Are you thinking about going on holiday next January? Like the idea of combining movie watching with adventure on the high seas? Got a few grand to spare? Why not don your sailors cap and hop on board HMAS Stratton!

Veteran print and TV film critic David Stratton, whose silver hair and scholastic demeanour have long been synonymous with Australian film culture, will slip on his board shorts and loafers next year to launch the sea-cinema: a two week ‘film festival at sea’ held on a five star mid-sized cruise ship. Take a squiz at a screenshot from the PDF:

The ship, ‘The Volendam’, departs Sydney Harbor on January 17 and returns January 31. The cruise includes stop-offs at various locations in New Zealand — among them Wellington, Napier, Tauranga and Auckland — and a visit to the ‘Hobbiton Movie Set’ for Peter Jackson’s upcoming The Hobbit adaptations.

It’s a sweet gig for Stratton, who will introduce each film and work the room at cocktail parties. If he’s single, he’ll be hot property for the ladies. And the cost for attending his ‘festival at sea’?

The cheapest cabin for a couple is in the Lower Promenade for $3840 ($4160 for a single) and the prices go up to $6474 for an “ocean view with balcony” room ($11,010 for a single). The itinerary includes 12 films, all introduced by Captain Stratton. I contacted travel company Travelrite International enquiring about what titles will feature on the line-up but Stratton is keeping mum. “David was hoping to keep the films under wraps,” they said.

So, in absence of the official program, here are my 12 suggestions for films suitable to watch on a cruise ship:

  • The Poseidon Adventure
  • The Perfect Storm
  • Under Siege
  • The Reef
  • Jaws
  • Piranha
  • Titanic
  • Hard Rain
  • Open Water
  • A Night to Remember
  • Lifeboat
  • Speed 2