On-campus movies for students on a budget


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School is back in session, but who says you can’t still enjoy late-night adventures to the movie theater with some friends? Better yet, how about free movies? Before they officially hit any theaters? Conveniently located on campus?

I know, sounds too good to be true. But, thanks to the USC School of Cinematic Arts, it’s a crazy dream-turned-reality for students who love movies but can’t even scrape together the change for the theater in the University Village. Every semester, the School of Cinematic Arts has a program cleverly titled “Outside the Box [Office]” that presents advanced screenings of international and independent films on a weekly basis here on campus.

Don’t come expecting to see big names like Twilight or Harry Potter. The films shown might not necessarily be distributed as widely as their box office-smashing buddies, so this is a great opportunity to see films you might not have access to otherwise.

Outside the Box aims to highlight films and documentaries from around the globe, so it’s a big hoorah for diversity. Past international film screenings include the quirky Official Selection for the 2010 Cannes International Film Festival, Rubber (France) and the chilling Academy Award-nominated film for Best Foreign Language Film, Dogtooth (Greece).

If those don’t quite whet your appetite, there are plenty of American films with familiar faces. Fan of Dwight Schrute? Rainn Wilson has appeared in Outside the Box’s presentation of Super alongside Ellen Page and Kevin Bacon. Did Joseph Gordon-Levitt make your heart throb in (500) Days of Summer? You just missed him rocking out with Natalie Portman in Hesher last spring.

Don’t miss out on any other great (and, did I mention, free?) movies! Though some are open to the public, others are presented exclusively for students with a USC ID and a timely RSVP. How can you say ‘no’ to that? Click on over to this handy dandy link for more information on how to get on the mailing list and a full list of screenings for the fall 2011 semester: https://cinema.usc.edu/events/event.cfm?id=11981. See you at the movies!