The Ten Best Retro Film Programs in Melbourne

Tired of grimdark superhero movies and so-called comedies starring a dead-eyed Adam Sandler? We all love a good movie, but sometimes the good ones can be hard to find – especially if you're relying on the latest Hollywood blockbuster at your local multiplex.

Luckily for Melbourne movie lovers, this city is full of awesome venues that are committed not just to recent releases but the very best retro films as well. From the freshly resurrected Astor Theatre to brand new spaces like The Lido and Grey Gardens, and ever popular outdoor options like Rooftop Cinema and Shadow Electric, here are our ten favourite locations for enjoying vintage flicks on the big screen. And may heaven help you if you start texting in a single one of these hallowed halls.

THE ASTOR THEATRE

The crown jewel of Melbourne cinephelia, there's nowhere quite like The Astor. After years of closure scares, Palace Cinemas have taken over management; breathing new life into the art deco picture palace while retaining all the features — the double bills, the atmosphere and the beloved choc-ice ice creams — that make the theatre so unique. The carefully curated two-in-one sessions range from Hollywood classics to little-seen cult curios plus a smattering of recent releases — and rumour is they've got an all-night movie marathon planned for later this year. If nothing else, you have to pay a visit to meet Duke, the newly adopted Astor cat.

ACMI

Amid the bustle of Federation Square lies a cinematic oasis. The Australian Centre for the Moving Image is your premiere destination for hard-to-find gems, with retrospective seasons often programmed around a particular director, actor or theme. If it's not showing in one of their two cinemas, try searching for it in the Australian Mediatheque archives. A visit to the gallery spaces downstairs is always a treat (the current David Bowie exhibition is a must). ACMI is also home to the Melbourne Cinematheque, a weekly members-only film club dedicated to screening rare and significant films in their original format.

CINEMA NOVA

If you're looking for the best of foreign and independent cinema, you needn't go any further than Carlton's Cinema Nova. Their commitment to screening titles that the major chains won't has long made them a favourite with Melbourne's film loving community (as has their ridiculously cheap Monday ticket prices). The management have dabbled with retro and cult fare over the years, and have recently begun programming a selection of older films under their Nova Iconic banner. Nova is also Melbourne's home of Tommy Wiseau's disasterpiece The Room, aka the best worst movie ever made.

KINO

Tucked away in Collins Place, Kino's comfy seats and well-stocked wine and espresso bar make it the perfect setting for a weekend matinee. Screening 3pm every Sunday, the Vintage Classic's program offers a welcome respite from the barrage of mindless blockbusters, with iconic titles such as Citizen Kane, Breakfast at Tiffany's and Blade Runner reminding us just how good movies can be. As a plus, entry is only $10 (or $8 for members), making this one of the best value tickets in town.

THE LIDO

The newly opened Lido on Glenferrie Road in Hawthorn is fast making a name for itself as a must-visit movie destination. The decor (a mix of art deco and uber-modern), the food and drink options (dumplings, cheese platters, local wines, plus a Huxtaburger downstairs) and the diverse range of programming (blockbusters, foreign films and exclusive indie releases) are all big ticks in their favour, but it's the retro lineup that really has us salivating. Every Saturday at midday, a different Hollywood classic whirs through the projector, with a repeat showing the following Wednesday morning. Friday nights, meanwhile, are reserved for the creepiest horror films imaginable, courtesy of the gorehounds at Monsters Pictures.

ROOFTOP CINEMA

Come the summer weather, there are few things more relaxing than getting together with a few friends and catching a movie under the stars. Melbourne has no shortage of outdoor cinemas where you can while away your evenings, but none are more beloved than the one atop Curtin House, smack bang in the centre of the CBD. Grab a drink from the bar and a snack from one of the food vendors, then stretch out in a deckchair and let the movie play.

BEN & JERRY'S OPENAIR CINEMA

Nothing says summer like a trip to the beach — but why just go swimming when you can catch a movie as well? This pop-up cinema in St Kilda is a regular haunt of ours — especially on Sunday, when they hand out free Ben & Jerry's ice cream by the scoop. Get there in the afternoon to reserve a spot close to the stage, where they've got bands and DJs blasting out music until the sun dips below the horizon. Once it's dark, the inflatable screen flickers to life with a great lineup of movies both new and old. The sound of waves adds a little extra ambiance (and it doesn't get much better than watching Jaws mere metres from the sea).

SHADOW ELECTRIC

Located in the grounds of the Abbotsford Convent, Shadow Electric is a bandroom, bar and outdoor summer cinema all rolled into one. Grab yourself a meal from the champions at Lentil as Anything, and then work it off with a few rounds of table tennis. As for the movies themselves, we tend to have the most fun when they play something really off the beaten track (we won't be forgetting '70s sleaze-fest Massage Parlour Murders for a long, long time.) For the less adventurous, they tend to stock up on plenty of '80s and '90s nostalgia, from The Big Lebowski to Stop Making Sense.

SPEAKEASY CINEMA

After spending the last few years popping up here and there, this lovely little boutique film club appears to have finally found a permanent home within the walls of Grey Gardens, Fitzroy's newest, coolest gallery, performance space, screening room and cafe. The programming here is wonderfully esoteric, with recent highlights including a screening of Thai existential masterpiece Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives with a live score by 30/70, and a retrospective of seven short films from Czech animators Lubomír Beneš and Vladimír Jiránek.

Image credit: Tom Ross.

SCREEN SECT

Held every Monday in the band room above Bar Open, this Brunswick Street movie club is the refuge of Melbourne's most dedicated film nerds. A new program is announced each month curated around a specific theme (last May, for example, the focus was prison films). Honestly, the screening space leaves a bit to be desired, but the movies themselves are invariably terrific — as are the impassioned (occasionally drunken) post-film conversations in the beer garden out the back.