Silver Screen Cities: Celebrating city cinema-going

Celebrating City Cinema-Going

‘Arrival’, Picturehouse Central, London

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As you exit Pimlico Underground Station there are some great tiled murals lining the exit ramp, showing paintings by artists such as LS Lowry and others whose work is held at the nearby Tate Britain gallery. Public art like this certainly adds something to the quality of city life. At Tate Britain I ascended the […]

‘Napoleon’, Royal Festival Hall, London

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At 8 hours in total, this airing of the 1927 silent film Napoleon at London’s Royal Festival Hall was by far the longest film showing I have ever been to. It started at 2pm and ended at 10pm. To alleviate this endurance test for the audience, three intervals were provided, including a break of 100 […]

‘Nocturnal Animals’, Curzon Chelsea, London

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On Grosvenor Square this November morning gusty winds were whipping the fallen leaves up as high as the top of the surrounding buildings. At one point a thick ridge of leaves heaped on the ground flowed forward towards me like a mysterious wave, driven by a sudden blast of wind. Further on in Hyde Park […]

‘I, Daniel Blake’, The Phoenix, East Finchley, London

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This morning outside my window I could hear the sound of Frank Sinatra singing ‘New York, New York’. It was coming from one of the cars stuck in the stop-start rush hour traffic. The sound seemed almost surreal – a bold, uplifting song very much at odds with the mundanity of the early morning November […]

‘The Infiltrator’, Picturehouse Central, London

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Tate Modern’s massive bulk looms impressively on the south side of the river. Its vastness is quite awe-inspiring. I rolled up here this morning to see the Georgia O’Keeffe exhibition, which proved to be wonderful. Each room of the exhibition showcased a different period and style of her art, including abstract expressionism, New York cityscapes, […]