One of the best things about summertime in Sydney is open air movies. There are free screenings at Olympic Park and Darling Harbour, and really really expensive ones at Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair. My favourite is at Centennial Park, because it’s beautiful, you can bring your own food and booze, and the tickets are still cheaper than your average suburban dump. That said, Ben & Jerry’s Openair at Bondi is pretty awesome too, and this year they have got a pretty interesting line up. Here are a few notables, though you can check out the full program here.

JANUARY:

Opening night is 25 January and they are playing my favourite film of 2012, Moonrise Kingdom. If you missed this at the cinema try and get along and catch it on the big screen – it’s a really wonderful movie. Wes Anderson, Bill Murray and kids… ’nuff said!

The next day is Australia Day, and none other than Mad Fucking Max is playing. If getting drunk and eating ice cream while watching Mad Fucking Max at Bondi Beach on Australia Day doesn’t make you just a touch proud of your passport, then I don’t think we can be friends.

Another great January flick is The Perks Of Being A Wallflower on the 29th. I don’t know what that title means either, but the movie still made my top ten for last year. It’s not the most polished film, but it’s honest and painful and real and I loved it. It didn’t get much of a run in cinemas so this is a good opportunity to catch up.

FEBRUARY:

Early Feb sees the great new Bond movie Skyfall which would make for an excellent Saturday night on the 2nd. Then on the 7th, Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master is showing, a movie I admired and respected… but honestly didn’t really enjoy.

Then on the 9th they’ve got The Hobbit, though the movie is so damn long that you might miss some of the climax due to the sun rising. I’d advise that you skip it and instead watch Raiders of the Lost Goddamn Ark the next day with me. ‘Cos it’s awesome.

On the 12th Point Break is screening, which is a sort-of-good movie. Personally, though, I don’t think I would want to watch it with the type of people who would go to Bondi Beach on a Tuesday night to watch Point Break. I expect they might be dickheads – but that’s just a hunch.

I am desperate to see what sort of madness Tom Twyker and Lana & Andy Wachowski have cooked up with Cloud Atlas, which is having a special preview on the 20th. Reports from the states indicate it’s a brilliant and baffling movie featuring intersecting related stories spanning from the ancient past to the distant future. I am totally in. (I’m not in for the Grease Sing-A-Long on the 24th, though. That sounds like a horrible nightmare… I got chills and they’re not the good kind.)

MARCH:

On Friday the 1st and Saturday the 2nd of March they are screening Django Unchained which is a perfect open air movie. I was lucky enough to catch a preview for this and I absolutely loved it. You will have a ball.

On the 3rd the closing night movie is The Impossible. I have heard some good things, though I have also heard it’s a movie about the Asian tsunami that doesn’t feature any Asian people and that it’s based on a true story about a Spanish family that for marketing reasons have been turned into Naomi Watts and Ewan Macgregor, who might be the two whitest people alive. Also, there is a reason the reason they don’t show plane crash movies as inflight entertainment and it’s the same reason you might not want to watch a tsunami movie on a beach… In my opinion.

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WHAT: Ben & Jerry’s Open Air Cinema – Bondi
WHEN: 25 January – 3 March, 2013
WHERE: Dolphin Lawn, overlooking Bondi Beach
HOW MUCH: Launch – $45, all other nights – from $13 ($17 at the gate)

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