Film List - my 6 favourite cinema experiences

Rather than share memories of favourite films, this month I thought I'd review some of my favourite cinema experiences.

So (in no particular order)......

The Ritz

My hometown 'flea-pit' in Monmouth. (Or was it The Regal? Or The Roxy? God, I've forgotten!) Most of my first few hundred cinema experiences must have been there. There were a few opera boxes at the back, which my parents usually favoured - it made for a remarkably cosy and intimate feeling, rather like being able to enjoy the cinema experience in your own living room. I recall becoming indecently aroused by Racquel Welch's fur bikini in One Million Years BC, scared witless by the homicidal computer in 2001, and bored and embarrassed by my parents' sorry addiction to The Sound Of Music (which they must have taken me to see at least a half a dozen times; it's only recently that I've become able to enjoy it again).

The Penultimate Picture Palace

An arthouse flea-pit in Oxford, where I whiled away most of my undergraduate days. (After a period in hiatus, I gather it is now operating again as The Ultimate Picture Palace.) All the Oxford cinemas were great (even the major chains in the city centre); indeed, I retrospectively justified my choice of Oxford over Cambridge to myself by reference to the amount of cinema available; in the '80s, Cambridge had only about half the number of screens that Oxford did, and no decent arthouse. The other independent Oxford cinemas, The Phoenix and Not The Moulin Rouge, were also wonderful, but the PPP was my favourite of all because it was so endearingly sleazy - and so cheap.

The Prince Charles

A sleazy arthouse cinema in the heart of London, with very cheap afternoon shows. During my law school days in the mid-90s, I was a weekly - sometimes daily - visitor there; and I always make a point of going there once or twice on every trip back to the UK now.

The Castro

A huge, old school cinema - complete with a Wurlitzer organ (although, unfortunately, I have not heard it being played) - at the west end of San Francisco's main drag of Market Street, adjacent to the 'gay ghetto' of Castro Street. I went to a screening of Dr Strangelove there on my first visit to the city 15 years ago. Sadly, the place was almost deserted; but it is undoubtedly the most beautiful cinema I have ever been in.

Nameless cinema in Nadi, Fiji

While backpacking around the world in the mid-90s, I took the opportunity to go to a local cinema in Fiji a couple of times. The main features were pretty disappointing - Maverick and Blink; the supporting films I have completely forgotten. However, it was a fascinating experience, a glimpse of what film-going might have been like in America or the UK back in the early days: an uproarious communal event with lively and almost continuous audience interaction - boos, cheers, laughter, shouts of "He's behind you!", etc. (I also recall cutting my hand to ribbons one night. I'd purchased a coconut on the street outside, but in the dark I was fumbling to prise the flesh out of the shell with a Swiss Army penknife that kept snapping shut on my fingers. Ouch.)

The China Film Archive

Not an especially wonderful cinema, and I've only been there once. But it's good to know that it's so convenient for where I live - only about a 20-minute walk away. And I had a marvellous time there last month at the 'Scottish Cinema of Dreams' festival organized by Tilda Swinton and Mark Cousins. Admission was free, but it wasn't clear how many advance tickets distributed via the Internet were actually going to be used (I'd tried to get some, but the website kept crashing), so there was quite a crowd of us waiting anxiously outside, wondering if we'd get in. It was great chatting with some Chinese film enthusiasts in the queue. Some other foreign friends showed up too. And we did all get in. They were trying to recreate the atmosphere of Scotland inside: potted pine trees, pine fragrance, projections of snowy highlands on three walls, and Cousins in his kilt. I could have done without Rod Stewart's Sailing before we started the movie - but some people found it jolly. We were there to see Bill Douglas's trilogy of autobiographical short films - which are striking, but very glum viewing: not easy to sit through in a single stretch. It was also somewhat unfortunate timing, in that the early evening showing had started at around 6pm - dinner time! Luckily, there was an extended break between the second and third instalments, so we all ravenously dashed out on to the streets in a hectic search for the nearest snackfood vendors. And nobody minded that we brought beer and chuanr into the theatre with us for part three. The perfect cinema refreshments! That was the most fun (despite the oppressively dour nature of the films) I've had at the cinema in several years; and, almost certainly, the most fun I'm ever likely to have at the cinema in China.