I love going to the cinema and I have a monthly Cineworld pass so I get to see tons of new releases on the big screen. However I also love the idea of an outdoor cinema but as I pay a monthly fee for Cineworld I've never seen the point of paying extra to go to a outdoor screening. I can be pretty cheap! But in the spirit of trying new things I decided to spend a little cash and enjoy the summer with a new experience. I checked online and saw the Luna cinema was coming quite close to me with a screening at Kew Gardens. On top of this they were showing the original Ghostbusters - a film I have never seen, but really want to. It seemed like a great opportunity to watch a great film for the first time on a big screen and for me to finally experience an outdoor screening. I was still slightly hesitant as it cost £19 a ticket (exorbitant!) but you could upgrade and pay for an actual seat for the bargain price of £30. Safe to say I went for the cheaper option. I couldn't justify £60 for me and Stuart to watch a film that I can probably watch on Netflix.
The week in the lead up to the screening had been beautiful. Perfect sunshine, cool breezy evenings and most importantly dry. Finally the day arrived and brought with it torrential rain. I sat in my office watching the sky fall down wondering if they would cancel and refund everyone. When you book it says bad weather won't stop the event but I was hoping they'd renege on that as the rain seemed never ending. Finally, as I left work at 5pm the sky cleared and the sun came out. With no rain to put us off we headed to Kew Gardens.
As we joined the queue of people, most of them with camping chairs, blankets and proper middle class picnic baskets (you know, the wicker ones with chequered linings) I was starting to feel my reduced M&S snacks and roll of bin liners (for sitting on) weren't quite in fitting with the event.
I think another thing to mention about how this evening would turn out is something small but telling. Apparently at all Luna cinema screenings you are greeted with a nice warm cookie on arrival. When we got there they couldn't even be bothered to warm them up, we were just given a crumbling cold cookie encased in plastic. Yum.
Still, we found a space at the front (those without chairs can get closer to the screen) laid out our bin liners and openend up our picnic. We had arrived pretty early as we though we may be allowed to wander through Kew Gardens for an hour before the film started. However there were staff at every path and corner making sure you only stayed in the green in front of the screen. With time to kill we took some selfies and entered an Instagram competition to watch the film from a comfy bed with a mini bar (we didn't win) and quickly demolished the picnic.
It seems my M&S selection wasn't quite enough for Stuart and he decided to check out the food on offer at the venue. They had burgers, pizzas and a bar. However as lovely as the pizza was, it doesn't seem like they hadn't catered for a big event before and were shocked by the queues. Thirty minutes after ordering the pizza was finally ready. It would have been quicker to order on Hungry House!
Finally the sun started to set and the film could begin. Just before that happened though, the most annoying family in the world arrived and promptly plonked themselves straight in front of us. No big deal at first. The parents and the youngest kid all laid out their blankets, pillows AND duvet and settled down. The teenager in the group however was too good for that and had to sit on a fucking chair. I mean come on! This was now our view. I mean what an utter knob.
To top it all off before they even started the film we had to watch 30 minutes of adverts. I hate the adverts in all cinemas, trailers yes, adverts no. But at least at the cinema your bum isn't going numb before they even start the film or you know if you get in 15 minutes late you'll probably have missed them.
Overall this is not something I would do again. It was expensive and uncomfortable. Perhaps if you go with a group of friends, one of whom is organised and brings all the blankets and pillows with them, and have a few drinks it would have been fun, but otherwise it is just overrated. All I could think throughout the film was 'I bet this would be good if I was snuggled up on my sofa watching it at home on Netflix!' Oh well, you can't win them all
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