Students and spring testers gathered indoors to watch Jack Black’s 2003 comedy, “School of Rock,” last Thursday night.
Hosted by the Union Programming Council Pop Culture Committee, the drive-in movie was originally planned to be on the Parade Grounds, but weather took the event to the Union Ballroom.
Although it was not raining Thursday night, the wind was an issue.
“Last spring, the wind was so strong, it knocked the screen over,” said assistant director for UPC programs, Jason Meier. “You really couldn’t see the screen, so it wouldn’t have been much fun anyways.”
Approximately 800 attended this semester’s event.
“It’s always a good turnout,” Meier said, “We’ve always had over 600 people go.”
UPC hosts a drive-in movie twice a year, once during the fall semester and once in the spring semester. According to Meier, the spring movie always coincides with spring testing.
“We want the spring testers to get an idea about some of the events we have here,” Meier said.
Several testers were at the movie and look forward to school next year at LSU.
“This is a great movie and it’s a fun event for us to be able to go to,” said Frankie Savoy, 17, of Mamou, La.
Savoy and his friends brought a couch to relax on during the movie.
“We hope bringing the couch will encourage even more ideas for the next movie,” Savoy said. “I want to see a Lay-Z Boy in here.”
Some students hope to see even more drive-in movies in the future.
“I would definitely like to see this type of thing more often,” said Sarah Ferguson, an English freshman.
The movie gave University students a good reason to get away from school.
“I’m an initiate for a fraternity and all of us came together,” said Molly Bel, a geology freshman. “It’s a good opportunity for us to just hang out.”
Some students went simply because of the movie, but look forward to new ones.
“I’d like to see ‘Radio’ or ‘Finding Nemo’ at a drive-in sometime,” Bel said.
Viewing “School of Rock” was a last minute decision for the UPC.
“We were originally supposed to show ‘Lord of the Rings: Return of the King,'” Meier said, “But then the Oscars happened, and they decided to put the film back in theaters, which meant we could not view it.”
The drive-in movie is difficult to juggle with other UPC events said Meier. However, UPC has considered offering the event more than twice a year.
“We know how popular it is,” Meier said, “And we have discussed doing it more often.”