Glasgow Film Theatre

To be honest until a couple of months ago when I began researching the Glasgow Film Festival I had never even heard of the Glasgow Film Theatre before.  It had just completely passed me by; I had no idea what it was about.  For 36 years the GFT has been leading the way in specialised cinema and the Glasgow Film Theatre is, ‘a year-round screening programme of the classics of world cinema and contemporary art house films.' glasgowfilm.org/theatre/information/about_glasgow_film. The cinema is situated in the centre of Glasgow just off Sauchiehall Street on Rose Street, which makes me even more surprised that I hadn't heard of it until recently.  It is a perfect venue for people out shopping or out for a nice meal.

The GFT in the upcoming weeks is going to be showing films such as Benda Bilili! Les Diaboliques, Patagonia and  Submarine.  Apart from the fact I had previously never heard of the GFT before if I am going to be brutally honest I have kind of been holding off on going to visit this cinema.  Mainly because none of the films that are shown here are what I would normally go to see.  I mean I highly doubt you would be seeing Tangled, Gnomeo and Juliet or Chalet Girl here - you just wouldn't - and these are the types of films that I am generally into.  It is kind of making me jump to assumptions about the type of people who will go to watch films here and it is also giving me the impression that it is going to be really expensive.  However, I have finally found a film that might appeal to me, ‘Never let me go’ imdb.com/title/tt1334260/  so I think I am going to check that one out.

Here is some information on the Glasgow Film Theatre:

- The GFT is part of Scotland's culture, and it is the heart of the Glasgow Film Festival in the spring

- The inside hosts incredible Art Deco designs and features

- The building was previously used by the Cosmo which opened in 1939

- The Scottish Film council took over it and reopened it in 1974 as the Glasgow Film Theatre

- The GFT is an independent cinema house

I am really apprehensive about going to visit this one, I honestly have know idea what to expect, and I have a feeling it's not really going to be my scene.  I love quaint, different cinema's but I have a feeling that this may be a little bit fancy for me.  I am keeping an open mind though, and I am quite excited now for going to see a film I would perhaps not normally see…

Hannah xx

Grosvenor: everything I imagined and £1.50 more...

My love for this cinema has only strengthened since going to watch a movie here.  As I had previously said I had always walked past this cinema and just never really had the time to go in.  However, everything was right, from the cinema experience to the film we saw.  The cinema was just as quaint and old fashioned inside as it was on the outside.  The fact that it is based in Ashton Lane one of my favourite streets in Glasgow, that has one of my favourite restaurants in Glasgow, Ketchup, list.co.uk/place/103273-ketchup/ is not the point.  As soon as you walk through the doors it feels so welcoming and the experience is amazing.  It's the perfect setting for this cinema and the cinema being small and old fashioned fits in with the feel of Ashton Lane.  It looks like a mini theatre from the outside with it's bright lights and now showing board, I just love it...Another plus about this cinema is that it is easy to get to from the centre of Glasgow just get a subway from Buchannan Street station to Hillhead and you are pretty much there.

However, I have one major flaw with this cinema....we had decided to go on a Thursday to the 2.20pm showing of Chalet girl (mainly as Ed Westwick is in the movie and I am a massive Gossip Girl fan) and as I didn’t know how busy it would be I decided to purchase our tickets in advance, online - bad idea.  An adult ticket was £6.50 and a student ticket was £5.00 not that bad I guess but it's the fact that after these extortionate ticket prices they hit you with a £1.50 booking fee.  This makes a student ticket now an adult price, totally not worth pre booking in my opinion, seeing as the cinema was busy but it wasn't packed.  It annoys me so much as I had already in my previous blogs been talking about the extortionate ticket prices but with a £1.50 booking fee it makes you think is it really worth it....The answer to that is in this cinemas case yes it is. 

The staff were friendly and polite, the seats were comfy (lovely leather seats with plenty of space to put drinks and plenty of leg room) everything was just perfect about this cinema, really really perfect it had been the one I had been looking forward to and it was everything I imagined the experience would be.  I only wished I could have gone at a later time as I love Ashton Lane at night with its bright lights, but as it's a small cinema its programme is quite limited.  It usually shows around six to eight different movies, and on the week I went to see Chalet Girl it was only showing it at 2.20pm everyday so it's not really as if I had a choice as to if I wanted to see it at a later time. 

As for the film Chalet girl guardian.co.uk/film/2011/mar/17/chalet-girl-review it was surprisingly amazing, it was extremely funny, light hearted and held my attention the whole way through - Ed Westwick was a major bonus in the film.  I would highly recommend this film to everyone and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I would probably have to say my favourite film so far, it was brilliant.

So, the perfect film for an amazing cinema, everyone should go check it out, it is probably the best experience there is out there....forget those Cineworld and Empire experiences The Grosvenor is the place to be...

Hannah xx

The Grosvenor

I am actually so excited for going to visit this next cinema; it has been the one cinema out of all the ones in and around Glasgow that I want to check out.  It's the Grosvenor Cinema on Ashton Lane.  I pass it all the time and have always been desperate to check it out, but I have just not really gotten round to it.  Now I am finally going to get to experience it next week and I cannot wait. 

The thing that has always caught my eye with this cinema is the fact that from the outside it looks quaint and modest almost old fashioned, such a massive contrast to the other cinemas I have been too- I can't wait to experience a proper 'theatre' trip.  To me small cinemas are what I always imagined the cinema experience to be like, and I love visiting Ashton Lane it's probably one of my favourite places to go to in Glasgow.  It's the perfect place for a cinema in Glasgow's West End...

Even the Grosvenor's website gets me excited with it's old fashioned, classic feel grosvenorcafe.co.uk/cinema.php.  I like how instead of cinema listings the website has a programme of what is going to be shown it makes it feel more like a theatre than anything else - which I like.

So now here are some interesting facts about the Grosvenor on Ashton Lane:
- There are a total number of 2 screens in this cinema
- With 208 seats altogether - 104 per screen
- The cinema first opened in May 1921

- It reopened on the 28th of November 2003 to the public

I think I am going to go and see Chalet Girl imdb.com/title/tt1487118/ at this cinema as although the trailer didn't look that good Ed Westwick is in it and a few of my friends have been raving about it.  But I guess I will wait and see what is showing and what times suit… I physically cannot wait to visit this one...

Hannah xx