Showing posts with label Films. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Films. Show all posts

Friday, 14 December 2012

The Aubin Cinema - WOW, what an experience

I started off writing this post thinking I'd be reviewing the film I saw last night, Seven Psychopaths.

However, despite loving the film and wanting to say some words about it (maybe later...), I find myself desperate to tell you about WHERE I saw it, namely the Aubin Cinema in Shoreditch.
















Being an avid film fan, I am regularly disappointed by the mass market cinemas and their lack of basic comfort. I will typically pay the extra to get 'Premium' seats and even then, all you get is a bit more legroom and a slightly larger seat, but not really a more comfortable one. I find myself regularly fidgeting and trying to get comfortable, which can seriously detract from my overall enjoyment of the film. All of this also comes with a price tag in excess of £20. Add to it the shockingly overpriced food and drinks and I can't help but feeling slightly ripped off by the whole experience.

I had recently seen an article in the Metro about the new 'bed seats' recently installed at the Electric Cinema, Portobello Road, and got very excited about a new type of cinematic experience.

So, imagine my sheer delight at being taken to the Aubin Cinema last night (thanks Skene xx). Why so delighted? Well, it's an experience for adults. Forget 2 litre buckets of coke, you can get a cocktail or a beer and enjoy it whilst you watch the film. Whay joy! Back to the good old days I found myself saying. I remember when that sort of thing was perfectly normal in cinemas 20 years ago when going to the cinema was a proper evening out.

However, the Aubin takes the whole thing one stage further. They have created a cinematic space and experience that is akin to watching a film in your own personal cinema, you know, the one you'd design in your mansion house for all your mates to enjoy if you had the space and the money? :-)

The venue is intimate and warm. There are single and double seats. They are REAL armchairs and sofas! There are CUSHIONS! You can snuggle up with your partner or just settle in next to your mates in the genuinely comfortable seating (Check the pictures).

Everyone has an individual footrest to stretch out their legs, individual tables for drinks, taking off your shoes, puffing your cushion and settling in properly is par for the course and everyone has a lovely soft blanket to thow over themselves to keep warm and cosy throughout.














It's beautifully laid out, the seats all have a fantastic view of the perfectly sized screen and the overall experience is one of sheer delight. It really doesn't matter what you are watching, you will love it.

I cannot recommend this place highly enough. I left wanting more and having thoroughly enjoyed the film, without compromise. I want to go back and see EVERY film there from now on. If you love movies and want to experience a film in a warm, friendly, cosy venue, snuggled up to a partner (or just sitting comfortably with friends!) sipping a cocktail as you watch, then this is the ONLY place to go in London.

Seriously. Go there. You will not be disappointed. It is a truly wonderful experience.

(Photos are taken from of the Aubin's website)

Check out NeelsReelDeal review here as well, which is excellent:
http://neelsreeldeel.com/2012/11/29/the-aubin-cinema/
 

Tuesday, 11 December 2012

Getting Things Started - I love... week #1

This week I've unfortunately been bogged down with a rather nasty Flu virus. However, wishing to remain positive and take something good out of every situation, it does mean I have some time on my hands as I try and fill the many uncomfortable hours I am spending lying around feeling like crap on my death bed....
 
So, here is blog #1 to get the ball rolling.
 
Enjoy!
 
AVC
x
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Podcasts
 
I've just signed up to the I Love Space radio podcast. Really good stuff if you like the Space vibe. Hours of free music mixed by fantastic DJs.Perhaps a bit too much talking for my own liking (well it is a Radio podcast after all!), but beautiful vibe to it as you'd expect from Space. This is well worth a listen.
 
Available via iTunes or on this jellycast feed for anyone who doesn't have iTunes:
 
 
On Constant Repeat
 
My must have single at the moment on almost constant repeat (courtesy of Skene - mwah x) is....
 
 
 
Films

The Sightseers 
Brilliant black comedy taking place in some of the most quintessentially British tourist destinations you've never thought to go to, it follows an incredibly dark and twisted love story that is as beautiful as it is ferocious. Regardless of the incredibly gruesome (and let's face it, laugh out loud funny) scenes, it manages to be relevant to us all in some small way, proving how love has no boundaries.... You'lll be hiding behing your hands one minute and wetting yourself the next.

 
This was an amazing conclusion to the rather dark and sinister new trilogy that has brought a gritty realism to the whole Batman franchise that started in such comedic comic book style back in the 60s. Long gone are the 'holy carumba batman' and 'sock, kapowww' we were used to seeing, replaced with dark, sinister, wanton violence and destruction. I was extremely surprised to see the actor behind the Bane character was none other than Tom Hardy. Seriously, he looked like a muscle juggernaut. Staggering!!!
 
Also nice to see Reggie Lee make an appearance. He's another actor I like from one of my favourite TV shows at the moment (Grimm).

Anyway, fantastic film and 'conclusion'?? They did leave the door wide open for a potential 'Dark Knight and Dark Sidekick'.


Books
I came across this somewhere on a list of 'fantastic, but overlooked books' somewhere and decided to try it. I'm not far in yet so this isn't a full formal review. From what I've read so far, the book has a wonderful, innocent and beautiful style that is very easy to read and does (as any good book should) transport you away from your daily worries to the beautiful, snowcapped mountains in Japan as you witness the unfurling of the slow building love story within.
 
 


General Peeves
Bad Queue etiquette
I went to the garage on the weekend to put the car through the carwash. I parked up  in the proper parking area and went in to buy a carwash voucher. On returning to the car and driving over to the entrance for the carwash, I find that someone has decided to park their car right in the middle of the entrance whilst they go into the shop, do some shopping and get their own voucher. I now sit there for nearly 5 minutes waiting for this **** to return to their car, get in and move forward. Not even a courtesy 'sorry' nod in my direction or anything, even though it's bloody obvious I've been waiting there with my voucher for a while. In my eyes, that is extremely bad etiquette for the UK and it's not the first time it's happened to me either.
 
Surely in that situation, at the very least you should nod a quick apology to the person waiting and if you had decent morals and values, you would let the other person who has clearly been waiting for you go first?? I'd like to think that's exactly what I'd do, except of course I'd never cause the situation in the first place....