Summer Guide 2013: $1 Movies in St. Charles in June, July and August

A number of movie chains host offer free, or nearly free, children's movies in the summer. 

One of those is Classic Cinemas, which recently released the lineup for its "Wednesday Morning Movie Series." Each Wednesday morning from June 12 through Aug. 7, Classic Cinemas will show a family-friendly film (rated G or PG) with admission of $1 per person.

The showtime is 10 a.m. but the doors open at 9 a.m. and you're encouraged to come early to meet costumed characters and participate in games and fun activities. 

Classic Cinemas will take reservations for groups of 15 or more (the series is popular with summer camps and daycare programs), and the group rate of $5 per person includes admission, a Kiddie Combo and reserved seating.

Classic Cinemas has theaters all over northern Illinois, including the Charlestowne 18 Theatre at Charlestowne Mall in St. Charles. Other Classic Cinemas participating include those in Carpentersville, Elk Grove Village, Fox Lake, Oak Park, Freeport, North Riverside, Naperville, Kankakee, Downers Grove, Woodstock and Elmhurst.

Here's the lineup for the Classic Cinemas' Wednesday Morning Movie Series for Summer 2013. Stay tuned for info on more cheap or free family-friendly movie options this summer! And of course you'll find them all listed on the Go West Calendar. 

June 12:  "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted " (Rated PG; 93 minutes)

June 19: "Hotel Transylvania" (Rated PG; 91 minutes)

June 26: "Ice Age: Continental Drift" (Rated PG; 88 minutes)

July 3:  "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days" (Rated PG; 94 minutes)

July 10: "Rise of the Guardians" (Rated PG; 97 minutes)

July 17: "Hotel For Dogs" (Rated PG; 100 minutes)

July 24: "Muppets From Space" (Rated G; 87 minutes)

July 31: "Escape From Planet Earth" (Rated PG; 89 minutes)

August 7:  Surprise Movie (Rated PG; 89 minutes)

Free Spring Kids Movies in Oswego and Batavia

The weekend "Kids Dream" $2 film series at Marcus Theatres' Elgin Cinema has been on the Go West Calendar for several weeks now. And the "Kidtoons" series, also $2 a seat on Saturdays and Sundays, at Studio Movie Grill in Wheaton is a constant calendar presence. But now we have another family-friendly movie series to add, and this one is entirely free! (Well, that is if you can avoid the concession stand.)

Goodrich Quality Theatres sponsors a "Free Spring Movies" series each year at its participating theaters, including the Kendall 10 in Oswego and the Randall 15 IMAX in Batavia.

The series gets underway this weekend, March 2-3, and runs through April 27-28. Each movie will be shown at both 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. Admission is first come, first served. 

For reviews and the age-appropriateness of the following movies, Common Sense Media is always a great resource.

Here's the schedule:

March 2-3: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
March 9-10: Ice Age 4
March 16-17: Three Stooges
March 23-24: Rise of the Guardians
March 30-31: Madagascar 3
April 6-7: Hotel Transylvania
April 13-14: Pirates! Band of Misfits
April 20-21: ParaNorman
April 27-28: The Lorax

See you at the movies!

Holiday Guide 2012: Holiday Movies in the Western Suburbs

There's nothing like seeing a movie you love on the big screen. Here's a listing of theaters that are showing holiday movies over the coming month. You'll also find these on the Go West Calendar. Please do double-check these showtimes before you head out, to make sure they haven't been changed since this list was compiled.

The Sycamore State Theatre will show "A Christmas Story" on Dec. 1 and Dec. 2. Tickets are free. The Polar Express:

• The Glen Art Theatre in Glen Elllyn will shown this animated, G-rated adaptation of the beloved book on Saturday, Dec. 8, at 10:30 a.m. Admission is free, but seats are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis.
• The Aurora Public Library's West Branch will show "The Polar Express" on Saturday, Dec. 8, at 2 p.m. This event is aimed at children ages 5 through 11 and does not require registration. Drinks and popcorn will be provided.
• The Paramount Theatre in Aurora will show "The Polar Express" on Monday, Dec. 24, at 11 a.m. as part of its "Classic Movie Monday" lineup. Tickets are just $1, and the doors will open 30 minutes before showtime.

A Christmas Story: 

• Let's all say it together: "You'll shoot your eye out, kid!" The Sycamore State Theatre in downtown Sycamore will show this movie on both Saturday, Dec. 1, and Sunday, Dec. 2, at 11 a.m. Tickets are free, but seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

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Fall Guide 2012: Halloween Movies & Specials

Television over the next week-and-a-half will be filled with Halloween-themed episodes, movies and specials, some of them quite gory or frightening. Here are a few of the more family-friendly options we could find. Know of some we missed? Please share it in the comments section. Note that all times below are Central.

'The Goonies' will be shown on ABC Family on Monday, Oct. 29.Also, if you want to know what your favorite regular TV program has planned this month, the website "Zap 2 It" gives you sneak peeks and air dates of Halloween-themed episodes of shows including "Happy Endings," "The Mindy Project," "Modern Family," "The Office," "Parks and Recreation" and more. If the adults in your house want to get the chills, check out the lineup for the AMC FearFest, featuring horror classics such as "Rosemary's Baby" and some not-so-classic like "Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan." The channel TCM is also showing a "Classic Horror" series on Wednesdays in October, including the 1931 version of "Frankenstein" and "The Wolf Man," on Halloween.

But back to the more family-friendly options:

The animated classic "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" will be shown 

• on Wednesday, Oct. 31, at 7 p.m. on ABC 

Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas," a PG-rated animated film from 1993, will be shown 

• on ABC Family on Monday, Oct. 22, at 5:26 p.m.

Tim Burton's "Edward Scissorhands," a PG-rated film from 1990 starring Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder, will be shown

• on Monday, Oct. 22, at 5 p.m. on ABC Family
• on Tuesday, Oct. 30, at 6 p.m. on ABC Family
• on Wednesday, Oct. 31, at noon on ABC Family

"Ghostbusters," the 1984, PG-rated film starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, will be shown on

• Monday, Oct. 29, at 10:30 a.m. and 5:10 p.m. on the Encore Channel

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Easy Outing: A Trip to Cascade Drive-In in West Chicago

Guest contributor Maggie Romanovich shares with us one of her family's favorite summertime activities: A trip to the drive-in. But many drive-in theaters stay open well into fall, and it actually gets a bit easier to take the kids once the sun starts setting earlier -- allowing the movies to start earlier, too. 

A drive-in theater in Belleville, Ill. Photo by Hjelle on Flickr.For our family, summertime opens up an option for a super fun evening: Going to the drive-in! Visiting a drive-in theater became part of our family's tradition before my husband and I even married. Every year for my birthday, he’d surprise me with a road trip to a spot that had a minor league baseball team in proximity to a drive-in theater. Who knew there were so many within driving distance?

Once we had our daughter, we wanted to spend as much time together as a family, but we were out of the loop for any water cooler discussion that centered around movies. Enter Cascade Drive-In in West Chicago, located on North Avenue just east of Route 59.

Cascade Drive-In is the perfect place for a family evening. Let’s start with the cost. Cascade offers a double feature of newly released movies for $9 a person. If your kids are under 5, they are free. Children ages 5 through 11 are just $5, and pets are welcome. You can also bring your own food; there's a picnic area with grills. (You bring your own charcoal.) Or, you can visit the full-service concession stand, which offers corn dogs, pretzels, popcorn, nachos, sodas, etc. (Note that Cascade only accepts cash; no credit cards.)

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