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A state-run arthouse cinema showing a range of different films. All films are shown in original version, with Spanish subtitles if required. Screenings are eclectic - I've seen some gems I'd never have watched otherwise, some bona fide classics and some "I'll go because it's in English and cheap" bilge. Listings can be found in Guia del Ocio, or with film notes at the cinema itself.
Tickets on my last visit cost just under 3€.
The main screen is a fabulous old salon, complete with balcony and boxes. The whole cinema is housed in a fin de siecle building which has starred in at least one Almodovar film.
As with any Spanish museum, morgue or meeting place there is a cafeteria serving coffee and snacks on site.
C/Magdalena.
M.Anton Martin.
The Douz Festival is based on an ancient Bedouin gathering when Saharan tribes met to trade and, legend has it, to marry off their daughters. Instead, today, the Saharan Bedouins compete in camel, horse and dog races, folklore performances and traditional plays. Their backdrop is the 150-mile salt lake of Chott El Ferid, which set the scene for the film, The English Patient and the golden sand dunes that were a setting for Star Wars.
Walk about, listen to bands from competing tribes, ride a camel called Mustapha, attend a busy market and eat fresh fish, such as red snapper, sea bass, bream, grouper, red mullet, tuna and prawns. The sweet baklava is to die for.
Just down the road from the mighty Shepherdess Cafe, towards Old St station and on the left-hand side of City Road, is a little street called Westland Place (there's a shop on the corner called Renaissance which sells gothic fireplaces).
This is the home of St. Jamie Oliver's original Fifteen restaurant but also featured in the execrable film, Closer. A door on the left-hand side of the street labelled Westland Place Studios, between the fireplace shop and an old piping company premises, was the Julia Roberts character's front door in the vacuous, self-regarding snorefest.
In this scene, Jude Law's character makes a reference to going to "the pub round the corner". He was talking about the Eagle, a pleasant old boozer behind the Shepherdess Cafe, that features, along with City Road, in a less well-known verse of the nursery rhyme, Pop Goes the Weasel.
Cracking greasy spoon that attracts a high celebrity quota, possibly because of its proximity to London's once-and-future-trendy Shoreditch/Hoxton/Dalston.
Thankfully though, this is unreconstructed full English territory - irony, Day Glo and creative use of hairspray are firmly off the menu, as are the words organic and sustainable.
It's not a depressing relic, however, and its airy and cheerful design has carved it out a niche as a film location. Crews are often spotted filming in there on a Sunday when it's closed and the most recent flick to feature its hallowed interior was Notes on a Scandal.
For an added sprinkling of stardust on your gammon steak, check out the gallery of Polaroids behind the counter showing the legions of soap stars, presenters, actors and reality TV protozoa who have enjoyed a sarnie and a mug of something hot over the years.
Shepherdess Cafe
221 City Road
London
EC1V 1JN
+44 (0) 20 7253 2463
The Pyrenees have had some early snow this year and some of the higher resorts are opening earlier than usual. Peyragudes is a resort above Luchon, the spa town just south of Toulouse, which only French (and a few Spanish insider) skiers know about. One of the James Bond movies was shot here (it resembles the Khyber Pass!) and the skiing is great.
Peyragudes is 90 minutes south of Toulouse which is easily reachable from all major UK cities. Local ski specialists A LA CARTE SKI have packages including accommodation, ski pass and hire car from airport. www.alacarteski.com
Lacock in Wiltshire has been the location for numerous film and tv productions - Lacock Abbey was used in the Harry Potter films as Hogwarts school. The pretty village itself is mostly owned by the National Trust.
A handful of rooms tucked behind the tourist agency in the old town square of the Turkish quarter, this place is small enough to feel like you're joining a family for a few days.
The war tour the hostel operates is a must (if not to be taken with a pinch of salt) and helps you truly understand the importance of the place.
The setting of the hostel is great, with a bakery next door and the markets and cafes sprawling off the square all close by.
The guests enrich themselves during the day and enjoy themselves in the evening - the hill behind the hostel, where the final scene of ‘Welcome to Sarajevo’ was filmed is a great spot for some alfresco rakia drinking.
Experience a chunk of Harry's trip to Hogwarts by going over Glenfinnan Viaduct on the West Highland railway line between Fort William and Mallaig.
Better still, stop and visit the viaduct itself - you can walk up to it easily from the visitors centre, which also has information about the nearby Bonnie Prince Charlie's monument, set amidst some of the most spectacular scenery on the west coast.
After working up an appetite, head to Glenfinnan Station's Dining Car - a cafe in a converted carriage - for afternoon tea of homemade scones with jam and thick cream.
While you're there, don't miss the fascinating Glenfinnan Station Museum - a real labour of love containing displays about the building of the railway and viaduct, along with ephemera from the railway age. If all that tires you out, you can always overnight at the Glenfinnan Sleeping Car, too...
Glenfinnan Railway Station
Station Road, Glenfinnan
Inverness-shire PH37 4LT
Tel: 01397 722 300
www.visitglenfinnan.co.uk/
www.road-to-the-isles.org.uk/glenfinnan.html
Beautiful little tango bar in the San Telmo district. The place is so small that you can really appreciate the performers' skill. You do get roped in with singing and even dancing, but it's done with such good humour that it's really not that painful.
The bar is featured in Wong Kar-Wai's film Happy Together.
Estados Unidos 299
San Telmo
Buenos Aires
www.bar-sur.com.ar/
Whilst you can ask for finest wines known to humanity in Penrith, you may be disappointed to find that Withnail and I's infamous afternoon tea wasn't actually filmed there.
You can however go to a little village about 10 miles away called Shap, where a cute shop on the main street will sell you amazing sandwiches and glorious home made cakes. Die hard fans may want to head to Wet Sleddale to see the derelict building (Sleddale Hall) which was Uncle Monty's holiday home but there are much nicer picnics spots. Get a map, a good pair of walking boots (Withnail's carrier-bag-over-shoe skills won't do) and explore.
It's a castle. Get that? A castle. One huge, genuine, 13th Century castle. And you can stay there. What better reasons to recommend Ashford could there be?
Of course there are castles where, once you get over the battlements and Disney style restoration, you feel a little let down by the experience (Walworth, we're looking at you). Ashford castle, thankfully, is as rich an experience as the guests who loiter in the beautifully appointed lounges.
Ashford doesn't need much praising. Its awards and reputation speak volumes but it is worth pointing out that the castle comes into its own during off-peak seasons. There, amidst the quiet corridors and hallways, hundreds of years worth of history hangs like a tapestry, quiet dignity pervading the areas that would normally be taken for granted by obnoxious guests unable to converse without recourse to proclamation.
Everything one could possibly want for complete indulgence lies within easy reach. Golfing tees off (ahem) an itinerary that includes horse riding, falconry and boat trips. It is enough, however, to take a walk through the grounds and discover the walled gardens or venture towards Cong (where The Quiet Man was filmed) or even out to one of the small number of stone circles in the area. Just take a look at the photographs on the website and you'll soon find yourself ordering George to ready the carriage.
Fly to Galway airport and take a taxi or book a helicopter. www.ashford.ie
Stunning mountainside location about 40 minutes drive inland from Taormina, where Francis Ford Coppola shot the wedding scenes for Godfather Part II. Take your home-made granita di limone from the bar inside and sit in the shade of the matted ivy pergola.
For all Hitchcock freaks!
Santa Rosa lies north of the Golden Gate Bridge about 1.15 hours up on the 101 FWY. It is the city where Hitchcock filmed his personal favourite, "Shadow of a Doubt" (1942) with, among others, Joseph Cotten in an against-type villainous role.
Those of us familiar with the film (and those who aren't, see it!) will recall the white family house where a lot of the action takes place, and it can be found on MacDonald Street, in the historic district. It basically looks like the same house even now, though the back of the house where young Charlie falls on the outside steps, has a high white fence surrounding the garden, to stop film buffs encroaching on the owners' privacy.
There are many location shoots one can spot in Santa Rosa, including the old train station (no longer in use) where the infamous Uncle Charlie arrives and departs. Unfortunately, the old library and also the "Till Two" bar are no longer there, but there's enough for any Hitchcock fan to delight in finding numerous locations where The Great Man shot his personal favourite film.
Just up the street from the house is a huge mansion where "Polyanna" (with Hayley Mills) was shot.
Do yourself a favor if you go: pick up a copy of "Footsteps in the Fog," a wonderful book that gives information on all Hitchcock's location shoots in northern California. Also, if you drive out to the coast and south about an hour, you'll find the small town of Bodega Bay, and the Hamlet of Bodega (about 4 miles inland), where Hitch shot "The Birds" in 1963. The famous "Tides" resturant is still there, though it's been modified quite a bit. The old white schoolhouse still looks the same, and can be found in Bodega, inland. Enjoy!
Santa Rosa: North on 101 FWY about 1 1/4 hours from Golden gate Bridge in San Francisco. MacDonald Street is in Historic District; train station is at back of shopping mall, a few blocks west of 101 FWY.
No laughing now ... but all of Melbourne and its burbs have been used in one of the latest films with Nicholas Cage ... Ghost Rider
Melbourne
Victoria
Watching Sex and Lucia made me visit Formentera.
Capote was mostly filmed in and around Winnipeg. Thanks to a general neglect of the Downtown area over the past 70 years, the city is endowed with a wonderful turn of the century neighbourhood. This combined with other gems (Capital Building, nearby lakes, rivers and more) make Winnipeg a lovely and underrated destination.
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
The location of Lars Von Trier's Dogma film "Idioterne". Pretend to be an "eejit" and annoy the well-heeled residents.
For those of us of a certain age, it will always be simply Star Wars. Now, I beleive it is Episode IV: A New Hope. Late in the movie, a rebel base is situated in a remote jungle - with the occasional Mayan pyramid poking through the trees. This is the Mayan city of Tikal - close to the Guatemalan town of Flores.
Tikal, Guatemala - nearest Airport/ Bus station at Flores.
As seen in the film Amelie, Canal St Martin is good for a wander away from the busier, more touristy areas of Paris.
Beautiful in spring when the trees are in leaf, this area provides a welcome retreat any time of the year.
Canal St Martin can be found running parallel-ish to Blvd Magenta (between Place de la Republique and de la Bastille).
This National Park covers some territory, stretching from the Brindabella range which backdrops Canberra, through the Snowy Mountains and onto the Victorian high country.
The park offers some of the most unique landscapes found in south eastern Australia, and arguably the whole continent. Galcial lakes, unique flora and fauna, bushwalking, mountain biking, skiing, brumbies and impressive indigenious history.
Recent films such as Sommersault, and Jindabyne have been set amongst this landscape. Last visit whilst sitting silent beside a river, a platypus swam right up to the rock I was perched upon.
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