Cinema Reviews

[sarahvera]

Hi Guys
I went to see a movie last week with my boyfriend and we had to leave as the cinema was so hot Other people walked out before we did.
This particular cinema is a serial offender when it comes to not putting the air con on and I was wondering if anyone else has encountered a similar problem?

[opas]

Which one was it? I've been quite lucky with the screenings while we have had this little heatwave. Even today - although it was not boiling hot outside, it was nice to walk into the screen and find a light cool breeze.

One cinema that I find quite uncomfortable is Odeon Panton Street. If I remember correctly some forum members have even reported that there was stench coming from the toilet which you can enter directly from the front of one of the screens. Don't know why Odeon keeps that one going- especially as they have about 3 or 4 other cinemas within a 5 minute walk of that one.

Another cinema I prefer to avoid is Stratford Picture House - luckily it is not a hygiene problem but it is more to do with the general build. It looks all nice and shiny from the outside but they really compromised on the design of the actual screens - the legroom is atrocious, wonder if they run out of money and couldn't be bothered to figure out how to best use the space they had. Anyone over 5'5 inches would not be comfortable in most of the screens there. It is in a convenient location for me but it is not a first choice if I know I want a relaxing film experience.

[bevvy]

I'm 5'6 and haven't had a problem with legroom at Stratford (it is one of my locals too) and find the seats reasonably comfortable though this Picturehouse is nowhere near as good as the Greenwich one.
The most uncomfortable cinema seats that I have encountered in recent years are at the Screen on the Green in Islington.
They are old-style seats and are not very well padded (luckily I am!) but there is a bit of metal that is part of the hinge that digs into your back. I recommend taking a cushion if you go there. The legroom is atrocious and there is hardly any gradient so it is a case of peering past the person in front of you.

[Beate]

Two cinemas I avoid at all costs: Odeon Panton Street and Odeon Whiteleys. No legroom, you can't see around the person in front of you but you hear all the noise from the foyer etc. Atrocious.

[bevvy]

Tufty just wrote this on the film discussion board.

"The only thing that spoilt the film for me was that I sat near the back of Screen on the Green and found that that I had problems seeing the subtitles due to peoples heads being in the way, will need to remember to sit nearer the front for future subtitled films. "

With all these subtitled films now having free screenings it is more important than ever to choose your cinema, and your seat, wisely.

[Beate]

The Greenwich Picturehouse is fab, you have no problems with subtitles or heads in front of you and you can tilt your seat back to make it even comfier. Generally, the newer a cinema is, the more legroom and gradient it will have, which is why all the cinemas in the South East like the Greenwich Vue and Odeon and the Cineworld West India Quay are a safe bet. The Vue Islington is pretty great too with loads of legroom. The Odeon Covent Garden has one big screen which is fab, the other one where they often put the previews in has a strange shape and isn't quite as comfy. Screen 1 in the Cineworld Haymarket gives you a fab theatre experience, the Vue West End is generally ok and the big screen in the Empire Leicester Square is beyond belief whereas the Prince Charles Cinema is just strange.

[opas]

I'm 5'6 and haven't had a problem with legroom at Stratford (it is one of my locals too) and find the seats reasonably comfortable though this Picturehouse is nowhere near as good as the Greenwich one.
The most uncomfortable cinema seats that I have encountered in recent years are at the Screen on the Green in Islington.
They are old-style seats and are not very well padded (luckily I am!) but there is a bit of metal that is part of the hinge that digs into your back. I recommend taking a cushion if you go there. The legroom is atrocious and there is hardly any gradient so it is a case of peering past the person in front of you.

Maybe I've been unlucky with the screens I've been in, I've never had a great experience. I used to go quite a bit (I was a fairly regular visitor more than 10 years ago!) and generally found the seats uncomfortable - especially in comparison to Newham Showcase. More recently I remember watching Casino Royale there a few years ago and coming out with a dead leg! (did love the film though!). I'm about 5'9 but my sister is 5'6 and she also said the same thing when we saw Son of Rambow there last year.

I agree that Stratford is definitely the poor relation in comparison to Greenwich and even Clapham. I do remember being quite grateful when we got that cinema in Stratford though as it was an alternative option (there is now a great choice in the western part of East London with West India Quay, Genesis and I guess even Rich Mix). Think I've been a bit spoilt going to all the newer Vues and Cineworlds in recent years.

[bevvy]

Newham Showcase may have more comfortable seats but it has really gone downhill in recent years. When I visited a couple of months ago it was overrun with flies from the nearby sewage works and waste tip. There were dozens of them in the foyer and by the food counter and even in the screening room. My daughter visited there more recently and commented on how scruffy and deserted it was. It wouldn't surprise me if it were to close down like the nearby bowling alley.

[opas]

Yes - I remember you mentioned it before. Sounds like Newham Showcase's heyday has certainly gone. Think I may have told you my 'missing the 262 bus horror story' that put me off for life - that is why Stratford and its convenient location was definitely welcomed!

[Ms Thrifty]

My favourite (also the London cinema I visit most often, albeit alas not usually free) is Curzon Soho, but the most comfortable and impressive has to be what is now called the Apollo at the top of Lower Regent St. I've only been there once as even off-peak, it's eye-wateringly expensive, but I would certainly plump for a preview there if it suited me. Odeon Panton St is definitely the pits, but I do have to go there sometimes. It's surprising how much cinemas within the same chain vary, too: my local Cineworld is disgusting (dark, dirty, delapidated), but some of the auditoria in the London branches are much better, e.g. screen 2 at Shaftesbury Ave and the big screen at Haymarket. And then there are big variations even within cinemas: others have commented on that weird downstairs screen at Cineworld Haymarket where, wherever you sit, you seem to be at a peculiar angle to the screen, and the same applies downstairs at the Renoir, Bloomsbury, but it's not quite so disconcerting. I still mourn the Metro in Rupert St... but it the access was a bit tortuous. Of the big chains, I have found Vue most consistent for comfort, but rarely I visit a Vue.