Day 142 - Odeon Magdalene

Oscar time is fast approaching, so we have a few movies to squeeze in before the big day. Interestingly, many of the Best Picture nominated movies are just starting to show up in the UK.

Oxford cinema circa 1979.
Source: cinematreasures.org (LenGazzard)

Serving this town of about 170,000 people (I have no idea how many are temporary student residents) are five cinemas. We had passed the small, almost hidden entrance to an Odeon theatre on one of our walks and decided to give it a try for our viewing of The Shape of Water. 

he Four Horesemen of the Apocolypse, and was designed to seat 900 people on the main level and another 350 in the balcony. On the upper level there was also what is described as a "high class" cafe for movie goers. Today, this area is a second screening area.
Although from the outside today the cinema may not seem like much, when you venture inside, to where the concession stand now shares space with a Costa coffee shop, you will find the remains of a full-sized theatre. It first opened in 1924 with the movie T

The first "talkie" to play in Oxford took place here in 1930 with the screening of The Broadway Melody.

It has changed hands over the years, and while the balcony isn't used, the space still exists. Today, it is owned by Odeon and the lower level seats 662 people ... my, my ... are people that much bigger?Must be all those extra large popcorns! Despite all the changes, the building is Grade II listed, meaning they can't make many changes to it.

But, onto our film critique. On the Smith/Walsh movie meter it earns 3.5 stars out of 5. Rich scenes, but a certain immaturity to the way the storyline is presented.

Added note: Before the movie, we enjoyed a really tasty Caribbean lunch at a restaurant called Turtle Bay. As you would expect, Oxford has students from around the world, so many tastes are catered to here.