About 20 people huddled outside Maude’s Classic Cafe watching “Casablanca” on a large screen projector at 9 p.m. Tuesday. Cloth napkins were draped over the streetlights to set the mood.
The coffee shop’s new event, Maude’s Movie Tuesdays, involves screening films on the restaurant patio at 8:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. at no charge for the rest of the month.
The showings have been in full swing since July with movies like “Finding Nemo,” “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “Iron Man.”
The event’s founder, 43-year-old Stephen Tierney, started it due to his own love for movies.
“I love movies and I put on a lot of events in town,” he said.
When Tierney is not showing movies at Maude’s, he DJs at The Atlantic Nightspot, where he has worked for 15 years.
He bought the projector set inexpensively from the UF Surplus Facebook page and later bought and repaired a broken screen from The Harn Museum of Art.
“I’ve just always been a big fan of movies in general,” he said.
On rare occasion, you’ll catch Tierney on a night when he brings his PlayStation instead of a movie.
He said he wants to do an anti-game day where he plays video game clips from YouTube.
Tierney also takes requests for what movies to play from the event’s Facebook page.
“Sometimes, if enough people want to see a movie, I’ll come out another night and play it,” he said.
Tierney said he is excited for October’s movie nights, where he hopes to show scary movies and potentially the Harry Potter series.
Although Maude’s pays him for how many people show up, Tierney gives back to the Gainesville community by organizing this event.
He said he thinks it’s just a great way to get together.
Devin Moore, a UF accounting freshman, was searching to find community when he stumbled upon Maude’s.
“I went exploring my first week here and I found downtown and I found this place,” said 18-year-old Moore.
Moore attends events at Maude’s, such as Movie Tuesdays, to meet people with similar interests.
Maude’s hosts a showing of “Casablanca” at 8:30 p.m. followed by “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Art” at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday.
