Moonlight Cinema Perth Season About To Start

The Somerville Auditorium has long been a summer institution in Perth, and in recent years multiple other outdoor movie venues have sprung up.

Somerville and its ‘twin’ northern outdoor site for the Lotterywest Perth International Arts Festival film season, Joondalup Pines, cover contemporary international arthouse fare. Luna-Palace’s Luna Outdoor in Leederville and Camelot in Mosman Park focus on current or recent indie/arthouse releases (mostly Anglo), some of which are allotted their own little season over a few days, while others are one-nighters.

For a mixed bag of the old and new, weighted towards the family-friendly, head for Bankwest Movies By Burswood, which has outdoor venues at Burswood, Bassendean and Curtin. All profits are donated to children’s charities. Each movie screens for one night only. Note: no BYO alcohol at these showings.

Then there is Moonlight Cinema, in Kings Park, which features an eclectic mix of one-night screenings, the program comprising current and older flicks. All tastes and age groups are catered for over the course of the season. Moonlight kicks off this Wednesday, 12 December, with a preview screening of Dustin Hoffman’s directorial debut, Quartet. Given the diverse range of movies on this year’s program, odds are there will be some you missed on release – here’s your chance to catch them on the big screen in an especially lovely setting ‘neath the stars.

All outdoor cinema sites have food and drink retail outlets, or you can continue the well-established DIY tradition of arriving early with a picnic hamper.

I’m not a picnic type, but I did give in with not too bad a grace last year when my partner suggested that for a change we join the happy tribes at Moonlight’s opening screening. So we got a few worthy nibbles together and assembled a modest spread on a blanket before the movie started. A coupla plastic “glasses” of half-decent shiraz into proceedings, and I had to admit it was all very tolerable. Garumph garumph. Can’t say the same for uncoiling after a couple of hours watching the movie on said blanket – this year, I’ll treat those creaking joints to an increased dose of glucosamine and fish oil a few days in advance, and pack an extra pillow.

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