On a sweltering Friday night last week, DCM’s resident Film Specialist, Tom Linay, took a trip to the BFI IMAX to see mega monster/robot battle, Pacific Rim.
In amongst all the giant robot versus giant monster mayhem that has filled the trailers and television spots for Guillermo Del Toro’s latest blockbuster, it appears that the fact that Pacific Rim is probably the most family friendly of all the summer’s big films is being kept a secret from the general public. Read more
The gala reopening of The Regal Redruth takes place this Sunday 21 July, following the completion of the latest £1.5m stage in a massive refurbishment of the town’s art deco landmark. The alterations have created five modern cinema auditoria with a re-modelled 650 seat cinema and live theatre within the existing original building.
Over the last five years, the Regal has been totally transformed with substantial renovation to the structure of the building, a new roof, complete rewire, the addition of a bar and restaurant, reinstatement of the original open plan foyer, new toilets and disabled access improvements. Three of the new licensed auditoria also have individual armchairs and sofas, a popular concept that has been trialled successfully at some of the company's other cinemas. Read more
A new comedy from the director of Bridesmaids, featuring the break-out star of that film, alongside the queen of US comedy, Sandra Bullock, is a dead cert to be funny, right? Thankfully, on the evidence of The Heat, the answer is an unequivocal ‘yes’.
Melissa McCarthy plays Shannon Mullins, an uncouth Boston detective whose methods are frowned upon but, obviously, she gets results. Bullock plays Sarah Ashburn, an uptight and prissy FBI agent who is strictly by the book. You don’t need to be Stephen Hawking to work out that the pair will soon be working together and initially their relationship can best be described as ‘frosty’. Read more
Before I start showering Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg’s new film with praise, I should qualify that I am not a particularly big fan of either Shaun Of The Dead or Hot Fuzz and have always considered Spaced their collective high point. Having seen The World’s End, I am quickly reconsidering that opinion as not only have they produced the funniest film of the year so far, they may have even surpassed their cult Channel 4 sitcom.
The film begins with a short preface set in 1990, showing five teenagers attempting to complete a legendary pub crawl of 12 pints in 12 pubs around the fictional town of Newton Haven. The scene quickly cuts to the present day and Pegg’s Gary King, during a group counseling session, is given the idea to finally complete the pub crawl. Soundtracked by a host of 90s indie bands, the plot is very clearly aiming to inspire nostalgia in a certain demographic. As part of that demographic, I may be very susceptible, but I bought into it completely. Read more
You may have noticed the bright yellow ball in the sky that made the UK very warm this weekend.
The fantastic weather didn't hinder Despicable Me 2, which held on to the top spot with another £4m taking its cume to £22.9m. That takes it well clear of the first Despicable Me’s final £20.2m total and with the school holidays on the horizon, there’s plenty more to come. Read more
Digital Cinema Media (DCM) and the Cinema Exhibitor’s Association (CEA) are two of the sponsors of this year’s Screen Awards, which are currently open for entries. Excellence amongst exhibitors both large and small will be recognised with a new ‘Exhibitor of the Year’ award, sponsored by the CEA, while DCM will celebrate brands that have aligned themselves with film. There is still time to enter your cinemas as entries are accepted until 26 July. So if you’d like to celebrate your success with the rest of the screen industry, here is all that you need to know.
Now in its fourth year and fast becoming the annual event for all those involved in film marketing and distribution, the Screen Marketing & Distribution Awards honour the outstanding work of the UK film industry’s most unsung art forms. Read more
This week, DCM Close Up talks to Kevin Markwick, owner of The Picture House in Uckfield. Kevin has managed The Picture House since 1994, when he inherited it from his father. Kevin is also an active voice of the industry, with his own personal blog, Cinema Owner Confidential and a regular podcast, The Kevin Markwick Show.
How did you end up working in cinema and what do you love about it? Read more
Mattel has entered into a three month sponsorship of Cineworld’s Movies for Juniors weekend film screenings to promote its new CGI animated TV series, Max Steel.
The global toy brand is using the cinema medium from 8 July to drive brand awareness of Max Steel, which is its latest action figure property launch. Exclusive sponsorship of Movies for Juniors offers the toy company an opportunity to reach its target market out-of-home and in a shared environment on family days out. Read more
Even the sunshine couldn’t stop the minions bringing in the millions, as Despicable Me 2 opened with a mammoth £14.8m.
Although that includes £4.9m in previews from last weekend, it’s still an incredible performance and the Friday to Sunday total of £10m is the third highest opening of the year. With the first Despicable Me’s final total at £20.2m, it looks like the sequel could potentially double that. Read more
Digital Cinema Media’s (DCM) CEO Simon Rees shares his thoughts on the challenges of connecting with today’s increasingly connected consumer.
Engaging with the increasingly connected consumer has been a key theme in the last couple of weeks, both in Cannes and the equally glamorous Cannon Street for MediaTel’s own Connected Consumer event. Read more
Hi Exhibitors,
June turned out to be sad month with the passing of Gerry Parkes who lost his gallant fight against cancer. There was a huge turnout for his memorial service at the Parkway Cleethorpes with two very good speeches from Phil Clapp of the CEA and his business colleague Rob Younger. All very emotional and our thoughts are with the family. It was good news though that he was able to receive his MBE before he passed away, but tragic he didn't make it to Buckingham Palace to receive it from the Queen personally. We were thrilled to see how proud Denise, his wife, was while wearing Gerry’s medal at the Service. Read more
A recent office discussion on the greatest comedy characters of the last 25 years inspired much heated debate but there was one name we could all agree on, Alan Partridge.
Created by Steve Coogan in 1991 for the BBC Radio 4 comedy programme On The Hour, Partridge has proved an enduring comic creation through three television series, numerous specials and a web series. Now after 22 years, Alan Partridge finally has his own film, Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa and its release is less than two months away on 7 August. Time to get excited. Read more
