Classic Film Venues in London
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GaryC
- Joined: Fri Mar 28, 2008 7:56 pm
- Location: Aldershot, Hampshire, UK
Re: Classic Film Venues in London
Last year, the ICA took a leaf out of the BFI Southbank's book and had its own Film on Film season, Sunday matinee showings of films on 35mm prints from their own archive. That was how I was finally able to see Haskell Wexler's Latino, having wanted to since it first came out, as I was and still am a major fan of his earlier and more famous feature as director, Medium Cool.
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rrenault
- Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2010 7:49 pm
Re: Classic Film Venues in London
I've encountered people who say that while NYC and Paris have better rep scenes overall they consider the Prince Charles Cinema their favorite standalone rep venue.
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MichaelB
- Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 10:20 pm
- Location: Worthing
- Contact:
Re: Classic Film Venues in London
For me, nothing will ever beat the Scala.
It was the perfect combination of a huge screen, wild programming (they'd think nothing of showing a Tarkovsky double bill, a Chang Cheh/Tsui Hark one and a golden-era Hollywood triple across three consecutive days) and the most amazing audiences, who knew when to shut up when it mattered—hand on heart, I went to dozens, possibly even hundreds of Scala screenings from 1983-93, and I can't recall a single time when someone in the audience ruined the experience—but who also knew when full-throated cheering and applause was absolutely the right response to a whole host of things like the evil water ninjas in Five Element Ninjas being defeated by our heroes forming an upside-down human pyramid, skating across the water on the bottom one's toes, spearing ninjas left and right (I mean, you pretty much have to applaud that!), or the scene in Django where the priest is dragged out of his church and forced to eat his own freshly-severed ear, you name it.
Even the absolutely dog-eared prints and terrible sound were part of the overall experience, although Thundercrack was a bit of a revelation when I finally got to see it outside the Scala courtesy of the long-gestating Synapse BD. At the Scala, the dialogue tended to be along the lines of "mmmghtht bthtgththt pthtgthth" even when the characters didn't have their mouths full. Although one of my fondest filmgoing memories ever was seeing at triple bill of that, Glen or Glenda and Doris Wishman's jaw-dropping sex-change "documentary" Let Me Die A Woman in the same £2.50 triple bill. I'd have been about sixteen, and experiences like that at such a sensitive formative stage pretty much shape you for life.
It was the perfect combination of a huge screen, wild programming (they'd think nothing of showing a Tarkovsky double bill, a Chang Cheh/Tsui Hark one and a golden-era Hollywood triple across three consecutive days) and the most amazing audiences, who knew when to shut up when it mattered—hand on heart, I went to dozens, possibly even hundreds of Scala screenings from 1983-93, and I can't recall a single time when someone in the audience ruined the experience—but who also knew when full-throated cheering and applause was absolutely the right response to a whole host of things like the evil water ninjas in Five Element Ninjas being defeated by our heroes forming an upside-down human pyramid, skating across the water on the bottom one's toes, spearing ninjas left and right (I mean, you pretty much have to applaud that!), or the scene in Django where the priest is dragged out of his church and forced to eat his own freshly-severed ear, you name it.
Even the absolutely dog-eared prints and terrible sound were part of the overall experience, although Thundercrack was a bit of a revelation when I finally got to see it outside the Scala courtesy of the long-gestating Synapse BD. At the Scala, the dialogue tended to be along the lines of "mmmghtht bthtgththt pthtgthth" even when the characters didn't have their mouths full. Although one of my fondest filmgoing memories ever was seeing at triple bill of that, Glen or Glenda and Doris Wishman's jaw-dropping sex-change "documentary" Let Me Die A Woman in the same £2.50 triple bill. I'd have been about sixteen, and experiences like that at such a sensitive formative stage pretty much shape you for life.
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thirtyframesasecond
- Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2007 5:48 pm
Re: Classic Film Venues in London
I used to go to the ICA a lot back in the day (when I was in my twenties and single) - it wasn't that long ago, but it seemed like it was very easy to go and see something interesting whenever you wanted.
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The Curious Sofa
- Joined: Fri Sep 13, 2019 10:18 am
Re: Classic Film Venues in London
Before its conversion in the mid-1990s and subsequent demolition, the Odeon Marble Arch had the biggest screen in London and was my favourite venue for big Hollywood films.
The Curzon Mayfair's mid-century modern design had my favourite interior of any London cinema.
The Curzon Mayfair's mid-century modern design had my favourite interior of any London cinema.
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MichaelB
- Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 10:20 pm
- Location: Worthing
- Contact:
Classic Film Venues in London
The old Odeon Marble Arch reputedly had the biggest non-IMAX screen in Europe.
And the great thing about its location was that because it was a bit out of the way, at the far end of Oxford Street, it was more likely to do things like host 70mm revivals of Lawrence of Arabia and Spartacus, both of which I saw there.
In fact, I also remember an early-1990s 70mm season which included things like The Right Stuff.
And the great thing about its location was that because it was a bit out of the way, at the far end of Oxford Street, it was more likely to do things like host 70mm revivals of Lawrence of Arabia and Spartacus, both of which I saw there.
In fact, I also remember an early-1990s 70mm season which included things like The Right Stuff.