We went to see a film this afternoon at this lovely little theatre in Shrewsbury - The Old Market Hall.
It is upstairs in this building which is in the middle of Shrewsbury town centre. There’s a lovely little café up there, too, which does a bloomin’ good hot chocolate and one of the best chocolate brownies I’ve had the joy to eat in a long while - not too dry, not too stodgy but just right. The Goldilocks of brownies, if you like. I’m not generally a chocolate brownie sort of person, preferring a nice fruit cake or flapjack, but if I WAS in the mood for a chocolate brownie, I would travel to the Old Market Hall to have one.
The cinema is small - 81 seats - and looks like this inside...
The only disadvantage is if you happen to be seeing a quiet film, as we were this afternoon, then the noise from someone eating, say, a large bag of crisps in the same row as the one you happen to be sitting in can prove quite irritating. Did I say ‘quite’? I meant ‘very.’ Luckily, Andy was sitting between me and the crisp crunching culprit a few seats along thus preventing the full force of my glare reaching them. I am very much of the opinion one does not need to eat OR drink in a cinema. It is wholly antisocial. Especially if it is crisps. Just don’t, right?
Anyway, the film. It was ‘Sometimes, Always, Never’ written by Frank Cottrell Boyce (a favourite children’s author of mine) and starring Bill Nighy, Jenny Agutter and Tim McInnerney. Beautifully written, understated, charmingly witty, gently observed characterisation, it had me entranced from start to finish. I loved the cinematic techniques, the fact there was just one very mild expletive, the poignant memories of Britain in the 70s/early 80s - oh, absolutely EVERYTHING about it. It was one of those films that, for me anyway, has become a personal treasure. It is a film I would watch again, and that is a very rare thing. It is a film I wish I was clever enough to have written because it is a fine example of the writer’s craft.
That’s my opinion, anyway. If you are a fan of violence, crudeness, loudness, explosions, shock, horror, guts being ripped out and spilled over the pavement and every other word beginning with ‘f’ and rhyming with ‘duck’ you probably won’t like it.
It’s a thing of beauty and quiet sophistication. Go see it, then, if you are beautiful, quiet and sophisticated. Just leave the crisps at home.
The cinema is small - 81 seats - and looks like this inside...
Anyway, the film. It was ‘Sometimes, Always, Never’ written by Frank Cottrell Boyce (a favourite children’s author of mine) and starring Bill Nighy, Jenny Agutter and Tim McInnerney. Beautifully written, understated, charmingly witty, gently observed characterisation, it had me entranced from start to finish. I loved the cinematic techniques, the fact there was just one very mild expletive, the poignant memories of Britain in the 70s/early 80s - oh, absolutely EVERYTHING about it. It was one of those films that, for me anyway, has become a personal treasure. It is a film I would watch again, and that is a very rare thing. It is a film I wish I was clever enough to have written because it is a fine example of the writer’s craft.
That’s my opinion, anyway. If you are a fan of violence, crudeness, loudness, explosions, shock, horror, guts being ripped out and spilled over the pavement and every other word beginning with ‘f’ and rhyming with ‘duck’ you probably won’t like it.
It’s a thing of beauty and quiet sophistication. Go see it, then, if you are beautiful, quiet and sophisticated. Just leave the crisps at home.
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