Three Outdoor Screenings in Washington, D.C.

If anyone’s wondering what got me to commit to a return to the film blogging world, it was my recent trip. So much film; so much inspiration! I got to experience cinema in places I’ve (lol) only seen in the movies. One of these was outdoor screenings; DC is brilliant for this, and I almost trekked to Virginia for a fourth, but then it poured down rain for a full week. Here’s what I saw, where, & what I thought.

Dirty Dancing

It was the waterfront in the beautiful Georgetown. My first week in DC. I was so tired, but who can say no to an outdoor film screening? The grass was a bit scratchy and the crowd really got into it (you should’ve seen me and 20 Brits looking at each other and sighing, Americans. . .) but I’d actually never seen this one before and while I think my expectations were way too high, it went to places I didn’t expect (with the pregnancy storyline) and Swayze absolutely won me over. So all in all, nice. I mostly like being able to tell the context around nobody puts Baby in the corner, as I do quote it regularly.

A League of Their Own

I enjoyed playing baseball in school. But I understand why our gym teacher didn’t let us play it more than once a year. How does it take so long to play? We went to see this close to the Nationals stadium, a special screening put on for the upcoming All-Star Weekend (which we then went to watch), and I really sympathised with & rooted for the women so eager to play baseball. After seeing the game? Not so much. How do you not get bored?! The historical context and the plot itself was so so good, and I went away feeling empowered and so proud of these wartime ladies who kicked so much ass, but I can’t get past the fact this is something people pay to watch. Regularly. I know my hero m.brown from Two Dollar Cinema would disagree, but I am honestly baffled.

Jumanji 2: Welcome to the Jungle

My first two weeks were spent at a summer course at GWU with people from my university. On the last day, after heartfelt goodbyes, I checked into my hostel, a tall building with a slow elevator next to an active construction site crawling with rats, and wasn’t really sure what to do next. I sat down at a Starbucks, as us basic white girls like to do, and looked for stuff to do in the city. I could see Jurassic Park at a cemetery, or I could go to see Jumanji to a park that was a ten minute walk away. I trekked to Whole Foods, got some sushi and a San Pellegrino (what kind of a f–king supermarket doesn’t sell Coke?!?!! in AMERICA??!!) and had one of the nicest evenings ever. Jumanji was so filthy I can’t believe they let children watch it. But also so much fun. That’s really all I have to say about it (I have a tiny crush on the Rock. Ok there you go.) Would recommend.

(Also, if anyone is a DC native, they’re still doing screenings all over and you can find them here.)