From films on fridges to a floating cinema pop-up cinemas

From films on fridges to a floating cinema pop-up cinemas are popping up everywhere around the UK. Here's a few of our favourites...pass the popcorn...   

Future Cinema aims to bring to life films as eye-poppingly, breathtaking multi-sensory, immersive experiences that draw the audience into the magical world of the film.

Past experiences have involved real-life splat gun fights at Fat Sam's for Bugsy Malone, re-creating those summer nights at Rydell High for a Grease reunion (below) and - last Friday - transporting the audience back in time to 1940's Morocco for a special Valentine's screening of Casablanca.       

Image via: www.the-gild.com

After many outfit changes I finally found my inner Ingrid (Bergman) and plumped for a pencil skirt, seamed tights, vintage heels, trench coat and fedora and hit the Troxy. We were met by a line-up of fierce Moroccan guards and escorted down an eerily lit corridor humming with the hustle and bustle of a busy market.         

Then wham! We stepped into the legendary Rick's American Cafe and were catapulted right back to the forties. The cafe was buzzing with hundreds of sharp-suited guys and girls channeling Bogart and Hepburn - everyone had made a huge effort to look the part and were cooly sipping Champagne Paris 75 cocktails around black jack tables.   
   
As with all Future Cinema events the devil is in the detail with so much thought going into the costumes, lighting and music - there was even a dancer with a live python!  

Image via: http://www.futurecinema.co.uk/news.html

After (a few too) many Paris 75 cocktails served in beautiful vintage glasses, a couple of unsuccessful hands of black jack, some tiny portions Tagine (the only disappointing element of the evening as they were pricey and super small) we settled down to watch the film - an all time classic the atmosphere and theatre around us made this epic movie really come to life.

By the time the credits rolled we were ready for some fabulous forties fun on the dancefloor to the live swing band playing a medley of hits - from old blue eyes to some bad ass big band tunes that had everyone spinning and swinging around.

We finally dragged ourselves away from dance-floor and into the reality of the last tube home to bed with tired feet but happy hearts. What's great about Future Cinema is that it really does give you everything you want from a night out in just one night in one place - food (ok that wasnt the best bit but we were fed), cocktails, a great film, music and dancing! It's not cheap at £50 a ticket but I'd pay it again Sam (sorry!) This is the start of a friendship that is definitely going to carry on and on.

There are great pop-up cinemas all round the UK, including Darkened Rooms in Wales and the Any Given Sunday film screenings in South Shields and you can check out some others here . 

Psst...Tell No One....

We're nearly through with one whole month of 2013 and I can confidently assume that dry January has been broken, the thrice weekly gym visits are starting to wear a bit thin and saving to pay back Christmas debts is long forgotten! If that ticks all the boxes then I have the perfect solution to cheer up the start of your February and more importantly, wave goodbye to dull January and re-inject some excitement into your life!  

Whether you use it as the best date idea ever or just a girls' day/evening out...prepare yourself to be wow'ed...I'm talking an immersive cinema experience with a ridiculous amount of twists and turns - a film viewing never to be forgotten!  

Future cinema describes itself as a 'live events company that specialises in creating living, breathing experiences of the cinema' and from the sound of the raving reviews it definitely doesn't fall short of this! The concept is simply bringing classic films to life through interactive experiences for the audience - think a fusion of performance, film, design and multimedia. Are you having difficulty working out exactly what's involved? Yup, us too but it's pretty difficult to explain given the secrecy surrounding each event. Future Cinema's sister company, Secret Cinema, sums it up with its strap line - 'Tell No one', half the fun is not knowing what to expect! When you buy your ticket you have no idea about which film you'll be seeing or where you'll be seeing it, you'll just know when you must be available and you'll find out all the rest along the way! 

For the darn right inquisitive (like me), Google means that we can get a little sneaky peek of what to expect though! I've read up about previous experiences and I can't help but share a couple with you as it sounds simply amazing! While there are some people in life who can cope with not planning and are quite happy just going with the flow, stop reading now...however if like me, you're the type that likes to get excited, research and plan, read on...! I repeat, laid back types, please beware the following is a *SPOILER*...if you don't want to know any details and want it to be a total surprise DO NOT read on! 

Now that's out of the way, lets get into the fun details! So back by popular demand is The Shawshank Redemption which you can buy your tickets for here and which has been a phenomenal success in the past!

Images via http://movieretrospect.blogspot.co.uk

It went like this...the cinema goers were sent a court summons telling them to meet at Bethnal Green library in a suit at a specific time. On arrival, each audience member was given a prison jumpsuit to change into and bundled into a blacked out bus to a secret location... which turned out to be a disused school transformed into a prison of course! The 'prisoners' were then locked in their cells, given chilled beers at the same time as the actors in the film, swapped tokens in the library for illicit drinks and experienced a brawl in the prison yard involving gun shots and choreographed fighting scenes by 'other' prisoners (actors)....could this sound any more fun?! Especially as all the while  the audience had no idea what was around the next corner, where they were or what was real....?!?

Most recently added to the list especially for Valentine's Day is Casablanca, with the promise of Nazi's, refugees, nightclubs, piano sing-a-longs and gambling dens...intrigued...for just £25 a ticket a once in a lifetime cinema experience could be yours, pick up your tickets ASAP right here with 15th Feb - 3rd March dates still available! 

Image via http://tvtropes.org/