Last night we headed over to Indian Boundary Park on the North Side to catch another one of the Chicago Park District's summer "Movies in the Park" showings. Over the years, we've experienced many of these free films, including Surf's Up, Kung Fu Panda, and The Bourne Ultimatum. This time around it was one of our favorites… Clue.

Eerie evening sky over "Clue"

We were joined by our friend Nick Rosario — as well as his sister Heather and her two daughters. We made some food and brought it with us to have a little picnic ahead of time, "poor man's Ravinia" style!

Amy & Steve

They brought out the oversized inflatable screen for this showing, which was great. We've been to a couple of Movies in the Park where they literally seemed to project on a small screen attached to the side of a building… with poor results.

Amy & Nick

Actually, this technically was our 2nd park movie of the season. Earlier in the summer, we saw part of Planet 51 at Sauganash Park. I say part because that animated trainwreck was so bad, we left early. I think the Park District must have gotten a great deal on their license for it, however, because it's been showing a lot this summer all over the city.

Heather and her girls

The online description of this showing of Clue noted the following: "Ever wonder if you'd be a good detective? Show your skills before the movie as we play a life-sized version of Clue." Having helped run a couple live versions of Clue in the past, I was curious how this would play out. Unfortunately, they didn't really do anything like this.

"Sorry kids, you are stuck with this version!"

Instead they broke out a brand new boardgame of Clue and invited kids to play on a nearby table. It wasn't even a good version of Clue. Sadly, it was the Clue: Discover the Secrets remake (a.k.a. Clue Reinvention) that Hasbro is shoving down the throats of retailers these days. I feel sorry for the mental abuse those kids must have suffered playing the game! :)

Really nice turnout

Fortunately, it was a beautiful evening, the movie started up, and we were enjoying an old favorite. There was quite a large crowd that turned out for the film. What's fun about watching Clue with an audience is the laughs and reactions to the comedy. From what we could hear, there must have been quite a few folks who had never seen the film. Good stuff!

"OK, who killed Mr. Boddy?"

About halfway through, however, the DVD they were using to project the movie kept freezing up. Eventually, the movie had to be stopped so the Park District crew could clean the disc. There were quite few cheers and then a big shouting match to help the operators select the right chapter to return to. It was pretty funny!

Get in line for free popcorn

You know, it's sad that a film like 1985's Clue has yet to receive a DVD Special Edition or even a soundtrack release. It's grown to be a cult classic and deserves so much more. Unfortunately, that means that Hollywood instead will be making a new version that probably has nothing to do with the boardgame.

Overall, it was a fun Chicago summertime evening with friends and a favorite film. Great times!