Live in Sydney? Love the movies? Between Friday, January 4 and Sunday, January 20 – you can watch movies outdoor for FREE.
Head to the Village Green (North), Darling Quarter 1-25 Harbour Street. It’s a 15-minute walk from Central depending on well-behaved the kids are. If they are little or need assistance, perhaps try the light rail.
Night Owls Kids’ Film Festival is an annual family-friendly summer event which started back in 2012. This year it will once again screen a program of free box office hits.
Face painting is also available. Picture: Supplied.
Each night from 6 pm, families can expect live entertainment, followed at 6.30pm by Australian and international short films. The festival is curated in collaboration with Little Big Shots, Australia’s longest-running children’s short film festival.
What should I see?
The first film session is designed for little kids. The later session is aimed at older teens. Here’s what’s on.
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Coco: The Disney and Pixar dream team bring us Coco, an aspiring young musician desperate to prove his talent enters the Land of the Dead and meets his great-great-grandfather, a legendary singer from a colourful realm.
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Early Man: Set at the dawn of time, this stop-motion animation tells the story Dug and his sidekick Hognob, as they unite their tribe against evil Lord Nooth so they can save their home.
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Ferdinand: The Oscar-nominated animated feature stars WWE legend John Cena, as a big-hearted bull who gets mistaken for a vicious beast he is torn from his family, leading to an epic adventure.
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Isle of Dogs: Wes Anderson’s epic pooch adventure set in a fantasy Japan, tells a heroic story of abandoned dogs, voiced by Bill Murray, Liev Schreiber and Jeff Goldblum.
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The Greatest Showman: Starring Oscar-nominated Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron, the original musical celebrates the birth of show businesses through the story of P.T Barnum – a true rags to riches story.
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Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie: The animated superhero comedy follows two overly imaginative pranksters who hypnotise their principal into thinking he’s a ridiculously enthusiastic, incredibly dim-witted superhero named Captain Underpants.
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A Dog’s Purpose: Hollywood favourite Dennis Quaid stars in a heart-warming story of a devoted dog who discovers his purpose in life by showing humans how to laugh and love over the course of several lifetimes and owners.
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Paddington 2: The sweet-natured sequel to Paddington, picks up with everyone’s favourite bear on the hunt for the perfect present for his Aunt Lucy’s 100th birthday, only for the gift to be stolen.
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Cars 3: In Disney Pixar’s epic third Cars instalment, Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) finds himself once again chasing the Piston Cup, and racing by a new generation of speed demons with bad attitudes.
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The Lego Ninjago Movie: The latest Lego action-packed adventure sees Master Wu (Jackie Chan) and Lloyd (Dave Franco) help save the day against the evil warlord Garmadon (Justin Theroux).
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Peter Rabbit: Starring Sam Neil, Margot Robbie and Rose Byrne this adaption from Beatrix Potter’s classic tale of the same name, follows a rebellious rabbit trying to sneak into a farmer’s vegetable garden.
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Sherlock Gnomes: Pintsize and plucky Gnomeo (James McAvoy) and Juliet (Emily Blunt) recruit the renowned detective, Sherlock Gnomes (Johnny Depp), to investigate a string of mysterious disappearances of gnomes across London.
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Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle: Starring the hilarious Jack Black and WWE’s Dwayne Johnson, four teenagers discover an old console and are sucked into a magical video game.
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Swallows and Amazons: This real-life drama follows four children (the Swallows) on holiday in the Lake District who sail on their own to an island and start a war with rival children (the Amazons).
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Wonder: Starring Oscar winner Julia Roberts alongside young Hollywood star Jacob Tremblay, Wonder is the incredibly inspiring and heart-warming story of a boy with facial differences, as he enters school for the first time.
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The Son of Bigfoot: This animated side splitter sees a teenage outsider eager to uncover the identity of his long-lost father, realises that it’s none other than the legendary Bigfoot.
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A Wrinkle in Time: Disney’s science fantasy adventure film starring Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling as three mysterious astral travellers who are sent to help Meg on an epic adventure and brave journey to save her family.
Not to exclude the bigger kids in the audience, classic films will be shown during special after-hours screenings from 8.30pm onwards every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. These include:
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Ready Player One: Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi set in 2045, based on the bestselling book of the same name, about a world on the brink of collapse and its people hooked to an expansive virtual reality called OASIS.
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Black Panther: Based on Marvel’s cult classic comic and one of the biggest films of the summer, Black Panther follows T’Challa who, after the death of his father, the King of Wakanda, returns home to take his rightful place as king.
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Ocean’s 8: Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock) gathers an all-female crew to attempt an impossible heist at New York City’s yearly Met Gala, starring alongside Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter and Rihanna.
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Pitch Perfect 3: Starring Rebel Wilson and Anna Kendrick, the now separated Bellas reunite for one last singing competition at an overseas USO tour, but face a group who uses both instruments and voices.
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The Maze Runner: The first instalment in The Maze Runner film series is a dystopian science fiction action thriller with Thomas (Dylan O’Brien), a teenager, at the centre of a giant labyrinth.
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Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Starring BAFTA Award-winning Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, Luke Skywalker prepares a young Jedi to battle the First Order.
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The Big Sick: This Oscar-nominated Indie-comedy follows a Pakistani comic who falls in love and must navigate a cross-cultural relationship, including a devastating mystery illness.
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Sweet Country: Warwick Thornton’s stunning period Western starring Sam Neill, Bryan Brown and Matt Day follows an Aboriginal stockman facing a town’s toxic racist underbelly after he kills a white station-owner in self-defence.
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Thor: Ragnorak: Marvel Studios third explosive installation of Thor starring Cate Blanchett follows Thor (Chris Hemsworth) as he escapes his captors and returns to save Asgard.
For more information go to Darling Quarter’s website.
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