UK Cinemas

Warner Village, Cribbs Causeway, Bristol.

Pros: Great seats, way comfortable, great presentation, nice array of snacks, many screens, five minutes from my house, surrounded by bars and restaurants.

Cons: Tad expensive, staff know little to nothing about movies.

First film seen there: Blade Runner: The Director's Cut (1998)
Last film seen there: Spider-Man (2002)

Rating: 4.7/5

Man, it was exactly the same for me! I phoned round, and NO-ONE knew what the fuck I was talking about!

Anyway, here's a couple:

UGC Broad Street, Birmingham
Pros: Excellent selection of films - they do all kinds of cool indie and foreign films that most places don't touch.
Also, they have that pass thing so I spend a tenner a month and can see as many films as I want, including all the cool indie and foreign ones.

Cons: Staff don't know that much about the movies, but better than a lot of places. If you can snag a management type doing a screencheck though, you may luck out.
Sometimes the sound and picture isn't that great. First viewing of FOTR there was slightly out of focus. I've also experienced sound problems in a couple of them.

UGC Arcadian Centre, Birmingham

Pro: Staff are friendly and reasonably knowledgeable.
They show less than Broad Street, but they also do some quite cool obscure stuff. I saw Sex and Lucia there, I think, and The Son's Room.
I actually think the sound and vision quality is slightly better there than Broad Street.

Cons: It has no bar.
The ambient lighting when the film is on, coupled with the big EXIT signs lit on the doors, is sometimes a little distracting.

Star City, Warner Village
Pros: It carries films on later than everyone else. Nearly all of my latter viewings of FOTR were here.
It has digital projection.
The seating is good and comfy.
Cons: Getting served at the concession stand is a nightmare. The queues are always enormous. The food isn't very nice and much more expensive than other places.
The choice of films tends to be limited to Hollywood or Bollywood.
It's MILES from ANYWHERE. And the public transport sucks.
Sometimes the sound is so loud it shakes the speakers, making a very annoying noise. I can't remember what film it was (maybe AOTC) but I remember being amazed it happened in such a newish cinema.

Odeon, Birmingham

Pros: Does a lot of second run stuff which is nice if you missed something first time around.
Nice old building.
Concession prices are reasonable.
Cons: Some very weird screen conversions there. I saw FOTR there in a room the size of a postage stamp, with big fuck-off pillars in the way. Also smells a bit damp, with being an old place. Sound and vision were okay though.

The one I use most is the UGC Parrswood, because it's literally round the corner from my house. Unfortunately, it's a bit crap for choice, and the projectionists seem to be pissed half the time. They managed to chop off the bottom third of the frame for the last 15 minutes of Blade 2 (thus hiding the subtitles during the vampire conversation) and during a screening of Spider-Man they forgot to dim the lights until the film had started. But it's local, and it suffices for my regular weekend morning viewings of the latest blockbusters.

The UCG in the Trafford Centre was voted best cinema in the country by Empire, but it's too far to be convenient, and because it's in a huge mall, it costs about £50 a show (£5 for the ticket, and about £45 on DVDs, comics and anything else I can find on my way to the cinema). They tend to have better choice, keep films on for longer and have digital projection. I saw Toy Story 2 there in digital and it was gorgeous. I'd go there more often, but it's a trek, and my cinema trips tend to be spur of the moment things.

The Cornerhouse in Manchester is the only place for "blink and you'll miss 'em" obscurities. I saw Crouching Tiger there about six months before it's proper release, and I remember catching the train to Manchester from Warrington during my student days to see "Slacker" there as well. The big disadvantage is it's frequented by beret-wearing pretentious nob-fucks who are terrible at keeping quiet during the film - worse than "normal" people.

"Oh, that was heavily indebted to Godard, wouldn't you say?"
"Not at all, if you study the mise-en-scene it was obviously a homage to Truffaut".

Yes, we know you've read some Film Studies textbooks. Shut the fuck up.

Dan!

I know the Cornerhouse! I saw Blade Runner (the director's cut) there as well as some other things.

And you're right. It is Pseuds Corner. I remember trying to buy some snacks before I went in once (they don't sell popcorn!) and my Chorlton bohemian mates were all horrified - this was a "film" experience, not like going to the local multiplex to watch ghastly "Hollywood" movies with all the oiks...

Actually, I think I knew a projectionist who worked there - Cinema Gary - he used to hang out in the bookstore I worked in. I doubt he's still there. This was years ago.

Any UGC cinema anywhere in the UK(except the West End )

Cons:same old no-nothings working in "most" of them

Pros:UNLIMITED passes £9,99 a month which can be used in any UGC cinema in the UK(except the West End )

I find most new cinemas have good facilities though the older cinema do seem to have more atmoshere

For us London dwellers the Prince of Wales cinema in the West End is very good, not so much for it's technical ability, but moreso for the types of films it shows and the reasonably priced tickets.
On a technical level, the Empire and Odeon in Leicester Square are good also.

And here I thought you people only ate bangers and mash...