Cinemas across Savannah may be opening up again, but not everyone is quite ready to sit in a crowded movie theater.
For those who want to get out of the house and watch a movie somewhere other than from their living room couch, The Alida in the Plant Riverside District is hosting a monthly film series in their rooftop bar.
Every fourth Thursday of the month, The Lost Square Cinema Club will screen a classic film for patrons who just want to watch an old favorite while sipping on signature cocktails, and taking in the marvelous view of the Savannah River.
Alida’s Food and Beverage General Manager, Arthur Sertorio, has been trying to get the film series running since last January, but the pandemic slowed things down.
The original intention was to partner with a local film screening company that had an exclusive arrangement to present first-run films by A24. Unfortunately, that those plans did not pan out, but Sertorio has since partnered with Swank films to screen an exciting variety of popular classics.
“We have a really wide selection of movies we can pick from,” said Sertorio. “We asked ourselves, ‘What are the movies people are coming for, and that could go with the brand and the menu?’.”
The Lost Square Cinema Club debuted on May 27 with a screening of 10 Things I Hate About You.
“We had about ten or fifteen that showed up,” said Sertorio. “We’re hoping that it will pick up a little more over the next two months. The goal, for us, is to see how it goes this summer, and if it works well and people are receptive of it, we would like to keep going through the whole year.”
One of the biggest draws of the monthly screening is a selection of custom cocktails based on the films.
The spring selection of cocktails is based on the Lindsey Lohan comedy, Mean Girls. The menu features hilarious and delicious cocktails that reference the film like “On Wednesdays We Wear Pink,” which is a mix of coffee gin, dry rose, raspberry, and lemon, the “Glen Coco” with Don Q Cristal rum and Clement coconut liqueur, and “Your Mom’s Chest Hair” for bourbon drinkers.
“We had a lot of fun coming up with names matching some references from the movie, but the cocktails are very spring and summer forward,” said Sertorio.
Cocktails include complimentary popcorn made by Alida’s chef. Light summer fare and concession styles snacks are also available for purchase.
“We thought that was a good way to recreate the atmosphere you could get in a cinema and make it a little more fun for people enjoying the movie,” said Sertorio.
No ticket purchase or membership is required to watch the films.
“That was important for us,” said Sertorio. “The goal is for people to plan a night and be like, ‘even if I’m not planning to watch an hour and a half movie, I do want to have a cocktail that night because it’s my favorite movie.’ That is why we wanted to do it on the rooftop, so people have that chance to get up, get a cocktail, come back down, join friends later on, and things like that.”
The next monthly screenings are "Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World" on June 24 and "Pulp Fiction" on July 22.
Here’s hoping that The Lost Square offers a cocktail to accompany Pulp Fiction called “Bring Out The Gimlet.”
IF YOU GO
What: The Lost Square Cinema Club presents Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
When: 8 p.m. June 24
Where: The Lost Square, The Alida, 412 Williamson Street
Cost: Free
Info: thelostsquare.com
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: The Alida Hotel introduces monthly rooftop film series, “The Lost Square Cinema Club”
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