This month’s Venue magazine has a very interesting double-page spread on some of Bristol’s lost cinemas. It is always a fascinating subject and always a sense of frustration for me every time I pass by the former Whiteladies Picture House which has sat empty since its closure in 1999, after owners ABC put a covenant in place preventing it from ever again being a cinema.
It is incomprehensible how a cinema in such an area can remain closed, but in nearby Henleaze a small picture house continues to operate above Waitrose, bucking every trend going and packing punters in through its doors.
I do not have a bad word to say about the Orpheus.
Okay, if you’re watching something quiet in one screen and there’s an action movie in the screen next door, you’ll probably hear some muffled thuds. Okay, the screens themselves are smaller than many modern television sets. Okay, their selection of movies is sometimes baffling. Okay, people have been known to get stuck in their tiny but deceptively heavy doors leading to the foyer area.
But there is so much to love about the Orpheus. Its recent refurbishment means it has now even got digital projectors with 3D technology. Unthinkable a few years ago. And the tickets are no longer cardboard. It feels a bit more shiny, and that’s a good thing. But it’s lost none of its charm.
The Orpheus is a proud neighbourhood cinema that has stood the test of time when other similar cinemas across Bristol and across the country have closed due to the tough competition from the out-of-town multiplexes.
On Mondays, tickets cost £3.30. That is reason enough to go to the Orpheus, but there are so many more. It’s a special place that deserves to be treasured.
One of the other reasons why it’s stood the test of time is how popular it is on the weekends with local families. It’s a safe place to take the kids for a lunchtime kids flick.
I was there just last night. Love the convenience (I’m round the corner) and the fact that many of their movies are ones that the multiplexes ignore. They do still show those big budget blockbusters too.
Everyone appears to adhere to the Wittertainment code of conduct too. How civilised!