In Search of Greater Cinemas

One of the great things about living in any city of a decent size is finding those coffee houses, book stores, pubs and cinemas that aren’t parts of enormous chains.  These are becoming increasingly harder to find in any city, but usually if you look hard enough and get out of the city center, you will find some.

When I was living in both Blackheath and Brixton, I frequented the small Picturehouse chain of cinemas, which remind me of a posh Spectrum; nice snacks, interesting films, decent popcorn.  But one thing I always liked about the Spectrum was how old it is, and that the building shows signs of its age.  Call me crazy, but I really enjoy that part of old buildings.  But the Picturehouse cinemas are a great little chain in south London.

Further afield are two amazing cinemas, the BFI and the Prince Charles Cinema.  London’s BFI and NFT have loads to offer, including an IMAX (at which I will be enjoying “The Dark Knight” on Monday), 3 regular cinema screens, an awesome book store, a research library, the film archives and the mediateque: a place where you can explore the British Film Archives – for free.  They also have a great little cafe and a bar/restaurant that looks good, but I’ve never been in.  Their seasons of film are superb – this month and last month they had on a Clint Eastwood season, screening many old and newer films from the American actor/ director.  They’ve also had a comic book season, Japanese and Asian cinema season, just to name a couple.  There’s always something interesting on at the BFI, and their stock of films in the bookstore is second to none that I’ve come across in a good long while.

The Prince Carles, on the other hand, is a fantastic old one screen situated in the heart of Leicester Square.  They may not have first runs, but they sure do have comfy seats!  Also once I got to see “Point Break,” “The Last Boy Scout,” and “Hard Boiled” followed by a live commentary version of “Hot Fuzz” with the cast and director, and all I had to do was queue up and bring snacks!

Now that I live in the East, I had to venture out and find a new cinema, one closer to home.  So up the Whitechapel High Street I ventured, and lo and behold, just a few minutes beyond the station I came upon the Genesis Cinema.  A perfect rainy day cinema, this place reminds me why I used to love working in tiny cinemas, there’s something homey about them, the way they smell, the films they show, the size of the screen.  In the smaller screens its more like watching a movie at your friends house, if they had a projector.  When I used to work at the Madison Theater in Albany, we had two screens of about 35 seats, and people would often come out angry and want their money back, they’ve paid for cinema tickets after all, not to watch a film on a screen smaller than their big screen tv at home.  I can understand this, especially in a cinema basically charging the same as a major chain with a massive screen, but personally, I like the coziness of a small, slightly run down neighborhood theater that quite simply hasn’t given in to the pressure of the multiplexes.

If you aren’t lucky enough to live in London, but you live somewhere I once lived, here’s where you can go to experience the independent cinema:
Albany:  Spectrum 8; Delaware Avenue, The Madison Theater; Madison Avenue
Pittsburgh: The Cinemagic Cinemas, Suirrel Hill on Forward Avenue and the Manor on Murray Avenue
New York City: The Anjelika FIlm Center; West Houston Street, The Quad Cinema; 13th Street, Pioneer Cinema; 3rd Street and Avenue A, Sunshine Cinema; East Houston Street, The Village East Cinema; 2nd Avenue