Open day at the new Curzon cinema in Millbank

The new cinema on the ground floor of the Millbank Tower officially opens from Friday 25^th February. However, on the weekend of 19/20 February the cinema had its public open weekend. From 11am-4pm, people were able to take a look around the café-bar and cinema, as well as seeing a range of short films and trailers from upcoming features. The new cinema is a one screen cinema with a Screen capacity of 280 seats.

The opening times are:

Monday to Friday 5.30pm – 11.30pm

Saturday and Sunday 10.30am – 11.30pm

For details on screening times, please go to http://www.curzoncinemas.com/cinemas/millbank/

The foyer is rather classy with a decor mostly in black and white. A little bit of colour is added by some red leather seats.

The design is continued within the auditorium, where the seats are covered in black fake leather with the walls kept white.

The design reminds me of that of a very posh lecture hall where the universities have spent all the money received through the newly raised tuition fees.

When speaking to one of the friendly staff that was available on the premises to inform about the cinema, I had my impression confirmed: Because the cinema is cooperating with Altitude London, the space is not only used as a cinema, but as a conference venue.

This fact is reflected in the cinema times: The cinema will be closed until 5.30pm on weekdays. During this time, the venue is reserved for events organised by Altitude. Only afterwards is it ‘turned into’ a cinema.

This can cause problems with certain schedules as the program for the opening week shows: The cinema will open on Friday 25^th February but will have to close between 28^th February and 3^rd March as the venue will be used for events organised by Altitude London. Highlighting this problem during my conversation with one of the staff members, he confirmed that this scenario – although unlikely – could be repeated in the future.

But let this not spoil the fact that we will have a cinema within walking distance of Vauxhall – and with its own Barclays bike docking station right in front of the door!

The program for the time being will be as follows:

On a weekly basis, one film will be shown at different times: Two showings in the evening during the week and four showings a day over the weekend, one in the morning and three in the afternoon/evening.

Additionally to the main film program, there will be a dedicated Cinekids screening Saturdays at 10.30am as well as a Classic film screening on Sundays at 1pm.

The prices for the screenings are:

PEAK TICKETS:

Monday to Friday and Saturday and Sunday after 12 noon to close:

£ 10.50 / Members £8.50

EARLY BIRD:

All shows before 12pm £6.00 / Members £5.00

CHILDREN (under 15):

£6.00 at all times

CINEKIDS:

Children (under 15) £3.00

Adults £1.00

Adults not accompanied by a child will have to pay the full Early Bird price.

BOOKING FEE:

There is a £1.00 booking fee per online booking.

For more detailed information as to screen times, how to become a member and the exact ‘how to get there’ information, please visit http://www.curzoncinemas.com