There are few things that make me happier doing this job than giving out free passes to movies for people.   On a personal level, the whole reason I ever started writing about films, way before I even thought about getting paid for it, was simply to share my love of films with people, and there's no better way to do that than to actually show the film to people.

In the case of "Animal Kingdom," Sony Pictures Classics obviously shares my feelings, and they're doing something about it if you're in New York City this Thursday night.

All you have to do is go to the AMC 34th St. at 7:00 PM this Thursday, July 29th.  Seating is first come first serve and completely free.

So what exactly is "Animal Kingdom"?  Well, the film opens August 13, and it's based on real stories about the criminal underworld in Melbourne.

Here's the summary we've been running here on the site:

"Armed robber Pope Cody (Ben Mendelsohn) is in hiding, on the run from a gang of renegade detectives who want him dead. His business partner and best friend, Barry 'Baz' Brown (Joel Edgerton), wants out of the game, recognizing that their days of old-school banditry are all but over. Pope's younger brother, the speed-addicted and volatile Craig Cody (Sullivan Stapleton), is making a fortune in the illicit substances trade - the true cash cow of the modern criminal fraternity - while the youngest Cody brother, Darren (Luke Ford), naively navigates his way through this criminal world - the only world his family has ever known.

And into this world arrives their nephew, Joshua 'J' Cody (James Frecheville).

Following the death of his mother, J finds himself living with his estranged family, under the watchful eye of his doting grandmother, Smurf (Jacki Weaver), mother to the Cody boys.

J quickly comes to believe that he is a player in this world. But, as he soon discovers, this world is far larger and more menacing than he could ever imagine.

When tensions between family and police reach a bloody peak, J finds himself at the center of a cold-blooded revenge plot that turns the family upside down, and which also threatens to ensnare innocent bystanders such as his girlfriend, Nicky (Laura Wheelwright).

One senior cop, Nathan Leckie (Guy Pearce), must lure J into the police fold and then shepherd him through a complex minefield of witness protection, corrupt cops, slippery lawyers and a paranoid and vengeful underworld.

J comes to realize that in order to survive he must determine how the game is played - he must somehow choose his place in this cunning and brutal animal kingdom. He must work out where he fits."

I've managed to miss the film at two different festivals now, so I'm really looking forward to finally seeing the film soon.  Everyone I talked to at Sundance and the LAFF seemed to really like the movie once they'd seen it, and it's been very high on my most-anticipated list all year long.

I hope you manage to make it in if you head down to the theater, and I encourage you to go a few minutes early if you can, since it is a free screening.

And hopefully we can make a habit of this.

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You can e-mail me at drew@hitfix.com or follow me on Twitter, where I'm DrewAtHitFix.