“Going to The Pictures”

The Pictures, The Flicks, The Picture House, The Picture Palace, The Dream Palace, The Cinema, whatever you call it it’s a place we have all been and a place which holds fond memories for many.

REEL MEMORIES WANTED

Where you a Local Cinema goer in South Sefton/ North Liverpool between the 1930’s and 1960’s? If so we would love you to share your cinema stories with us.

The Plaza Community Cinema  has been very fortunate to receive Heritage Lottery funding to carry out a unique and exciting project called ‘Going to the Pictures’ which will look at Cinema Going in the local area.

We will be specifically looking at the period of the 1930’s through to the 1960’s. This was an exciting time in the development of cinema, and was changing times in the world to. With technology moving forward, The Second World War and the aftermath of the World Wars, society, cinema and film changed dramatically.

The Cinema was a place for everyone to go. It was a form escapism and an affordable place to socialize. These times saw the emergence of many new Cinemas in the area.

During this time the cinema or Picture House or Picture Palaces as some people called them, was the place to go.

There were no televisions, Internet or X boxes and PS3’s to keep people entertained and informed, The Cinema showed not only films, but also news reels and played a vital part in providing information and a view on the world.

Many of the Cinemas opened in Liverpool during this time have since closed down, The Plaza which opened its doors in 1939 being one of the few remaining open.

At one time there were 21 Cinema Venues within a 3 mile radius to the Plaza. Some of the original buildings are still there now but have other uses such as bingo halls or bars and even funeral parlours, with their cinematic past becoming faded memories.

Through the project we will tell the story of these cinemas and the people who used them, using research and interviews to help preserve the history of these Cinemas and their importance in society before they become forgotten forever. The project will involve the local community and work with school groups and project partners including The North West Film Archive, North West Sound Archive, Sefton Opera, Nazareth House, Sefton and Liverpool Library Services, Light Factory and National Museums Liverpool, to produce a Cinema Heritage Trail, A project Website, A documentary Film  and oral reminiscences to help preserve this important part of our social history.

Heritage Officer Christina Condron quotes:

“I am delighted to be working on this exciting new community heritage project and looking forward to  bringing generations together to share experiences and learn new skills. We will be having a public launch of the project in the very near future and have lots of exciting activities planned so check out the Plaza website for further details.”

If you have a story to share, any old photo’s or cinema memorabilia or would like to get involved with the project please contact Christina Condron at the Plaza Community Cinema 0151 – 928 1530 or email – goingtothepictures@plazacinema.org.uk

Warning: As this post looks at spoilers, you may find some spoilers in here. But seriously, if you haven’t seen The Empire Strikes Back, please go and watch it (Just don’t forget to come back and read on).

Going into Avengers Assemble last week, I knew it all: the story, the characters, the set pieces…I even had an idea how it would end, all because of everything I’d seen and read previous to buying my ticket and large popcorn combo. At least, I thought I knew it all. Amazingly, despite the massive amount of footage I’d seen in trailers and featurettes online (and trust me, I was a glutton for them), the film had a boatload more to offer. Honestly, I was thankful that the filmmakers decided to hold back the better lines of dialogue, the more thrilling action scenes, and even the majority of story points from a spoiler-addict like myself.

There. I said it.

I guess admitting it to yourself is the first step to getting help, right?

“I am a spoiler-addict”.

Pretty much every day I find myself online, visiting the websites I usually frequent, that just happen to, ohh, I don’t know… openly discuss the latest shaky, handheld videos from behind the scenes of the latest blockbuster-to-be, or reports from spy’s on the set of the next big film I will be putting my hard earned (well…earned, anyway) money down to see. Honestly, I will be paying – sometimes close to £10 depending where I choose to watch these films, in all of their often CGI-filled glory. Why do I insist on knowing everything about them before I even sit down in the theatre?

It’s not like I even have to go out of my way to expose myself to these spoilers, anyway. Most of the trailers these days contain so much spoiler-ific material that it makes actually viewing the film an exercise in futility. (I’m looking at you, Drive).

Drive is a strange example for me really, because I watched the trailer after I saw the film. I went into Drive having not seen a single frame of footage, and having only read the official synopsis months before (which I had completely forgotten when the time came to actually see it). And I had a blast. I knew nothing of where the film might end up, what the characters

would do or how they would do it. If I had seen the trailer first – that wouldn’t have been the case. At all.

In an age where we get everything we want in record times: from cheeseburgers to information, we seem to expect things RIGHT NOW. In that kind of climate, how else can filmmakers hope to hold our attention? Especially when dealing with films that won’t necessarily appeal to a mainstream audience otherwise, like Drive?

“Give them the good stuff right away”.

If things carry on this way, the powers that be at most of these film studios may cotton on. “Why pay millions of dollars to make a 2 hour film, when people seem more than happy to watch the highlights for free in a 2 minute reel of all the best bits? Skipping all of the ‘boring, conversation-y stuff’ that gets them from set piece A, to action scene B?”

Now I’m not saying that watching the latest set video of a pointy eared Zachary Quinto fighting with Benedict Cumberbatch will destroy the notion of cinema as we know it, but try to imagine a world where information doesn’t travel as fast as it does today. Imagine waiting in line to see The Empire Strikes back, having literally only seen this:

Now imagine that was today.

“That’s a trailer moment right there”.

Or sitting in the theatre and seeing this for the first time:

“Tell them it was Earth all along. That ought to bring in the green”.

Oops. Guess I should have flagged a spoiler warning there, eh?

Oh come on! Who hasn’t seen Planet of the Apes?!

So readers, let’s all try something together. Pick a film you are looking forward to this summer: Prometheus… The Amazing Spiderman… The Dark Knight Rises…whatever, and ignore it. Stop thinking about it. Don’t watch anymore trailers. Stay away from any website you fear might spoil the film for you, and simply go into said film without any preconceptions. Let it speak for itself as you sit down, clueless, with your large popcorn combo. I promise you’ll get more out of it.

So, about that new Spiderman trailer…

For more confessions you can follow Alan on facebook or on twitter @Alhemmings

Plaza will be showing Mirror, Mirror (PG, 102 minutes) on Monday 14^th May at 5.30pm.

The film is a modern take on Snow White and includes all the magical ingredients: a beautiful daughter, wicked stepmother and the dwarfs in an adventure comedy, drama-themed storyline.

The film will be screened in Cinema 1 – the large space allows young people safe space to move around. Specially trained staff will be available on the night to help make your visit a success. As always reduced volume and low level lighting will be available throughout the screening.

But this niggling feeling I have unsettles me when I see a film I grew up watching is old enough to be rebooted (don’t think I like that term either). Maybe it’s me getting old but not only Total Recall, Planet of the Apes was hacked to pieces, Arthur, The Karate Kid (No CobraKai…disappointing), what I’m trying to get at is that these films didn’t need to be remade they were perfectly fine the first time round. I would be more than happy with a re-release just like Ridley Scott did with Alien. It feels to me that there should be a new story to tell not another vision, if they’re going to try and remake at least do it with a terrible film and make it better.

John Carpenter worked wonders with The Thing, taking a 1950’s b-movie and making it dark, atmospheric, gruesome and cold it was an outstanding piece of horror. One of the finest action films with Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in ‘Heat’ was a remake of his TV movie LA Takedown.

See it’s proof given a better budget a stella cast even a bad film can be given the gloss of a great film with the right angle, even Death Race was better than the 1975 Death Race 2000, there is hope for any film if that is possible.

I suppose what I’m trying to say, is that maybe a bit of my nostalgia is taking a hit and I’m not liking it but at least leave a respectable amount of time before its done, franchises such as Spiderman, The Mummy and rumours are Nolan’s Batman is being rebooted after the Dark Knight Rises. They should at least let the dust settle and try to create a different angle. If I get down off my soapbox for a second it just worries me that there is a generation of film goers that don’t really appreciate what went before them as Colin Farrell takes the role of Douglas Quaid will anyone remember Arnie or will George Clooney always be Daniel Ocean to some people and Frank Sinatra to other. As I grew up watching old movies and seeing things anew for the very first time and think its time we see that in the theatres and leave the urge to reboot or remake a film alone. if I want to relive a great film I’ll wait till it is being re-run on the cinema and leave the fresh and exciting stuff the big screen.

The Dark Knight Rises is undoubtedly going to be huge, from the first few images of Tom Hardy’s Bane to the first real trailer, everyone has been dying to see more, read more and the appetite for this film grows with every viral website and drip of information that Nolan releases. The previous two installments Batman Begins & The Dark Knight both set the bar for not only superhero films but action films from dark haunting characters to amazing set pieces and its fair to say the final piece of Nolan’s vision will only raise the bar higher and with it being his last film in the series he will know doubt go out on a high.

Or will the third film suffer from too much hype, the Dark Knight made an unbelievable 1 billion dollars worldwide is there a lot of expectation on Nolan’s shoulders? Also the rumours that Bane’s muffled voice may just ruin it for die hard fans? The 3rd act in a series is always a tricky one to get right and could this be the curse of the franchise?

The next contender or contenders is Marvels super group the Avengers. This has been 5 films in the making (Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America) and finally we get them all on the one screen and is looking like everything a fan could ask for.

After waiting behind on the credits in every single film we get to see what the team is going to look like. With some of the most loved heroes of all time featured it has been building up to see how all the ego’s will come together to save the world. We all have a favourite film in the franchise and with Joss Whedon in the director’s seat it will have a great deal of charm and humour, if Serenity is anything to go by, he will be the perfect person to showcase all this talent of Thor, Captain America, Iron Man and the Hulk, you are guaranteed it will have some well executed action sequences. With this being the first film out of the blocks it seems it has the edge on it’s rivals, yet will it be a case of to many cooks spoiling the broth? It maybe the case that all the stars don’t get the right amount of time for everyone?

Swinging in to add his weight into the contest is The Amazing Spiderman

In the reboot of the Sam Riami series there is a lot more angst to this Peter Parker than before. Switching for a more darker adult tone than the tongue in cheek of 2002 release, Andrew Garfield may look a bit old to be in high school but looks perfectly cast to take the mantle of geek turned superhero. There has been a lot of changes to this reboot, Gwen Stacy is in favour for Mary Jane and Parker also has a mysterious back story that he himself as to unravel. Are there be too many changes to Parker’s story and do you feel its a little bit early for a reboot (Spiderman 3 was only released in 2007) only time will tell if this incy wincy spider has enough to take on the heavy hitters of the Avengers and the Bat.

So after that preview of the contenders let us know who’s corner your standing in for the summer? Which one have you been looking forward to the most? It’s safe to say this is the summer of the superhero.

Roll out the red carpet and join us to celebrate local talent. The plaza is proud to announce a special premiere screening of 35mm, A horror short made by 10 local young people.

Plus with have also a Question and Answer session with cast and crew afterwards

This all takes place on Thursday 19^th April at 7pm. (Doors open at 6.30pm). Also the best thing about it is that its FREE ADMISSION.

The plaza would like to acknowledge the support of Cottonfield Films, John Clarke, Imaan Williams and Jake Ryan

This project has been supported by the Lottery through the BFI’s First Light initiative

For more information please contact christine@plazacinema.org.uk