I love going to the movies.

I also like watching a movie at home but there is something special about going out to see a movie in a theatre. The popcorn. The cozy darkness. The larger-than-life screen. Watching a movie in a theatre is one of the rare times in my week where I am totally focused on one thing, not multitasking.

We’ve been playing Wednesday night movies at the Paramount Theatre for $5 since June. We have a hunch that some of you are like me — you could watch just about any movie at any time at home on your TV or computer, but you want to go out and make a night of it. You want to show your kids and grandkids the classics on the big screen. You want a bag of popcorn all to yourself.

Check out the upcoming movie schedule at the Paramount and see if one of your favorite titles is there. Consider marking the calendar and making a point to go. We don’t even mind if you show up in your pajamas.

December rounds out with two holiday classic movies: “Home Alone” starring Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, a boy who is mistakenly left behind when his family flies to Paris for their Christmas vacation on Dec. 20; and “Die Hard,” with Bruce Willis as an off-duty police officer caught in a Los Angeles skyscraper during a heist, on Dec. 27.

We kick off the new year with “The Wizard of Oz” (1939), widely considered to be one of the greatest films in cinema history on Jan. 3. That’s followed by Orson Welles’ first feature film, “Citizen Kane” on Jan. 10; 1959’s “Ben-Hur,” an epic historical drama starring Charlton Heston on Jan. 12 and “A Clockwork Orange ,” a dystopian crime film by Stanley Kubrick,  on Jan. 24. The month closes with the movie that surely inspired Aaron Sorkin’s fast-talking television shows like the “West Wing.” The 1940s’ “His Girl Friday,” a comedy starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russel is the story of a newspaper editor who uses every trick in the book to keep his ace reporter ex-wife from remarrying. That film lights up the screen on Jan. 31.

February explores romance from many angles. We open with “Charade,” an early rom-com starring starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn, on Feb. 7. The iconic tragic romance “Casablanca,” starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman plays on Feb. 14 just in time for Valentine’s Day. If you love to laugh, check out the romantic quest for treasure as portrayed by a slapstick comedy troupe in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” on Feb. 21. Finally, swoon as heartthrob Harrison Ford, as Indiana Jones, swashbuckles his way through jungles and deserts in “Raiders of the Lost Ark” on Feb. 28.

Do you have a favorite flick you’d like to see on the big screen? Email suggestions to info@austinareaarts.org.

Coming soon at the Paramount Theatre

•Dec. 20: $5 movie, “Home Alone,” 7:30 p.m.

•Dec. 27: $5 movie, “Die Hard,” 7:30 p.m.

•Jan. 3: $5 movie, “The Wizard of Oz,” 7:30 p.m.

Coming soon at the ArtWorks Center

•Jan. 12: Gallery Opening: Julie Falkler and Ian Hanson, 5 p.m.

•Jan. 13: Family Open Studio: Special bench painting at the Paramount Annex, 1 p.m.

•Jan. 16: ArtRocks Jam Session, 7:30 p.m.

Find out more at www.austinareaarts.org