WHAT better way to spend the month of May than by watching the stars under the stars.

That's the offer available for movie-goers when a whole host of picturesque venues in and around the county roll out the red carpet for the start of the open air cinema season.

There are six classic films to catch this coming month but of course the open air season runs right until September with one of the highlights being Colchester Castle Park's Summer Screen which, announced today, runs from July 3 to 16 showing free coverage of Wimbledon and five great feature films, including The Sound of Music and Rogue One.

May 5 Dirty Dancing (12), Abberton Reservoir, Layer de la Haye, 7pm. £12. spectrumevents.co.uk

NO one puts Baby in the corner - especially in wildlife reserve.

Have the time of your life, well the evening anyway, as you watch Patrick Swayze swivel his hips and Jennifer Grey fall in love with the crazy antics of a holiday camp dance troupe, all set to a blinding Sixties soundtrack.

May 19 Bridget Jones's Baby (15), Maldon Promenade, Park Drive, gates 7pm, live entertainment 8pm, film starts 9pm. £12 and £8. essexoutdoorcinema.com

THE latest smash hit from the Bridget Jones franchise sees everyone's favourite diarist (after Samuel Pepys of course) get herself in the family way.

But of course this is Bridget Jones, so in true epic fail mode, she has no idea who the father might be, either Colin Firth's Mark Darcy or Patrick Dempsey's Jack Qwant.

May 20 Bridesmaids (15), Maldon Promenade, Park Drive, gates 7pm, live entertainment 8pm, film starts 9pm. £12 and £8. essexoutdoorcinema.com

ALREADY a cult classic despite only been six years old, this film regularly tops the 'best chick flick that doesn't suck' category.

As well as being side-splittingly funny and pushing the raunch factor way past 11, it was nominated for Oscars and Golden Globes and was also notable as being Rebel Wilson's break out role.

May 28 Star Wars, The Force Awakens (12), RHS Hyde Hall, Creephedge Lane, Chelmsford, gates 7pm, live entertainment 8pm, film starts 9pm. £12 and £8. essexoutdoorcinema.com

THANK the Lord for J J Abrams for breathing new life into the Star Wars films. Taking what was so brilliant and magical about Lucas' first three movies but then adding the technological innovations that made the Prequels so visually stunning, he's once again made them the 'must-see' films of the year.

This showing will provide a gorgeous into taster to The Last Jedi, which is out this Christmas.

May 28 Top Gun (12) - Riverside Park, Millfields, Burnham, gates 7pm, live entertainment 8pm, film starts 9pm. £12 and £8. essexoutdoorcinema.com

I FEEL the need, the need for - a classic Eighties thrill ride, and that doesn't get better than flying an F-14 while flipping the bird to a pesky Ruskie Mig pilot.

And that's just the start, after which Maverick, Iceman, Hollywood and Jester (not their real names) take to the skies in a number of almost balletic set scenes which have set the standard for all fighter pilot films since.

May 27 Mamma Mia Sing A Long (PG), Braintree and Bocking Public Gardens, Bocking End, 8pm. £12. spectrumevents.co.uk

Yes, we all know Pierce Brosnan cannot sing, and the storyline is a bit thin on the ground, but any film that has an Abba song in it is by that very aspect automatically raised to half decent status.

This film has pretty much all of the Abba songs in it - and you can sing-a-long to them - nuff said!