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..Nearly every Sunday, with the exception of the break they took during the holiday season, the Rome-Floyd County Public Library (map)puts on a free Sunday matinee.
Regina Drummond, who works in audiovisual at the library in downtown Rome, moves the chairs around in the Coosa Room, grabs the canned cokes, pops the popcorn and sets up the projector while waiting for a small crowd to gather.
The free movie harkens back to the early days of cinemas, with quarter matinees on Sunday afternoons and nickel popcorn, but Drummond makes sure to show family-friendly movies.
“I try to play the newest release, or what came out over the past year,” she said.
Drummond is joined weekly by around 30 to 35 people. They start the movie at 2 p.m., without previews.
This past weekend viewers enjoyed “Kung Fu Panda,” which Camdyn Hendricks, 4, was excited to finally see.
Visitors watch a free showing of “Kung Fu Panda” at the Rome-Floyd County Library on Sunday afternoon. (Lindy Dugger Cordell / RN-T) |
“I like ‘Kung Fu Panda,’” he said as he bounced around the back row with his sister, 18-month-old Brinley, and his mom, Ashley Hendricks.
“We thought it would be something fun for the kids to do,” Hendricks said. “It’s free and that’s good.”
She said, considering the economy, this was a good way for her family to “save a few pennies here and there” on the weekend.
A typical outing to the movies in Rome at one of the three movie theaters costs about $36.50 for tickets for a family of four. Add on popcorn and drinks, which go for 50 cents during th
Regina Drummond, an employee of Rome-Floyd County Library’s audio visual department, scoops popcorn for children before the showing of “Kung Fu Panda.” (Lindy Dugger Cordell / RN-T) |
e library’s show, and the price can go above $50.
Even as a free alternative, though, Drummond said she hasn’t seen a big increase in attendance at her movies, which featured big box-office hits “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” and “Iron Man” in November before the month-long December break.
Although action movies are on her list of movies she’ll show, they have to stay below the PG-13 mark.
“I’m not going to show R-rated movies,” Drummond said. “But we are showing ‘The Dark Knight’ next week.”
And in the past, she’s not been shy about changing her format. In October, to help celebrate Halloween, she showed a number of Alfred Hitchcock titles.
For now, Drummond will continue to show new titles released during the year, and shehas a tough choice coming up. What will she show coming up in February?
“I’ve already got a couple of movies in mind,” she said, though she wouldn’t say which ones.
Upcoming movies:
Jan. 11: “The Dark Knight,” starring Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart and Maggie Gyllenhaal, rated PG-13
Jan. 18: “Eagle Eye,” starring Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan, Rosario Dawson and Michael Chiklis, rated PG-13
Jan. 25: “Wall-E,” starring Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Fred Willard and Sigourney Weaver, rated G
Click here to see the library's calendar.
