2009 was a big year for British film, and hopefully that will continue into 2010. There has never been a better time to immerse yourself in cinema, and there are many ways to get involved beyond just going to the cinema. If your new years resolution was to get more into movies, and you live in the UK, here are ten things you can do towards that goal.
10 Follow Freeviewfilms on Twitter
There are so many freeview channels now, it can be time consuming to look through all the channels to see which movies are coming up. There is now a solution – Follow Freeviewfilms on twitter. Their feed announces every movie shown on freeview, five minutes before the start. This means any time you feel like watching a movie, you can see what’s on offer. I’ve found it very useful particularly over the holiday season.
www.twitter.com/freeviewfilms
9 Subscribe to Sky Movies HD
Not a huge revelation maybe, but with movies on freeview very hit or miss, and generally several years old, Sky Movies is still the best option for seeing movies first. At £79 for the box and set up, and £44 a month for the full HD movies package, it’s not cheap. But if you can afford it (I wish…) you’ll get to see the biggest movies before anywhere else on television.
8 Sign Up With Lovefilm
If Sky is too pricy for you, or if you want more choice about what movies you want to see, Lovefilm is the best option for DVD rentals. They send you a disc, you watch it, you send it back, then Lovefilm will send out your next disc on the day they receive the previous one. There are packages that allow 2, 4 or unlimited discs a month, and you can opt to have 1,2 or 3 discs at any one time. Rates run from 3.99 for 2 rentals a month, one disc at a time, up to 18.99 for unlimited rentals with 3 discs at a time.
www.lovefilm.com
7 Visit Indie Movies Online
If you’re interested in independent film, Indie Movies Online is a great site. You can watch full length independent movies for FREE. It’s completely legal, they have permission from the license holders to stream them. The idea is to provide a place to showcase great independent works. They have premieres of brand new independent films, like Pat Higgins’ The Devil’s Music or Dom Rotheroe’s fantastic Exhibit A.
http://www.indiemoviesonline.com/
6 Hold an Awards Party
It’s award season, so why not get some friends together to celebrate the greatest films and filmmakers from last year.
The Baftas are held on Sunday 21st February
The 82nd Academy Awards are presented on Sunday March 7th
5 Visit the Jameson Cult Film Club
Along with other one-off events, Jameson Cult Film Club are hosting a free cult film season in London. Each screening takes place in an atmosphere designed around the theme of the film, and last year’s screenings included This Is Spinal Tap, Halloween and An American Werewolf in London.
4 Join the British Film Institute
The BFI South Bank was host to some great events in 2009, including an audience with Terry Gilliam, and preview screenings of The Hurt Locker and Moon which included live Q&As with their directors Kathryn Bigelow and Duncan Jones respectively. BFI also run the Imax at Waterloo, the biggest screen in the UK.
If you join the BFI, you can enjoy priority booking, advance info, free monthly screenings, ticket discounts and lots more. Cost for a year’s membership is £40.
http://www.bfi.org.uk/
3 Go to the Raindance Open House
Want to do more than just watch films? Want to get involved in the writing or the production of them? This is a good place to start. Raindance isn’t just a film festival. They offer a wide range of courses all year around, run by experienced professionals. Courses range from script writing and pitching to practical filmmaking and editing.
The open evening allows you to meet and talk to the instructors, find out more about what Raindance can offer, and is being held on 11th January from 6.30 to 9.00pm at Craven St Rehearsal Studios London WC2N 5PE.
Call 0207 287 3833 to book or visit
2 Go to a Film Festival
If you want to catch some great forthcoming movies, there are several film festivals in the UK.
BFI London Film Festival – http://www.bfi.org.uk/lff/
Raindance Film Festival –
London Independent Film Festival – http://www.londonindependent.org/
London Short Film Festival – http://www.shortfilms.org.uk/
If you’ve made a short film, The End of the Pier International Film Festival is now taking submissions. Based around a short film competition, it is being held in Worthing, West Sussex. If you haven’t made your own film, go and take a look at some of the work and others to inspire you to create your own movie to enter next year.
1 Stayed tuned to Heyuguys
If you want to keep up to date with all the latest news, clips and trailers, as well as enjoy fun and thought provoking articles, visit us regularly.
https://www.heyuguys.com/
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Bazmann – You can follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/baz_mann
