Students queue up for free flicks

Weekend attendance for each film has varied, and Friday evenings have drawn the greatest number of students. ‘Transformers’ drew the smallest crowd at 184 students. Star Trek and The Proposal each had 285 students in attendance. “Up” and “The Hangover” had the largest turnouts, at 450 and 525 students, respectively.

The theater, which is owned by the University and has supplanted the Frist Campus Center Film and Performance Theatre as the Undergraduate Film Organization (UFO)’s primary venue, opens its doors to students every Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 11:15 p.m. Students need only flash their proxes to get free admission, popcorn and soda. When the UFO films were shown at Frist, admission cost $2, and food was prohibited.

“Our new agreement with the Garden Theater allows us to implement a program that will be far more appealing to students, including free popcorn and soda, first-rate titles, and a genuine movie theater atmosphere, all at the same cost as our old program at Frist,” USG president Connor Diemand-Yauman ’10 said in an e-mail.

The change comes after declining attendance at the Frist screenings and recent concerns over USG costs after the USG pledged its fall social budget to the Pace Center. After working with the Garden Theatre over the summer, the USG established the new program without any additional cost. According to the USG’s press release about the initiative, “Making the movies free will reduce any financial disincentives, and providing free food and drinks makes the films even more attractive to students.”

Since the UFO now works with the Garden Theatre’s distribution company, it has access to more recent releases than before: The UFO can now screen films five weeks after their release date, whereas before it had to wait eight weeks.

“We are thrilled with the popularity of the program with students and hope that future USG administrations will continue to invest in even more enjoyable social initiatives available to students throughout the year,” Diemand-Yauman said.

Participating students have cited the Garden Theatre events as a great social outlet.

“I’ve been here a couple times already,” Marvah Hill ’13 said. “It’s nice to leave campus and go into the surrounding community to catch a movie with friends.”

“ ‘Transformers 2’ was my first [UFO] movie, but I would definitely come back,” Ricky Kearney ’12 explained. “It’s a great option if you don’t want to go out to the Street.”

“The Garden Theatre gives roommates a chance to bond,” Max Lyons ’13 added.

“We always have a running commentary during the movies,” Lucas Zavala ’13, Lyons’ roommate, noted. “We crack up when no one else is laughing. It’s pretty fun.”