Bond season again at London's Prince Charles cinema from Jan '24
Napoleon Plural
LondonPosts: 10,276MI6 Agent
Was it this year or last year they did a James Bond season? It all blends in for me. Last year, surely.
Dr No kicks off in early January. All are present and correct, including the latest No Time To Die.
Unlike my suggestion to the cinema on Twitter, no double bills or themed all-nighters. But all seem to be in the downstairs cinema, so that's good. I may catch the first three, I won't be revisiting the ones I saw last time but there's a good few to catch anyway - Diamonds Are Forever I skipped last time as the cinema was a bit full and it was Covid still.
https://princecharlescinema.com/PrinceCharlesCinema.dll/Seasons?e=29205568
"This is where we leave you Mr Bond."
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Comments
Hmm, I wonder if my free voucher is still valid from 2022 ?
FRWL on 20/01 is in the upstairs cinema.
Is it a bigger auditorium ? I was thinking of going if the family stuff doesn't interfere with the weekend
No, the upstairs is the smaller of the two screens, unfortunately, but it's still a decent cinema.
It's on late in the month in 4K on the downstairs, larger screen @chrisno1
and also on the larger screen in early February.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Thanks, guys, it is really all to do with the family commitments around the funeral; we've got rellies coming from over the north pond. I did see the Feb dates, but they are midweek - still maybe an excuse to visit a decent restaurant or drink a martini in a posh bar somewhere 🍸️🍸️🍸️
@chrisno1 Best wishes at what must be a difficult time.
So I saw FRWL in the upstairs ciinema at the PCC this afternoon... a perfectly fine screen.
The issue was that the PCC was short-staffed today and they weren't able to let anyone in till after the advertised start time. The ads were already running by the time people were admitted. Then it felt like boarding a delayed EasyJet flight.... or perhaps like jumping onto the Orient Express at the last minute as it's pulling out of the station at Istanbul! The cinema was almost entirely full. Thankfully nearly everyone was settled by the time we got to the gunbarrel.
Meanwhile the hard-pressed, short-staffed guys at the PCC were having a tougher job on their hands managing the long queue for a downstairs screening of 'Godzilla Minus One' - an excellent Toho Godzilla movie, by the way - due to start at about the same time.
I always love seeing FRWL again. Not least because in this one it really does feel as if John Barry is scoring Ian Fleming as much as a James Bond film per se.
Sound is so important to the suspenseful PTS of FRWL. It's really only at somewhere like the BFI that it's possible to enjoy that without a background cacophony of rustling sweet bags, munched crisps and ripped open tabs on cans of fizzy drinks. Certainly not at the PCC. And I'd respectfully suggest that the best call that anyone with a ticket but suffering with a hacking cough could make would be to forget about coming to the cinema altogether and sit it out at home with a cup of LemSip. Just saying.
Still, all that aside... an entertaining screening. It was good that there were a lot of younger people in the audience too - Gen Craig, one might say - appreciating classic Bond. It's always fascinating to see which parts of a Bond film get the biggest laughs in the cinema... I mean genuine laughs from the wide-eyed as opposed to obligatory chortles from the well-worn. Klebb whacking Grant in the stomach with a knuckleduster was such a moment this afternoon.
Gosh, sounds like I missed a metaphorical bullet there @Shady Tree
I may try the showing next Tuesday, as it is during the day, so perhaps a more dedicated crowd. It is in a big screen and virtually empty, with 21 seats sold. Two punters are in the back row [ahem ! 😮]. I am quite keen to see this movie on the big screen as I missed it in the Vue recent rundown.
Otherwise I will be at the John Barry / YOLT bill at the BFI the following week.
Update - FRWL is not going to happen - too much going on right now
Hi all is anyone going to see Thunderball Saturday 24th February? So far this year I have seen Dr No, From Russia With Love and Goldfinger. It’s great seeing them on the big screen. So far Goldfinger and Dr No have been my favourites. From Russia With Love was upstairs and too crowded due to the cinema being short staffed. Otherwise I have been enjoying the films so far.
I saw Thunderball at the Prince Charles a couple of years ago - you can probably dig up my review on Last Bond Seen somewhere. I recommend it, of course it's the first in widescreen.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
I was all set to see You Only Live Twice on Friday - along with a brekkie beforehand at one of the last remaining Cafe Rouge restaurants, nr St Paul's Cathedral, but I found I couldn't quite justify it. It's a film that suffers through Connery's poor physical fitness - he's overweight really - and oft listless performance, that and the long-winded nature of it in the second half. The whole 'turning Japanese' thing is problematic - not exactly due to the politically incorrect aspect of it, though I suppose that doesn't help - but because while it's borrowed from Fleming's book, it just bogs the plot down, all that stuff about having to pretend to be married. Freddie Young's photography may be acclaimed, but for me it's not quite on the money for a Bond film, I like something less impressive, almost. It's hard to pin down the look I like, I want something colourful, heightened reality for sure, but not too lush or like a static painting.
Also, that Cafe Rouge has bad reviews, no wonder they're dying out!
I'd prefer to listen to the soundtrack LP with a bottle of Malbec.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
I saw DAF on the PCC's large downstairs screen yesterday afternoon.
A big screen always makes a difference. Something I'd never really focused on before, though I'm sure that it must have been mentioned somewhere, is that in Willard Whyte's penthouse suite, for the long shots where both Blofelds are in frame and the Blofeld in the high-backed chair is in the distant background with lines to say, that background Blofeld appears to be a mannequin with animated mouth movements to simulate talk - a little creepy! Of course, Charles Gray also has mid-shots as both characters so this is not a special effect which draws attention to itself, at least not on TV sized screens.
Hi is anyone going to see Live and Let Die today?