Mayfaire releases free kids movie schedule ‎

Another sure sign of summer is the return of the free kids' matinees, beginning June 15 at the Mayfaire 16 theaters. The complex – part of the Regal Entertainment Group – will have two free screenings each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning through Aug. 12.

Viewers will have their choice of a “G” or “PG”-rated feature, with new offerings each week. The screenings will be revivals of child-friendly releases and pop hits from the past few years. Admission is free. (The catch is, the snack bar will be open; obviously, management expects to make a profit off sales of treats, including Mayfaire's “Kid's Reel Deal” specials.) Doors open at 9 a.m., and the screenings begin at 10. Seating will be first come, first served.

Here's the line-up, according to Mayfaire:

• June 15-17: Either “Doogal” (G) or “Planet 51” (PG). “Doogal,” a 2006 animated yarn about a candy-loving dog who saves the world, features the biggest film performance to date by Jon Stewart of “The Daily Show.” (He's the voice of the bad guy.) “Planet 51,” from last fall, follows an astronaut who lands on a planet of little green folk who live a suburban lifestyle. Suddenly, HE's the scary space alien.

June 22-24: “Veggie Tales: The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything” (G) or “Imagine That” with Eddie Murphy (PG).

June 29-July 1: “March of the Penguins” (G) or “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” (PG). (Note: “March of the Penguins” is one of the greatest nature documentaries ever filmed, but be warned: It might be rated “G,” but not all the baby penguins live, and the results might upset younger children.)uly 6-8: “Kit Kittredge: An American Girl” (G) or “Hotel for Dogs” (PG).

July 13-15: “Arctic Tale” (G) or “Monsters vs. Aliens” (PG).

July 20-22: “Tale of Despereaux” (G) or “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel”

July 27-29: “Charlotte's Web” (G) or “Night at the Museum 2”

Aug. 3-5: “Wallace & Gromit and the Curse of the Were-Rabbit” (G) or “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs”

Aug. 10-12: “The Polar Express” or “Ice Age 3: “Dawn of the Dinosaurs”

Any questions? Call the Mayfaire office at 256-1857.
Soon at Cinematique

When I did my piece last week on the reopening of Cinematique at Thalian Hall, I ran out of space to mention a couple of their coming attractions.

July should be a very good month for Cinematique. For July 12-14, its feature will be “Greenberg,” the new indie comedy from director Noah Baumbach (“The Squid and the Whale”), starring Ben Stiller as an angry, dysfunctional ex-musician who winds up house-sitting for his brother in L.A. Greta Gerwig – whom A.O. Scott of The New York Times called “the definitive screen actress of her generation” – co-stars.

Then, on July 19-21, Cinematique will screen the Swedish screen adaptation of Stieg Larsson‘s international best seller “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.” (The Americanized version, from director David Fincher, isn't due out until 2012.) A Swedish journalist teams with a tattooed computer hacker to try to solve a young girl's disappearance. The case leads them to a powerful but secretive family and a string of ghastly murders 40 years earlier.As if that weren't enough, the month winds up July 26-28 with “The Secret in Their Eyes,” the Argentine crime thriller than won this year's Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.

Cinematique is back on its Monday-through-Wednesday schedule, with screenings at 7 p.m. in the Thalian Hall main stage at 310 Chestnut St. Tickets are still $7.