Other than barhopping, going to the movies remains a favorite weekend activity for many.

Catching the newest box office blowout is always a pleasurable activity, but a lack of funds and transportation often hinder that possibility.

Free Friday Flicks, an institution funded by the Inter-Residence Hall Association, makes watching new movies a weekend possibility for those of us who can’t afford to indulge and go to the movie theater.

The group organizes and shows recent films at 6:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. every Friday night. Most films are shown shortly after they are released in major theaters, said Jeff Rudisill, senior in animal ecology and organizer for Free Friday Flicks.

“Probably all of our films but a couple are shown before the movie is out on DVD for sure, and a lot of times before the movie gets to the dollar theater,” Rudisill said.

Rudisill, fellow coordinator Jonathan Ceolla and organization president Ryan King, have been in charge of Free Friday Flicks for nearly five semesters.

“I don’t know how long [Free Friday Flicks] has been on campus. It’s been around since before I was a freshman,” said King, senior in computer engineering, “but this is our fifth semester doing it together and my sixth semester being in charge of it.”

According to King, the organization used to be poorly organized, but in recent years has exploded in popularity.

“When I took it over, the average showing had about 12 people come to it. Since we’ve taken it over it’s been going up and up, and last semester we did about 145 students average per show,” he said.

Ceolla, junior in hotel, restaurant and institution management, said the change in attendance was largely due to advertising and dedication to making things run smoothly.

More than a thousand flyers were hung first semester last year. With his friends’ help, Ceolla put table tents in the dining centers an d plastered the dorms with advertising.

The best turnout so far has been “Batman Begins.”

“For Batman we had about 285 people come to one showing. All the seats were full and people overflowed onto the steps and stood in the back – it was incredible.”

The films are shown in the Kocimski Auditorium in the College of Design, which King said is the best free auditorium on campus, which works out great because most auditoriums cost money to use.

The three men said they don’t mind occupying the better part of their Friday nights with Free Friday Flicks, either.

“It’s become a habit,” King said. “We get to watch the movie, too, so it’s not like it’s a tough way to spend the night. Besides, we usually play cards during the first showing and hang out with our friends, then we all watch the second showing together.”

Rudisill said the trio gets done at 11:30 p.m. at the latest, leaving them plenty of time to spend the rest of their Friday nights as they please.

He also said that his favorite movie shown so far this year was “The 40-Year-Old Virgin.”

“It was great. The best part was seeing everybody laugh together, because we had a huge turnout and they would always laugh in one huge uproar,” he said.

Free Friday Flicks shows during the same time that SUB Films, a separate student organization funded by GSB, shows their films. King said he doesn’t think the two organizations compete for viewers.

“SUB tends to show more artsy films and foreign films, whereas we try to show the biggest box office hits. I think we cater to pretty separate audiences, and I don’t like to think that we compete at all,” King said.

King said the organization receives a budget of $17,000 for the year, and most of the films they show cost between $600 and $800 to screen.

Part of the budget goes toward purchasing authentic posters for the films that will be shown, but Ceolla said there have been problems with poster theft.

“We were having a bunch of our posters swiped, so now we only put up one per week – usually promoting the specific film for the week,” he said. “And one time we had a guy offer us $50 bucks for a Willy Wonka poster.”

The trio has been dedicated to Free Friday Flicks for so long because they believe it is a great opportunity for students to do something fun and cheap.

“I think the biggest reason for [students] to come is that it’s a really good atmosphere for people to come with all their friends. It’s free and it’s fun; it’s a good alternative to start your evening off for people that don’t want to go to the bars or that don’t want to spend money,” Ceolla said.

Free Friday Flicks schedule for Spring 2006 semester

Films show at both 6:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.

February 3 Saw II

February 10 Waiting

February 17 Res-Hall Film Fest

February 24 Chicken Little

March 3 Chronicles of Narnia

March 24 Jarhead

March 31 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

April 14 RENT

April 21 Syriana

April 28 Fun with Dick and Jane