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When you wait all year for a Portland summer, it seems almost a sin to just sit around watching movies (God, Mom!). Unless you do it outside.
Here are your best bets from now until late October. This year, Hollywood Theatre announced a partnership with State Parks, adding another screen to Portland's decent list.
99W Drive-In
3110 Portland Road, Newberg. Fridays-Sundays, through late October.
The scene: 99W is a classic drive-in and just nabbed No. 1 in America in USA Today's reader's poll. One of the last remaining ones, it's a historic landmark full of hickey-spotted teenagers and parents who misremember the experience of a double feature with your folks.
Best bet: The Absolutely Volkswagen car cruise Aug. 13 is basically history coming to life.
Flicks on the Bricks
Pioneer Courthouse Square, 701 SW 6th Ave., thesquarepdx.com. Fridays, July 22-Aug. 19.
The scene: The same crowds from Movies at the Park, plus whichever clipboarders and MAX-stop denizens who decide to get distracted by the magic of Tom Hanks in Big (July 22) instead of harassing passersby.
Best bet: The Sandlot (Aug. 19), for the generation that refers to 1995-2009 as "Old Portland" and leaves PBR cans all over parks after adult kickball games, is a modern classic of baseball, prepubescence and puking on strangers.
Related: A WW writer tried to actually live in Pioneer Square.
Hollywood Theatre's State Park Screenings
Molalla River State Park, June 25. L.L. "Stub" Stewart State Park, Aug. 6.
Two more dates TBA. Free, tickets required.
The scene: The latest addition to the outdoor screening scene, the Hollywood Theatre is going full road show with themed screenings like Best in Show (June 25) with an accompanying doggy-fashion competition.
Best bet: The mountain bike-themed screening at Stub Stewart (Aug. 6) promises trail rides. The movie is TBA, but if it's not BMX Bandits, consider it a dropped ball.
Movies at Dusk at Pix
Pix Pâtisserie, 2225 E Burnside St. Wednesdays, through Sept. 28.
The scene: Outdoor cinema reimagined as suburban French backyard, complete with incredible macarons, themed cocktails and berets.
Best bet: Who Framed Roger Rabbit (July 20) is a solid bet, but watching Wes Anderson's best film, Rushmore (Aug. 10), with a crowd resembling grown-up Max Fischers is the golden ticket.
Movies in the Park
Various Portland parks, portlandoregon.gov. July 7-Sept. 10.
(Star Wars is at Laurelhurst Park, Saturday Aug. 27)
The scene: Kids can make all the noise they want as parents sip wine out of Solo cups and watch movies on a big-ass inflatable screen.
Best bet: Kiddie fare—Toy Story, Inside Out, Zootopia—dominates, but with Ferris Bueller's Day Off (George Park, July 20) turning 30 this year, now's the perfect time to expose kids to the '80s most charming sociopath.
Night Movies at Cartopia
Cartopia, Southeast 12th Avenue and Hawthorne Boulevard. Sundays, through Sept. 25.
The scene: The threat of condos replacing the OG pod has subsided. The tradition of loading up on Chicken and Guns and pairing your food coma with a questionable movie continues. This year, each feature is paired with an episode of The X-Files. The real one. Not the shitty reboot.
Best of the best: An '80s ode to cocaine and cadaver defilement, Weekend at Bernie's (July 17) will entice and confuse crowds still feelin' the Bern.
Top Down Rooftop Cinema
Hotel deLuxe, 729 SW 15th Ave. Thursdays, July 14-Aug. 25.
The scene: For its swanky, social screenings, Portland's NW Film Center transforms the rooftop of Hotel deLuxe into a combination wine bar, concert and theater. No need to put your booze in a bag to watch classics like Plan 9 From Outer Space (July 14) or cult favorite Raising Arizona (July 21).
Best bet: Joe Cornish's 2011 sci-fi comedy, Attack the Block (Aug. 11), blends slick carnage and Amblin-style hijinks when aliens and hoodies clash in London.
Willamette Week