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An independent cultural and nightlife website, with its ear to the ground.
Take the metro to Boulogne Pont de St-Cloud, and take a short walk to the Jardin Albert Kahn.
There are very attractive gardens and a little museum which has exhibitions of the photographs and films that he commissioned between 1909 - 1931. This remarkable man sent photographers to remote areas of the world to record the people and how they lived. There has recently been a documentary on television about him and the amazing collection.
It is possible to purchase postcards and posters in the small shop. Unfortunately, the salon de the in the Palm house is not open because the building needs urgent renovation, but there are bars and brasseries next to the metro entrances. This was a fascinating place to visit and is off the usual tourist trail. Highly recommended.
DVD devotees should ascend to the top floor of the Inno department store on the pedestrianised Rue Neuve, for the Media Markt store.
This major European chain sells general electronic devices plus a fair selection of CDs but excels with its choice of DVDs at competitive prices. Art-house and world cinema titles which would be hard or impossible to find in the UK are well represented, though remember to check that foreign language films have English sub-titles!
There is also a branch of Media Markt in Antwerp on De Keyserlei close to the Central Station.
Rue Neuve
Simply one of the best video rental shops in the country. They literally have everything you can possibly think of. Brilliant.
Woodbridge Road
Moseley
Birmingham
B13 8EH
Telephone: 01214496000
www.itchybirmingham.co.uk/venue/182912/Cinephilia.html
Although you should mainly go to Lake Wanaka for the stunning lake and the surrounding views, it is also worth visiting the very cool, independent cinema that this tiny town has.
You can kick back and relax on the lovely, beaten up sofas (instead of the uncomfortable chairs normally found in this type of establishment!) There is even an old shell of a car, decked out with cushions, which you can sit in!
Script, act out and record your own film at one of the leading film sets in eastern Europe!
Travel company Riga Out There have just launched this exciting activity as part of their new 'unusual things to do in Latvia campaign'.
Once each film group has made its film, it is given the opportunity to present their film at one of Riga’s leading cinemas with critical feedback given by one of Latvia’s top film directors.
You do not need to have any film background - just turn up in Riga with a group of friends and start dreaming of film stardom!
The small town of Seydisfjordur in east Iceland has got to be one of the most beautiful in the country, it's reached by a spectacular drive over a mountain - the road is the highest in Iceland at 650m above sea level.
The real find here is a tiny cinema and cafe called Mini-Cine, which is run by an English guy from Brighton and his Icelandic wife. If you want a decent cup of tea and some fruit cake, then this is the place to come to!
The films are great as well. When I visited I caught a screening of an old Russian film, Man with a Movie Camera, which makes a refreshing change from the offerings at my local multiplex.
Mini-Ciné
Austurvegur 15
Seydisfjordur
Tel. +354 8454883
www.thefreedomcouncil.com
Before the film 'Amelie', it was just another cafe in Montmartre. It serves perfectly good food and drink, as it always did, and lies on the tourist trail between the Moulin Rouge and Sacre Coeur.
Now it's a stop for a coffee, or lunch, because everyone wants to see the film location. Apart from the tobacco counter, everything is just as it was in the film, including the miniscule 'toilette' where the earth-shaking sex scene took place.
When I made my visit it was full of art students rather than tourists, perhaps you need to go there in the evenings to find out if the locals still actually use it. As a rare example of a real life film set though, it's priceless.
15 Rue Lepic
Metro: Abbesses
Actually located in Harvard Square, across the river from Boston, it is an independent cinema that is a good place to see a great variety of film. Other cinemas of this sort are the Harvard University Film Archive, the MFA cinema, and the Coolidge Corner cinema.
Brattle Theater - Harvard Sq.
Harvard Film Archive - Carpenter Center, Harvard Univ.
MFA cinema - Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Coolidge Corner cinema - Coolidge Corner, Brookline
Great independent cinema in Brookline, hosts animation fests etc.
The Stadtmuseum cafe is worth a look - modern and minimalist, with tables in the leafy courtyard in the summer. It has a huge selection of international papers and magazines, because journalists from the Süddeutsche Zeitung often come here for lunch. The cakes are among the best in Munich and there's a decent selection of wines by the glass.
Serves a daily changing menu of light modern European food, e.g. excellent fresh cheeses, alongside some Bavarian staples.
The "filmmuseum", consisting of an inexpensive rep cinema and restoration/research department is located in the basement. There are retrospectives year round, along with the Munich film and documentary festivals.
St.-Jakobs-Platz 1
80331 München
Discreetly hidden away in a quiet backstreet is this cultural centre and lounge club built into an old warehouse.
They publish an online magazine, screen films and run a funk, soul, hip-hop & rare groove session at Apolo. During summer 2006 it proved the ideal venue for Spain vs France in the World Cup. Don't lose heart as you head up Calle Fontrodona, it is there and the cava is at knock down prices.
Calle Fontrodona 33; Metro: Parallel L3; www.maumaunderground.com
The Film School, which is situated in an old palace in Targowa street in the centre of Lodz is a must-see. It is a place where legendary Polish directors and actors, such as Oscar winners Roman Polanski and Andrzej Wajda studied and made their first films. Also cult Polish-French director Krzysztof Kieslowski was an Lodz Film School Alumn.
ul. Targowa 61/63, Lodz, Poland, www.filmschool.lodz.pl
Agonda is the definition of tranquility though on certain days, the loneliness has a David Lynch creepiness to it, with big beautiful boulders that mark out one end.
Palolem, the next beach along, has come a long way over the years and the strip is now lined with beach huts from the Cozy Nook to the Bridge and Tunnel. The Dream Catcher (behind the Banyan Tree) is great for morning Yoga or breakfast with the buffalo.
This beach was made famous by Matt Damon in The Bourne Supremacy with his (very sexy) run sequence.
If you follow the NH17 you'll first hit Agonda and eventually hit Palolem
In the UK we turn our old churches into bars and clubs, in Bordeaux the church St Simeon has become Utopia, an arty cinema.
I wouldn't normally go to the cinema when I'm abroad, but Utopia would have to be an exception. It has a good cafe and five screens showing good films from all over - France, the UK, the US, Bosnia, Algeria, Hungary, Italy, Egypt, Iran, Tunisia, Japan, Finland, Mongolia, Spain, Romania, and China were all represented by films within a couple of months when I last checked. The architecture of many of the salles just adds to the atmosphere and convinces you that you are somewhere special. Films are normally subtitled.
www.cinemas-utopia.org/bordeaux/bordeaux.php
5 place Camille Jullian
Go and have fun at Universal Studio, but if you're a movie fan and want to see a working movie and TV studio, visit Warner Bros. A guide takes you on a 2-hour tour of soundstages, sets, backlots and prop rooms when they're not in production. We saw a temporary exhibit of "Casablanca" props lent by collectors: Dooley Wilson's piano and Humphrey Bogart's tuxedo.
When we took the tour 10 years ago, Richard Thomas, star of the 1970s TV family drama "The Waltons" waved and said "Hi" as the tour van passed his movie backlot.
Since it's a working studio, Warner's limits the number of visitors to time-entry tours every half hour to reduce disrupting productions. Unfortunately, they don't allow children under 8.
Tickets are $42. Consider buying them in advance. Sometimes, same-day tickets sell out.
T-T-That's all Folks!
3400 Riverside Dr.
Burbank
(818) 972-8687
www2.warnerbros.com/vipstudiotour
Theme park of extreme proportions that is well worth the price ($59). It's a day trip with loads of events and the famous train ride around the film lot.
On their website they actually write this:
"Located conveniently in Los Angeles, CA." Hilarious.
100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA 91608.
themeparks.universalstudios.com/hollywood/website/index.html
Everybody, of course, goes to Universal Studios in Hollywood. Fair enough, it is the biggest but is it the best? It used to be but, alas, no longer. Now try the Warner Bros. studio tour and you'll see the difference, especially if you are a film buff like me.
Warners is far smaller but it is quieter and it is a working studio but most of all the moment you go round the back lots you can immediately see the sets for the familiar 30's and 40's films like Jimmy Cagney's 'Public Enemy', Bogart's 'Maltese Falcon' and Flynn's 'Robin Hood'. While these will mean nothing to the 'Sponge Bob' or 'The Shrek' generation, who will doubtless prefer to enjoy the hussle and bussle of the Universal tour, old fuddy-duddies like me will enjoy the 'WB's. They don't make'm like that anymore. Go enjoy!
Also, don't miss the small movie and TV museums on Sunset, Hollywood and Vine either. Many sadly do, you'll never forgive yourself.
Warner Bros. Studio is at Burbank. Universal Studios is at Universal City (on the way to Burbank). Hollywood Museum, Movie and TV Museum and Max Factor's old make-up palace (now also a museum) are all on or just off Hollywood Blv.
Film theatre and venue for video art installations. Dramatic modern building among the warehouses of the Ropewalks area. American Independent and Continental films with bar and cafe. Excellent independent cinema and good stop off for coffee or quiet beer.
Saint Georges English Bookshop is located in Prenzlauer Berg and specialises in good-quality second-hand English books at a reasonable price. They also have a good selection of new books and offer to order in books. Staff are very pleasant and go out of their way to accommodate unusual requests. The shop's also furnished with comfy Chesterfield sofas, which makes browsing even more enjoyable. Once a week they have a movie night, for which you need to be registered on a mailing list.
Woerther Strasse 27, 10405 Berlin; tel: (030) 817 98 333;
Transport: M2 to Marienburger Strasse, or U2 to Senefelder Platz
www.saintgeorgesbookshop.com
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