Combining nostalgia and an ardent love for cinema, Nottingham’s retro film screenings are an experience one should not miss.
Recently, I went to the Savoy cinema in Lenton, Nottingham where every few weeks, The Loft Movie Theatre, a Nottingham-based film club, shows a cult classic film to a jam-packed room of cinephiles.
The most recent screening I attended was the 1985 corny classic Commando starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. I had not seen the film before and soon realised I was very much a part of the minority in that regard.
Every eye-rolling one-liner and iconic quote was met with a flurry of laughs and cheers from the audience. People would recite famous quotes along with Arnie and celebrate every time the man-mountain punched, shot, or exploded an enemy.
Those 90 minutes truly amounted to one of the best cinema-going experiences I have ever had. I left the cinema amid a crowd teeming with passionate conversation about the over-the-top action classic.
This is not an uncommon occurrence with retro-screenings.
Usually, retro screenings will come in two forms; those set up by a studio and released through a number of chain cinemas on a film’s significant anniversary. Or those set up by film enthusiasts, not necessarily on a film’s anniversary, but just due to the organiser’s adoration for said film.
The films chosen by studios for a mass rollout on their anniversary are usually bona fide classics – films near-guaranteed to draw in an audience. On the contrary, when independent film buffs organise a screening, they could choose to do the same, but more often than not, a film with a cult following will be chosen.
This last year saw a huge re-release of James Cameron’s cinematic juggernaut Titanic to theatres worldwide. Remastered for 3D and attempting to build fans’ appetites for Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water, the film reportedly grossed $22.3 million on its rerelease.
This Friday, the greatest love story of all time is back in theatres.
See #Titanic for a limited time this Valentine’s Day Weekend in 4K 3D with early showings beginning February 9. pic.twitter.com/7GAkmtzibO
— Titanic (@TitanicMovie) February 6, 2023
The beauty of the retro screening comes from its rarity. Especially for younger fans, as many students reading this will be. Films considered a ‘rite of passage’ for film fans have long since left theatres along with the chance of seeing the spectacle of them on the big screen. But many of these classics deserve the big screen treatment.
Most recently at the Savoy cinema, I attended a screening of Akira, a 1988 dystopian anime. I was familiar with the film prior and knew of its fantastic critical reception, but as someone who does not watch anime, I would (ignorantly) have not got around to watching this at home for quite some time. Seeing it theatrically for its 35th anniversary was a perfect excuse – and it was an absolute blast.
Before the lights went down, I could hear a group of people behind me talking to each other about the film. One was asked whether he had seen the film prior, and his response was something along the lines of “I have, a few times. But never managed to watch it all without getting distracted and doing something else. Same with The Godfather”.
This is perhaps a more underrated benefit of a retro screening; the attention it demands of the viewer. A whole separate issue in itself is the modern attention span and its detrimental impact on film-watching at home without checking your phone. In a cinema, you are forced to watch the film unfold and truly appreciate the artistry. Retro screenings give the audience this.
In Nottingham, film fans have a choice of places to watch these.
Cineworld is conveniently located centrally in the city but throwback screenings will rarely be shown here. Films re-released here are almost always down to a studio roll-out as seen with the Harry Potter 4K re-releases and as mentioned before, the rollout of Titanic in 3D.
A more reliable place for throwback screenings is the Broadway Cinema, also located pretty centrally to the city. A lot of these films will be anniversary film releases, but not necessarily done so on behalf of a studio – as seen most recently with the 30th-anniversary showings of Scorsese’s ‘The Age of Innocence’. This more affordable cinema is also a great place for smaller films not shown by chain cinemas such as Cineworld.
Mentioned throughout this article is the Savoy Cinema in Lenton. This is the most reliable cinema for such screenings, mostly down to The Loft Movie Theatre mentioned earlier. The range of retro film events provides a great mix of genres and cult status. However, you would want to keep a watch on Savoy’s website regularly if you don’t want to miss out since these screenings often sell out pretty quickly.
Image credits: Jeremy Yap on Unsplash