Cinema London Travel Guides | London | Arts and Entertainment | Cinema London

London has never quite matched the celluloid magic of New York’s skyscrapers or Hollywood’s neon thrills. We try, but London can still end up looking like a patchwork quilt of twee touristy views (see Love Actually – a Tourist Board movie Alfie re-make due for release in 2005?). But like Londoners themselves, cinemas here come in every conceivable shape and size. There are small, sweaty booths at the back of seedy bookshops and seats for nearly 2,000 at the Odeon Leicester Square. At the Institute of Contemporary Arts you’ll find cutting-edge epics projected onto screens that put one in mind of bed sheets. But the most challenging experiences are to be found in London’s network of repertory cinemas which specializes in themes, seasons, festivals, and retrospectives. The atmosphere is more interesting, the buildings are more unusual, and they tend to come with bookshops, superior café-bars and even restaurants.

British Film Institute London IMAX, South Bank, Waterloo, T 020-7902 1234. Quite tricky to reach, marooned in the middle of a busy roundabout (best approached from Belvedere Rd through a tunnel studded with blue stars) but worth the effort for gigantic effects.

Curzon Mayfair, 38 Curzon St, T 020-7465 8865. Probably the most comfortable cinema in London. Generally shows middle to highbrow mainstream movies on its one screen.

Curzon Soho, 93-107 Shaftesbury Av, T 020-7734 2255. Normally showcases the most recent big arthouse releases, some of them on fairly small screens.

The Electric Cinema, Portobello Rd, T 020-7229 8688. The fully restored, old art deco cinema on the Portobello Rd is the epitome of cinema-going chic and accordingly priced (£10 for the cheapest front row seat, £30 for a silver-service sofa).

The Everyman Hampstead, 1 Hollybush Vale, Hampstead, T 020-7431 1777. Famous independent repeatedly saved from extinction by passionate local support. Offers a mix of mainstream and repertory films in a recently refurbished beautifully luxurious space.

ICA Cinema, Nash House, The Mall, T 020-7930 6393 recorded information, T 020-7930 3647 credit card bookings, http://www.ica.org.uk. The place for very rare or independent films, where you’re likely to find the most unlikely gems from ‘world cinema’.

National Film Theatre (NFT), South Bank, T 020-7928 3535. Home to the British Film Institute, the NF T is the obvious starting point for any cinephile’s London visit, a power house on the South Bank and home to the increasingly prestigious London Film Festival each November. In any given week it’s not unusual for the NFT’s three auditoria to screen over 30 different movies.

Notting Hill Coronet, Notting Hill Gate, T 020-7727 6705. One of the prettiest and architecturally most interesting locals in London, showing mainstream releases.

Travel Guides | London | Arts and Entertainment | Cinema London
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