.
The Scoop, Next to City Hall, Riverside, The Queen's Walk, London, SE1 (www.morelondon.com/thescoop).

BP Summer Screen
July 3, 16
The BP Summer Screen is hosting a series of outdoor opera and ballet screenings in Trafalgar Square and Canada Square, next to Canary Wharf. ‘Romeo and Juliet’ got the ball rolling at the beginning of June, Verdi’s ‘Don Carlo’ unspools on July 3 and Mozart’s ‘The Marriage of Figaro’ is on July 16.
BP Summer Big Screens, Trafalgar Square/Canary Wharf (020 7304 4000/www.roh.org.uk/bp).

London Festival of Architecture
July 11
And the award for most interesting outdoor screening location goes to… the London Festival of Architecture which is showing a series of parkour and skate films in ‘skate city’, the understair crevice next to BFI Southbank.

Smirnoff Black Screenings at Bluebird
July 23-August 27
The restaurant and courtyard of this elegant Chelsea eaterie are decorated in 1950s style every Wednesday for classic film screenings. Sun loungers, striped parasols and staff in black-and-white uniforms channel the Hollywood of yesteryear
Smirnoff Black Screenings, Bluebird, 350 Kings Road, SW3

Film4 Summer Screen at Somerset House
July 31-August 9
The eighteenth-century Edmond J Safra Fountain Court opens for ten nights for Somerset House’s annual cluster of hugely popular outdoor screenings. This year’s run opens with the ‘People’s Premiere’ of Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Hellboy II: The Golden Army’. Also showing are cult favourite ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’, Hollywood classics ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ and ‘Dr Strangelove’ and that foreign-language crowd-pleaser, Fellini’s auto-biographical magnum opus ‘8 1/2’, plus a bum-aching 'The Elephant Man'/'Wild at Heart' double bill.
Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R (020 7845 4600/www.somersethouse.org.uk).

Movies by Moonlight at Syon House
Jul 31-Aug 2
Three nights of outdoor film screenings – take a picnic and a rug or folding chair (no tables or naked flames). Drinks are available to buy and picnics can be purchased in advance for £18.50 pp, min 2 people. July 31: Audrey Hepburn in 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' (Blake Edwards, PG). Aug 1: Michael Caine in 'The Italian Job' (Peter Collinson, PG). Aug 2: Daniel Craig in 'Casino Royale' (Martin Campbell, 12A).
Syon House and Park, Brentford , Middx, TW8 (020 8560 0881).

The Horniman Museum
August 14, 28
Those looking to escape the chaos of Zone 1 should hop on a train to Forest Hill to the excellent Horniman Museum. The museum will host two screenings: Zhang Yimou’s martial arts epic ‘Hero’ (Aug 14) and Gurinder Chada’s Austen update, ‘Bride and Prejudice’ (Aug 18).
Horniman Museum, 100 London Road, London, SE23 (020 8699 1872/www.horniman.ac.uk).

Park Nights at the Serpentine Gallery
August 15, 16
Halfway through two months of concerts, exhibitions and talks, the Serpentine is erecting a 50ft screen to show films. Both nights kick off with Claude LeLouch’s short ‘Rendezvous’ (aka ‘C’etait un Rendezvous’), in which the director zips through central Paris in a muscle car, while Monte Helman’s ace ‘Two Lane Blacktop’ screens on Aug 15 and Steve McQueen cop thriller, 'Bullitt' on Aug 16.
Serpentine Gallery, Kensington Gardens, W2 (020 7402 6075/www.serpentinegallery.org).

---