Streetlife

Yes, I have always thought that a cinema is required. I hardly ever go to see a film as we don't have a local cinema. Maybe something along the lines of the Clapham Picture House would be the best answer?

And what about tooting?? The only one we have is the 24-seater in balham.....

Really want some way the  Tooting Grananda can be used as cinema again. Such an iconic building . Now only does BINGO. Such a waste. Any ideas how this may be done.

Hi phil - you must have read my mind!! I've been thinking about this for ages and the clincher was a couple of weeks ago when I went on a guided tour of the cinema and saw it in all it's faded glory.....

I'm sure that we could make it work somehow - how do other street lifers feel???

Oh goodness me, we had far more than two in the Junction area .. there were three in the immediate vicinity, there was one in Northcote Road, there was one in Wandsworth Road, there was a couple in York Road and there was one at Wandsworth High Street.

They closed down because they weren't profitable.  They changed the films on a weekly basis - not as is the current trend of having a multi screen complex and the same film there for weeks.

Stopped going to the cinema because people chat through the films, we have sat in front of folk translating the film for the people they are sitting with.  We heard all about the party/shopping trip/argument with mother etc., from folk sitting behind us.  We went so far as to get seats at an inflated price in one of the boxes at the rear .. and the people with us talked all the way through the film.  We spent hundreds not actually being able to listen to most films, the staff were without fail unwilling to get involved and as someone got stabbed there for asking a 'chatty' person to keep it down .. I would much rather wait until I get the DVD.

The only way it would work is to have a private cinema club.

For an excellent cinema experience I can heartily recommend the 'Scene' screens at the Vue at Westfield Shepherds Bush. Big leather reclining seats, private bar - excellent! Simple to get to via London Overground from Clapham Junction or direct (one train an hour) from Balham. Comes at a price but well worth it IMO. http://www.myvue.com/upgrades-extras/scene

I agree with Viv .I remember all of the local cinemas and there were a lot of them. I went to see Close encounters at the Classic cinema  in Upper Tooting rd , the people around us talked nonstop and it was only when I saw it on TV later that I realised what it was about.

Having a members/private cinema might be a good way to filter out the antisocial elements who spoil it for everyone else - could be worth considering.....

BAC had a cinema area at one time.  I use the word area because it may have had other functions.........they screened more interesting films and it was cheap.  However, I did see The Tin Drum there and they showed the reels out of sequence,  we hadn't  really noticed- were just a bit puzzled!

I know it's not Battersea or Tooting, but the HMV Curzon in Wimbledon is my little oasis. Especially on weekend mornings when it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to go :)  It's small but perfectly formed!

If it were local in Battersea and more selective in clientele I would be first in the queue.  I love the cinema experience - including sneaking my own sweets and drinks in - but it is ruined by people who find it acceptable to pay over a tenner for a seat in the cinema and talk about rubbish.  And it is rubbish to me when all i want is to watch the film.  At home I can put it on pause to listen to how [insert inanity here] when the phone rings etc., I wish I could put film on pause the same way to let folk finish their conversations.

For a change from the usual cinema experience you could always visit Trinity for our Open Air Cinema Series on the 15th and 17th August.

We will be showing Mamma Mia and Back to the Future (Part 1) in our award winning gardens. Last year's showing of Grease and The Gonnies were a real hit so it's definately worth the trip up from Clapham Junction.

http://www.trinityhospice.org.uk/cinema

One of the advertised selling points for the old bingo all on the Plough Road/St John's Hill junction was a cinema, which seemed to make sense, particularly as others have mentioned, if this was to be an art house or members only cinema. However it now transpires that this is a private cinema for the residents only and the remainder of the building is the Transformation HQ! A missed opportunity...

Sarah B, I had no idea there was a little cinema in Balham! I love the sound of that! Do you have anymore info on it? Where is it? What films does it show? Etc etc
Thanks, Rachel

It's at the Exhibit restaurant at the back of Sainsburys - http://www.theexhibit.co.uk/cinema

Thank you Ian :-)

Hi Rachel - its only got 24 seats there I keep thinking I'll do but never get around to it.....

Southfields residents are lobbying for an ex cinema(became a bingo hall and now closed snooker club) to be reconverted to a cinema. There is a viable plan by an Action Group,but developers greedily want to build 21 flats and a retail unit(presumably for a major Supermarket chain).
Wandsworth Council should not grant a change of use permission and leave Leisure facilities alone .
Good Luck to you all.
ps see southfieldsplaza.com

The Ritzy in Brixton is a brilliant cinema and these days the people who talk through movies stay at home and watch on dvd.  I rarely hear a peep apart from the rustle of pop corn so I can still moan about something, it's great!

Nicholas .. Be grateful, we have had to go further afield to watch a film in peace .. the staff at Wandsworth truly don't care once you have paid your money.  Westfield is more 'policed' as are the various screens at Park Royal.   Greenwich is also a good alternative but it is a shame that we have to travel that far.

The last film we saw at Park Royal had 5 people in the cinema.  There has to be an element of profit somewhere apart from the rip off prices in the foyer.  It just isn't profiable any more.

I used to go to Beckenham to the cinema on the roundabout

I agree we really need a cinema in Battersea. It's quite shaming not having one. I saw "Saturday Night Fever" at the cinema where Barclays Bank is now! Very disappointed that the old Granada building hasn't included at least a cinema club.
I would reassure Vivian B. I go to films regularly, and seldom hear people talking, unless it's a teenage film. At the moment, my favourites are The Curzon Chelsea Cinema in King's Road  and the Ciné Lumière in the French Institute- both easy from Battersea, and The Rio, Dalston, which is like sitting inside a perfect 1930s radio.

That's the greed of the Corporations for you.

I also heard that the Battersea Arts Centre used to put on films, doesn't this happen anymore?

Bringbackardings : there one we use (in between where family work and home - and extremely convenient if I do a shed load of shopping I get help home) is in Wandsworth .. the Arndale.  Was ideal to catch the 18.00 (or thereabouts) screening - not too late home for food.  Tuesday was a reasonable evening .. Wednesday is Orange Wednesday.  Even paid for one of the rear boxes and we have spent hundreds on films we haven't been able to watch or listen to.  Strangely .. the most quiet ones have actually been the films aimed at the younger generation. 

I remember Battersea of old - there was the Imperial (where Barclays is) - the Essoldo - now the Grand.  The Granada at the top of the hill.  There were more .. you rarely walked more than 10 minutes from one cinema to another - but I don't think unless it is a private cinema, there will ever be another in Battersea.