Hi Mark,



Great idea about the collation of independent cinemas. Can I just remind you about QFT in Belfast which you didn't mention there, it's absolutely wonderful.

https://www.queensfilmtheatre.com/

Hello,

I have to mention Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle (Upon Tyne). It is simply great. The staff look after you, make you feel welcome...and the seats are really comfy.

Hey - pop down to the Greenwich Picture House. It's only 15 minutes from the south bank and offers comfy chairs with plenty of leg room, top film selection, AND you can take a drink from the bar into the movie with you.



The best cinema I've ever been to was in a squatted former E. German department store in Berlin. Above the artists studios was a big room with enormous red leather sofas and arm-chairs (all matching) scattered around it. We bought 25cl bottles of cava from the bar and watched Sexy Beast - in English. When it finished we wandered upstairs to the chillout bar, from which they projected surfing movies onto the walls of adjacent buildings.



Now that's the kind of cinema we need more of!



And I must just draw your attention to the Woolton Picture House in Liverpool. I used to sit on the steps, over-awed by the posters for Russ Mayer movies, as I walked home from junior school in the early seventies.



It nearly had to close a couple of years back, and could do with all the help it can get to stand as a bulwark of good-old-days independent cinema in an age of multiplex homogeneity.

Morning.



My Suggestion for a Great Small picture house Is Screen on D'olier street in Dublin. It's owned by a chain but is very independent in relation to the content shown. It was the only cineman in Dublin showing Flame&Citron.

The Royal, Leamington Spa. Going to have my chance to see 'Let the Right One In' there next week.

Im with "antimode" Angels and Demons is a lot better than Dr Kermode is crediting it with. Yes the plot is silly, Ayelet Zurer is woefully underused, and if you cant spot how the film will end after 5mins then theres no hope for you. But its alot of fun, often comedic (though perhaps unintentionally) its a good adaption of a not very good book, but as a film it works quite well. Now Star Trek has many of the same flaws, and several more besides, and if your moaning about the way a film has been lit, can anyone say "lens flare"!!!! So why is it felt to be vastly superior ? is it because previous Star Trek films have been so rotten that anything remotely resembling a semi decent film is good, whilst everyone has now read the DaVinci Code and recognised Dan Brown as the airport novelist that he is. FWIW I hated the DaVinci Code film, but I think "Richie Cunningham" has actually made a decent popcorn movie out of Angels & Demons

City Screen in York is a great independent cinema and is owned by the people that run the Arts Picturehouse in Cambridge (I think).





Regarding Cannes Dr. K, I wish I could have seen your reaction when Lars (Modest) Von Trier said the following:



"It's the hand of God, I'm afraid. And I am the best film director in the world."

Dear Dr K,



In addition to the Croydon Clocktower I would also recommend South Hill Park Arts Centre in Bracknell. A real find. They show films in the dining room of an old stately home.



Please keep up the good work and sincere reviews.

Dear Dr K,



On a different note, I was wondering what your stance is on Pixar's latest film, 'Up!' being released in the UK on the 16th of Oct?

The Americans get the film on the 29th of May, almost 5 months before us, whenas far as I know they even use the same 3d projectors!



How can companies complain about people pirating their films, when they don't care enough to release them to everyone who wants to see it at around the same time?

In reference to KeirAyers' point about Pixar, it is rather curious why it is their films in particular that have such a long gap between US and European releases - Nemo had been launched, been a massive smash and was halfway through the DVD distribution process by the time it turned up over here.



Then again, their films always make tonnes of cash. Even the duff ones like the Incredibles. (I was so disappointed by that - I love Brad Bird - I cried like a baby at the end of the Iron Giant.)



I wonder if this is because there is so much more of a must-see-in-cinemas factor with Pixar films, because of how shiny shiny they look on a big screen. Perhaps it was this that inspired the whole 3D revolution thing? Studios must have thought, "hmmm, Pixar films are making huge great wodges of cash, while my Blockbuster X has tanked due to piracy (and nothing to do with me greenlighting a completely rancid piece of old mank that had no right being in anyone's continent, let alone their local cinema). What can we make that people can't see at home?" Presto - instant 1950s 3D-o-rama breaking out everywhere.



Actually, on that subject, I was listening to a Kermode podcast from 2007 this morning (when he reviewed Captivity, anorak wearers) and he was discussing a prediction that by 2009, a quarter of films would be in 3D. "I don't buy it," said the good Doctor. I wonder what the actual number will be by the end of the year?

The Cameo cinema in Edinburgh is a brilliant independent cinema. The staff are really friendly, it's pretty cheap (especially if you're a member) and they also show classic film double bills every sunday!



I'm off there next week to see the a preview of the new Ken Loach movie with a director Q&A, anyone else nearby should definitely get their tickets booked!

Have you seen "Colin" yet, the zombie film by first-time British director Marc Price that cost £45 [sic] to make? According to CNN, the horror magazine SCARS predicts it will "revolutionize zombie cinema." If you had been at Cannes, you could have seen it, at the Marche des Films. Simon Crerar of the Times saw it (or at least wrote about it), saying that it "puts an unusual slant on the zombie genre, telling the story from the point of view of a zombie trying to understand what has happened to him, rather than a human trying to escape and survive."

Thanks for responding to my comment.

I suppose you'll be catching up with the films being released in Cannes, probably over the next 10 years because of their rubbish release dates.

Hi Mark,

Come to The Duke of York's Picture House in Brighton.

It's the oldest fully operating arthouse cinema in the country. It opened in 1910 so it's 100 years old next year.

It's still got the 'Lover's Seats' in the back row, you get grab a pint before watching a film and best of all, if you walk out of a film and leave your iPod, somebody will find it and give it to a member of staff rather than somebody stealing it. (This is what happened to me when I saw the incredibly boring 'Cheri').

Hi Dr. K,



I'd like to say a few kind words about my local arthouse cinema, The Showroom in Sheffield.



It's a lovely place with friendly staff and a nice, if expensive, bar next door, shows lots of classic films, has a wealth of films on for horror fans and has a nice, amiable atmosphere to the place.



Keep up the terrific work on the blog!

Hi Dr. K,



Me and my dad have watched the original exorcist movie and were wondering why you liked it so much as the two of us thought it was pretty average for a horror film



Can you tell us why?



Keep up the great work

"Yes!!!" to the upcoming info on arthouse cinemas. I am lacking one and need one badly!

Filmhouse in edinburgh, saw Mad Detective there. Helps you see the really good movies that otherwise you would have missed.

Shame your not a Cannes, Dr Kermode. Would have loved to hear your opinion on Tarantino's latest. Also don't you usually see your film of the year at Cannes, such as Pan's Labyrinth, Waltz with Bashir and Of Time and the City? Surely that makes it worthwhile?



Also got to give a shout out to Harbour Lights in Southampton. Brilliant cinema with friendly staff, excellent membership and no idiots talking during the film. The prints are usually in excellent condition as well, which is becoming more and more rare. I saw Star Trek at Vue in Eastleigh and the picture quality was dreadful. Are you experiencing this as well?

The Electric in Birmingham is a nice cinema, nice people, great seats but... the film selection is disappointing... films for the next few weeks...



Angels and Demons

Synecdoche New York (Syn-neck-doh-kee)

Cheri

Encounters at the End of the World

Drag Me To Hell

Termination Salvation



I have a unlimited pass for Cineworld and half of those I can see their for £10 a month, they need more left field films...

I would love a independent cinema in Birmingham which had more independent films, luckily i'm moving to Leeds in September...

I don't know if this has already been said but my favorite local cinema is the Cameo in Edinburgh. A great little cinema with a selection of art house and main stream films.

great idea concerning the collation of art house cinemas around the uk. i responded with my local (whilst at university in stoke) the 'stoke on trent film theatre'. be sure to include it. it really is worth a visit. great selection of independent film at very reasonable asking prices (the cheapest i've actually ever heard of). 'let the right one in' was playing this weekend which i very unfortunately missed due to other commitments. i will be sure to watch it at the next opportunity.



no advertising or trailers before any screening.

great prices.

different film every night (more popular titles show for two nights).

an audience that respects the screening and the film theatre itself.

212 seats making for quite an intimate viewing experience.

a bar at the entrance.



you really couldn't ask for more.



https://www.stokefilmtheatre.org.uk

If there can be a great 'chain' of independant cinemas, Luna Cinemas in Perth, Australia are great.



There's some dotted around the place and that's where we are mostly likely to see some of the smaller English pictures a year after their release in the UK!



Luna in Leederville in particular is fantastic. Cinema 3 has about 12 lounge chair sized seats, and you can take beer and wine in too (real glass). It's wonderfully bohemian.



Luna also run a selection of outdoor cinemas for arthouse films, its great in summer.



Keep on Rockin' Kermode!

In response to Bambroughxxy's question of why The Exorcist is so great;



You said it was "pretty average for a horror film". Might I suggest you stop judging a film's worth based on the genre it is in? If you judge it entirely on terms of the horror genre it is not that scary and therefore unsuccessful but if you judge it as a film with out all the preconceived genre bias then it is a really great film - the crisis of faith is delicately handled, the film makes you genuinely care about the mother of the child and the child's transformation is completely convincing. It is not the "Scariest film ever" as it is so often touted (and it being called that has created false expectations for many viewers) but is instead a remarkable drama about faith, transformation and relgion.

Dear Dr. K,



As well as plugging arthouse cinemas could you please give a mention to community cinemas.



Mine is a new enterprise part of the Rainhall Centre in Barnoldswick and is called the Centre Screen. It shows films at the weekends every fortnight and seats about 56 people. There's no fancy projection system, the films are shown from disc displayed on a suitably large screen.



I went there to see Slumdog Millionaire, it was packed, and the atmosphere was great and no driving so off for a pint after to discuss the film with friends, what could be better.



Gran Torino is showing next week and I'll be there to support them: https://rainhallcentre.com/index.php



Thank you.

In another matter: did anybody understand what Dr. Kermode allegedly ranted during a Cannes screening of Lars Von Triers "Idiots?"

Akayplayer:



What Mark said was



"Il est merde. Il est le plus grand merde dans le monde entire(sic)"



It's ****. It's the biggest **** in the whole world.



[merde is feminine, Mark]

Hi Mark,



Thanks for reading my comment. I would just like to clarify where I was coming from. You characterized the remark as being that Star Trek was complete rubbish and that A&D was not that bad.



As a recovering trekkie (it must be several months now since I last saw a Star Trek episode), I would never say the Star Trek movie was without merit and I was still able to enjoy it. In my opinion both films were, on one level, complete rubbish, but both were also very watchable. They both had massive problems with their plots, although A&D was worse because at the end, the whole premise didn't make sense [The bomb, yes; the murders and leaving clues, no]. Star Trek had a much weaker story and was mainly just a set-up for the next film with a couple of good action sequences [I particularly liked where Kirk fought the triffidy thingy].



Complaining that you were too hard on A&D was just plain dumb on my part. With a Mark Kermode review the highs are very high(LTROI, Pan's Labyrinth) and the lows are very low (PoTC III, Sex Lives of the Potato Men) and arguably even more enjoyable to listen to. So why complain when you are giving us what we want? Doh! Unlike anybody before, you have made film criticism more entertaining, fun, less dry, yet still cerebral and have widened the appreciation of less mainstream film genres to a larger audience. You've done us all a very big service. Please keep doing what you do.



BTW I chose the (not intentionally disrespectful) name "antimode" around the time of the anti-kermodes and also because I sometimes disagree with you and want to put a different point of view. Although lately, I have found myself agreeing with you more often than not. One of the things that fascinates me about film is how people can have such violently different reactions from seeing the same film. It is something that you don't seem to get to the same extent in art or music.



My candidate for "stupidest film ever" would be Push, it makes A&D look like Eisenstein. I didn't and won't see Bride Wars but I can't imagine that it is worse than Push. You feel like somebody is trying to empty your brain and it is so painful just to endure.

I live in the North-West so have always traveled to Manchester's Cornerhouse whenever I have wanted to see something with a limited release. Never been to Liverpool's FACT as I only learned of its existence a couple of months ago, thanks to people on this blog. Will definitely be going sometime soon as that would be more convenient for me than Manchester.



Someone also recently told me about a place in Liverpool called Brew. I must stress that it is not a cinema, it is actually a Tea Bar but they have a film night on a Wednesday and they show really good diverse films. Its completely free, but I would imagine you have to pay for your cuppa's though!

RELEASE-DATES: People in the UK - you live a dream. US-movies for the rest of Europe are always released later. UK/FR/IT/SP - almost never.



The real problem is THEY ARE DUBBED! Bad translations, horrible (in my case, german) 3rd-class actors speaking in even more horrible Mulitplex-Cinemas and even on TV.



Where are all the Orig. w. subtitles gone?



CANNES: Bravo, to Dr. K - who needs to go there anymore anyway? Meaningless event, nowadays.



MOVIE THEATERS: Oh, how I miss them. Old variety theatres with chandeliers, with plush carpets and uncomfortable, creaking, wodden seats. Old ladies showing you your row. Those were the days..

I agree with a few of the above posters and would like to send a shout out to The Cameo and Filmhouse cinema's in Edinburgh. Good times have been had at both. The Filmhouse is even 70mm equipped (the only one in Edinburgh, if not Scotland) although the screen is rather small for the format. Either way, 2001 in 70mm is always a joy.

My local Arts Centre in Plymouth should be included in your selection. Always a good choice of films from major releases, about a month after their initial opening, to worldwide indies. They screen two films a day, the seats are comfortable and no-one eats popcorn or uses their mobile. There are also art exhibitions and a cafe serving excellent food.

In Cannes 5 people fainted at the new Lars von Trier film 'Antichrist' - perhaps they were holding their breath waiting for you to yell at the screen.

Hi there Mark,



I couldn't let the arthouse cinema thing go by without giving a huge shout out to the Duke of Yorks Cinema in Brighton, complete with stocking-ed legs rising out of the roof. Best seats a six foot person can sit in with leg room, great acoustics, and they have locally sourced goodies to stuff your face with.



Have you reviewed Synecdoche New York? Interested to hear what you think.

@BuckyBits



you said "US-movies for the rest of Europe are always released later."



This is not true. For example both Star Trek and Angels and Demons were released a few days earlier in Europe than they were even in the US.



Take a film like "Taken" :-)



It was released in France in Feb 2008,

in the UK in Sep 2008 and in the US in ...

Jan 2009!

c'est bizarre, n'est-ce pas?



Of course somebody will now write from somewhere like Freedonia or the Duchy of Grand Fenwick that they didnt get to see these films until later, so we should be careful about using terms like "rest of Europe"



I remember about 10 years ago going to a multiplex in Istanbul (which just about counts as Europe) and seeing films in English without Turkish subtitles.



What really bugs me is if I buy a classic film DVD in the UK, let's say something like Vertigo or The Maltese Falcon,

it is still region protected after all these years. Why is that? I have a collection of DVDs from over the years bought in the countries I have lived in and can only play about 50% of it.

I was also thinking how strange it would be to see Valkyrie with Tom Cruise and all those British actors in their Nazi uniforms, badly translated and dubbed back into German.

I'd just like to say a little thing about censors, which you have talked about in some of your blogs.



The journalism I read/hear coming back from Cannes is that the commotion causing 'Antichrist' will be shown in theatres across the UK but assuredly in a cut form. Is this really what we want?! I want to see the version that Lars made, the one that was shown at Cannes. Not some 'Antichrist Lite'.



Furthermore, I recently rented out Peter Jackson's brilliant ultra-gorey comedy 'Braindead' and was alarmed to see that the zombie birth scene had been cut. So someone has decided that I, a fully grown, decision-making adult can witness the numerous OTT gross-out set pieces in 'Braindead' but a zombie giving birth to a zombie-baby is too much for my fragile little eyes? It's ludicrous!

Hi Dr. K,



I was glad to hear the shout-out for the Harbour Lights cinema in this blog.



It's a now a little over a decade since I graduated from Southampton Institute, and during the three years I was there the Harbour Lights gave me the chance to see some real gems. Many of these were films I never truly expected to see at a cinema, including The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, It Came from Outer Space in 3D and Beneath the Valley of the Ultra Vixens (and believe me, you can't really the appreciate the full impact of a Russ Meyer film until you've experienced it on the big screen).



It also gave me the chance to chat to you there after watching you work your magic on the double-bass in the cinema's foyer one evening.



All of which makes me particularly happy that this independent cinema is still going strong today.

Dr K,



Please give a gigantic kick up the backside to the management of Brixton Ritzy.



I just moved to Brixton a couple of months ago - mainly on the strength of having a cinema just up the road...



OK, not mainly... but I was really looking forward to it!



Imagine my dissapointment when I got into screen 1 for the first time, sat down and realised the seats were at the most ridiculous 30 degree angle, meaning I spent the whole film trying to crawl my way up an incline with my backside!



Assuming I found myself a duff row, I went back again - sat in an entirely different row only to find the exact same thing.



How no-one has picked them up on this is beyond me...

...and another thing...



A bit more about the David Lean cinema in Croydon's Clockhouse, mentioned by composer1979.



It's about the size of that railway carriage cinema you showed Alien Love Triangle in, and Croydon has so few things going for it that it really needs some help for the few good things there!

been trying to list the relative merits of 3d movies with my brother, who admitable is a bigger film goer than me, heres what i came up with



immersive experience?

i always feel a great story with proper characters and a plot which i believe in provide an immersive experience, dont need pointy pointy stuff, it does not add anything



better cinema going experience?

dont make me laugh! why should i pay extra for watching a 3d film, i didn't pay more to watch a film made for 100 million than one made for 1 million. I'm rather jealous of all these great cinemas, all i have is a multi-mega screen.



ive never seen a movie in 3d and wont when i can get the dvd cheaper (even the legal ones)

Hi Dr K,



Just a mention for our local arthouse cinema, Arc in Stockton-on-Tees. Part of a multi-media arts centre which also has music & comedy gigs, as well as hosting music & dance classes. Sadly, attendances aren't always high - when we saw "Anvil" we there were only FIVE people in the cinema. Keep up the wittertainment.



Link here:

https://www.arconline.co.uk/cinema.php

I would like to mention the Hyde Park Picture House in Leeds - it is such a beautiful building with loads of original features. It makes for a great cinema experience watching some brilliant films in such an amazing place. Plus they have a cat who just chills out around the place! Good stuff.



https://www.hydeparkpicturehouse.co.uk/history.php

hobmcd is totally wrong about Screen 1 at the Brixton Ritzy, it is really delightful place to watch films as it is a former Edwardian musical hall and still has some of the original grandeur givng a feel that is light years away from a souless multiplex. All the Ritzy screens have their own personality and special mention to screen 5 which is on its own upstairs and is very cosy rather like Croydon's fine David Lean cinema some others have mentioned.



It is my local so frequent more often but other Picturehouse places such as Clapham, Stratford and Cambridge are just as fine.



Dalston Rio used to a great indie cinema and has a very eclectic film slate.

Mark,



I would just like to second the comments by dynamicNorthernPleb. The Showroom in Sheffield is a great independent cinema. Well known for its Documentary Film Festival and currently doing great work showing classic and international horror by way of Celluloid Screams.



There is a nice windy veranda for you to film your blog posts on and a bar round the side too.



https://www.showroom.org.uk

A shout out for the Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff: great range of films show there with a great bar and a whole load of other stuff to boot.

next time you don't feel like going to cannes doc mark, i'll gladly go instead :-)