Time to go see another advanced preview of a movie. Sam Mendes Empire of Light. From the moment ive heard about this film ive been like omfg i have to see this movie, its going to be off the scale & its going to be everything i ever want to see at the cinema. AHHHHH. Yea this is going to be perfect.

Screen 1 is almost sold out for this id say its about 75% full. Didnt spot anyone from sunday there, but im in my favourite chair so wooohooo. Right mix of age groups too.

Trailers, Till (seen) Plane (probably) Otto (advanced preview booked) Babylon (yes) & The Whale. Its the first time ive seen the whale advertised in the cinema, ekkkkkkkkkk I hope we get it, i cant wait to cry at at.

& then the movie started… Beautiful, absolutely Beautiful. It was what i wanted & more & it just ahhhhhhhhhh. Yea i feel in love with this film, almost from the first frame on the screen. & as it kept going i fell for it even more.

I cried a few times & did a lot of welling up. At the story, at the cinematography, at the issues it dealt with & the raw human emotion. Oh my did i tears drop from my eyes. It broke & repaired your heart so many times.

You wait years for a film, to be made where you are & then you get 3 really quickly. Yes another film made in Worthing. I mean it was mainly Margate & Hastings (ive been there too) but yea they danced on the pier & pavilion wooohoooo. Happy bloody days.

I love that it spent a long amount of time explaining how the gubbins & the inside of a cinema works. As a film & cinema nerd i bloody loved that. It was so nice to hear people talk about the little beam of light & how its shine effects people in certain ways, especially when after the majority of the film, she walks in after closing & says show me a movie. I cried at that. Thats all i ever want to say to people, go to your cinema see a movie, live a good life & escape all the issues you face. Thats what cinema is, always has been always will be. So inspiring. & it was also the peoples storys about how thye run their cinema & what it means to them.

Coleman & Ward were phenomenal. Truly amazing. I loved both there performances & the struggles each of them faced. The mental health aspect & how it was dealt with then was shocking & just like what the hell. I am so glad we have better things in place today. & then the racism, its always hard to watch that, & was so horrendous to see it be so graphic & the aftermath from it at the different times. Two lost souls who found each other at the right time. Goosebumps at points, as to how well they dealt with both.

Toby Jones didnt have much to do in this, but he was so sweet & such a nice projectionist who really just did get everyone. & i never thought as proper adult with him being much older, would i hear Colin Firth say the line “oh hurry up & suck me off!” I tried so hard to not laugh at that. His character deserved his humiliation.

The way they dressed that cinema & styled it made me wish i was watching it at my local independents, it was beautiful. Some of the cinematography, well if you didnt know it was a Mendes movie, well you could tell. Especially anything at the beach, in the main auditorium of the cinema & the fireworks. I got properly emotional watching those fireworks. It was lush. Thats was good filming looks like. Properly lush & stunning.

The pigeon was a good metaphor for what we were going to see in the rest of the film going forward. I didnt realise that til half way through & i was like ahh bloody bird. What an amazing analogy.

So yea i left the cinema a little emotional & like i needed a warm hug. A film made about cinema & how it effects people, being shown at an advance screening to cinema people… perfect. Its not going to be a buzzer contender, but its a very very special film. Me as a Cinephile adored every single frame.