Cinema in Bristol

Film, like all art, is integral to Bristol’s character. As well as four multiplexes, from the Showcase to Vue to Cineworld to Odeon chains, what really gets popcorn fans salivating is the independent houses playing the more left-field, stimulating productions you won’t necessarily see being covered by the likes of Jonathan Ross.

From the velvet kitsch of the Cube just off Stokes Croft, to the Watershed with its constant director talks, workshops, festivals and film clubs, to the Orpheus in Henleaze playing locals’ favourites ahead of chart toppers, there’s always somewhere playing the latest international flick everyone’s raving about (but almost nobody’s managed to actually see).

And at the other end of the scale is the new Showcase Cinema de Lux in the centre Cabot Circus development – as it name suggests, viewers are treated like royalty with waiters bringing drinks to you in body-enveloping sofa-like seats, excellent bar food and the kind of screen and audio quality worthy of a Leicester Square premier. Finish a day’s shopping at Harvey Nics and dining at Brasserie Blanc with the latest Bond flick in the Directors’ Lounge for the ultimate in pampering.

For more on Bristol’s cinema scene see: www.ents24.com/web/whatson/cinema/Bristol.html