Bob Hoskins is in a new movie!

I had some time to kill this afternoon so I went to the movies (say: cinema) to catch a 12pm flick.

Back home I was the biggest curmudgeon about the state of movie-going-these-days, what with the crappy films available and the tacky people that talk throughout them. When I moved here I expected nothing but calm, respectful cinema patrons, all Stephen Frys and Hugh Lauries, quietly watching top quality British fare.

HA!

Terrible Hollywood movies make bank overseas. They show all that crap here, people go to watch it and some of them are just as tacky as folks are back home. Another area where our two nations are unsurprisingly similar.

Anyway, there is a cinema across the street from my flat which is the main reason I’ve been going so often lately.

Today, I watched The Girl Who Played with Fire, part of that The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy. I haven’t seen the Dragon Tattoo film so I really had no idea what to expect from The Girl Who Played with Fire. It was good, I suppose. Interesting. Kind of had a Le Femme Nikita feel about it. I’m curious how the American film versions will look.

When I bought my ticket, the ticket girl said to me, “Are you aware that this is a Swedish film and that it has English subtitles?” Heh heh. I wondered how many people in the past have stormed out saying something like, “Subti’les?! Bloody hell! I want my thir’een-quid back!”

Some things to know about cinema-going in London (and probably the rest of the UK):

1. If the movie is listed to start at 12pm, it will actually start at 12:30pm. Films always start about 30-minutes after the posted showtime. If your show is at 12pm, they will start commercials  then (at the moment there is a really long and annoying Estrella Damm ad). At about 12:20, or ten minutes before the film starts, they will start the movie previews. So unless you’re worried about getting a seat, there is no need to show up early, or on time for that matter.
2. Most cinemas have a bar. You can buy booze! (I sneak in my own when I’m feelin’ classy.) Nicer, arty cinemas have a selection of whisky/spirits/wine (Notting Hill Gate Cinema). I think most cinemas close the bar during daytime, maybe weekday evenings, and open them up for evening shows.
3. When you buy popcorn, they will ask you if you want “Salt” or “Sweet”. Salt is like the buttery kind we know back home (but without the butter) and I suspect the sweet is also like what we know, when we can find it. Also, they don’t do the “Would you like extra butter on your popcorn?” here. I suspect they would find that revolting. So don’t bother looking for, or asking about, a butter pump.
4. If you like Icees as much as I do, what you want to order is called a Fanta Frozen. You’ll see the machine behind  the concession counter if they sell it. While it tastes slightly different from an Icee and has a less-fine texture, IT SOO SCRATCHES THAT ICEE ITCH! It comes in classic “red” and “blue” flavors.
5. They call it “the cinema”, not “the movies” and “the theater” is a stage show. Going to see “a show” is going to the theater, not the cinema.
6. Other than the things listed above, the movie-going experience is exactly the same!