Silver Screen Cities: Celebrating city cinema-going

Celebrating City Cinema-Going

‘Pain and Glory’, DCA, Dundee

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I got to DCA in time to get an IPA from the bar to take into the film. The trailers and the crass pre-film ads seemed to pass by quicker than usual. It was a Friday afternoon showing of Pedro Almodovar’s ‘Pain and Glory’, starring Antonio Banderas as world-weary film director Salvador Mallo. The character’s […]

‘Prophecy’, DCA, Dundee

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I just finished reading ‘The Big Picture – Cinemas of Dundee’ by Jack Searle and Craig Muir, published by Dundee Civic Trust, with a Foreword by proud Dundonian, the acclaimed actor Brian Cox. This book is a gem. It brings to life the whole cinema-going experience in Dundee from the earliest days of silent film […]

‘Vita & Virginia’, DCA, Dundee

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I doubt that many in this Saturday afternoon’s audience for ‘Vita & Virginia’ would be interested in going to see ‘The Fast and the Furious’, despite Vin Diesel’s exhortations to do so in an ad that preceded today’s showing of the Vita Sackville-West/Virginia Woolf film. Thankfully the pre-film ads and trailers didn’t seem to go […]

‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’, Cinema Vendôme, Brussels, Belgium

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Tucked away on Rue Keyenveld in the Ixelles area of Brussels, off the beaten track for tourists, and neighbouring the house where Audrey Hepburn was born, Les Brassins restaurant was a good choice for lunch this sunny mid-February Saturday. We lingered in Les Brassins for over three hours, enjoying the hearty unpretentious food and superb […]

‘Stan & Ollie’, Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA), Dundee

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I was really looking forward to ‘Stan & Ollie’. I love the old Laurel and Hardy films, like the hysterically funny ‘A Chump at Oxford’ (1940). Judging from the trailer, ‘Stan & Ollie’ looked like it would be a fitting tribute. Today’s opening day for the film arrived with it accompanied by lavish praise from […]

‘A Cool Fish’, Broadway Cinematheque MOMA, Beijing, China

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When I searched online for ‘best cinemas Beijing’, Broadway Cinematheque MOMA (BC MOMA) appeared in the results and I’m very glad it did because it’s a wonderful place. Set in a futuristic cityscape plaza towered over by apartment blocks linked high up by aerial walkways, the cinema itself is an architectural statement of intent, a […]