I know that there are still a few drive-in's around, but all the ones I know about just play the popular box office pirates of the lord of the harry potters and stuff like that. Does anybody know of any drive-in's that actually play decent stuff... preferably stuff that existed when drive-in's were somewhat common???

I only know of one drive-in that ever shows older stuff. Every Labor Day weekend, the Highway 18 Drive-In in Jefferson, WI (about halfway between Madison and Milwaukee on, uh, Highway 18) has a dusk-to-dawn show. The first three movies are usually whatever leftover fare from the end of the summer that the guy who runs it has on hand, but from movie #4 on, he digs into his personal collection of old films, most of which are from the 70s. He's been doing this for a few years, and usually gets a pretty packed house (which usually dwindles down to a handful of diehards who're determined to stick it out until the morning). He's shown some pretty fab stuff - I remember getting the willies scared out of me by ALIEN, which is a lot scarier when you're sitting in a misty field at 3AM than it is when you're in your living room. The absolute best was when he showed THE WARRIORS; he timed it *just right* so that the end of the movie - in which the titular gang makes it to Coney Island just as the sun is coming up - coincided with the sunrise. He's broken out the video projector once or twice in the past, though, so beware.

I saw Hannibal at a drive in as well. Can't remember what it was called but it was in Memphis. It was a double feature with the abysmal 3000 Miles to Graceland which was ironic because I think we were about 3 miles from graceland.

One of my first drive-in memories was seeing Little Big Man when I was just a little little kid. We'd get some junk food, they had a little swing set or something for us kiddies, then maybe a cartoon, then it was "go to sleep!" in the back seat while my parents tried to watch the movie they came for. Later it became a place to get drunk under the stars on an off night when nothing else was going on. $4 a car ment 8 in the car and maybe a couple more in the trunk. Budget motel for many people too. Miss them. Closest one I know of is about 50 miles away from me, The Mission Drive-In, now dubbed the Mission Tiki Drive-In. They have to show what the public wants to stay in business, but they often have special events. They have another 'Tiki Invasion' scheduled in May. Last one was lots of fun. They have regular releases on two other screens and bands and B-Movie flics on another. Check out the link. http://www.tikiinvasion.com/

I went to a drive-in a few years ago in San Luis Obispo, CA that was built between 2 cemeteries. The movie playing that night was "Hannibal". Ha!

Atlanta GA has a drive-in called the Starlight Six... mostly they play the current hogwash, but, when I lived in that part of the country they did a "Mondo Movie" night the last Fridays of every month - where they played a B-Movie triple feature.. good stuff too.. saw Spiderbaby for the first time there... This was 4 years ago - don't know if they still do that.. however, on Labor Day weekend every year (around Sept 3rd or so for non USers) they do the Drive-Invasion... 2 days of bands, hot rods, BBQ, and B-Movies.. people freakin camp there for the whole weekend... I recommend checking it out if yr in that part of the world end of summer. http://www.starlightdrivein.com/

Yes, the Twin Drive-in is in Independence, MO! I'm planning a cross state bicycle trip this summer that will culminate in an evening at this theatre. Some pics at this site: http://www.cinematour.com/tour/us/1049.html There are no drive-ins left in St. Louis (I believe the last to close was the North Twin around 1997) but there is one in the metro area over the river in Belleville, IL. I saw Grindhouse there over the summer after stopping in lovely East St. Louis for Vess Cola, Whiskey, and Rapsnacks. There are a handful of drive-ins within 90 minutes of St. Louis. My first drive-in experience was when my Mom took me to see Return of the Living Dead at the 66 Park-in on old Route 66 in St. Louis County. I don't know what she was thinking. We got there when the punk girl was stripping in the graveyard, followed by copious amounts of braineating. I was ten. Now it's a Best Buy parking lot. You just have to wait for the tolerable mainstream movies to play. I think recent big movies like Grindhouse, 30 days of Night, I Am Legend, or Cloverfield lend themselves quite well to the drive-in experience. I saw the Simpsons Movie at the HWY19 Drive-in in Cuba, MO. Here's a list of active drive-ins in the U.S., Canada, and, uh, India: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_active_drive-in_theaters And here's a list for you Aussies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_active_drive-in_theaters

I don't know any drive-ins that just play old crap; i'd LIKE it, but i don't imagine it's commercially viable. Still, that's almost not in the spirit of the problem -- if you are under the impression that, somehow, drive-in theaters used to be bastions of cool once upon a time -- and not commercial establishments that, like today, would just do whatever it takes to make a buck -- you are living under a rose-colored sun of nostalgia-inflicted brain damage. But, yeah, that said, i DID see "Dawn Of The Dead" at a makeshift outdoor theater a few years ago, and it was AWESOME. But, that said, the nostalgia of, say, corded drive-in speakers is about on par with the nostalgia of, say, corded home telephones...i.e., not particularly appealing at all.

There is one outdoor theater about 20 miles out of town from where i live, and another perhaps 45 minutes away. I go to the closer one all the time in the summertime. Why the hell not, i got a sunroof.

The coolest outdoor theater i've ever seen was on the outskirts of Kansas City. It was called "The Twin," or something similar. It looked like it was straight out of Bedrock.

I used to go to drive-ins right at the very end of the original wave, in the early 80's. The movies were godawful, they were usually porn movies with the explicit parts cut out ((i.e., anything after boobs)). As such, they mostly drew high school kids and miscellaneous scumbags, who always seemed to want to fight at the concession stand, and every other god damn thing. That was cool in a way ((yes, i used to sneak in in the trunk)), but, honestly, my suggestion is that you just get a bunch of beer, drink it, and learn to appreciate Harry Potter on some level -- even if it's just the level of "it's nice out and i'm sitting in my car getting drunk and there's some lame movie playing." The movies that people nostalgically consider "drive-in movies" were, almost without exception, so mortifyingly lame as to beggar description. Take what is there and make it yours. Thank you and good day.

There's only a couple of Drive-In's left in Melbourne and they only show what's on at the Multiplex, no HGL or Roger Corman, nothing that would get Joe Bob Briggs fired up.
The Coburg Drive-In is not far from Stately Yates Manor.
When I owned a car we used to go on hot nites, eat pizza, drink beer and fool around