I have to assume this is AI-generated based on the grainy B/W one that’s around here, since the bike is different, but wow, it’s incredible, and it appeared just after I wrote about this cinema. To see this in such clear detail has made me a very happy person.
I watched Joker:Folie à Deux here in Oct 2024, subtitled, with a full audience, all sitting in absolute silence throughout to the very end of the credits, including the distribution logo. Calmy, they all got up, collected their rubbish, walked out in silence, handing over their waste to the waiting staff with utmost respect. The foyer is worth a visit alone, lots of merch related to the films on display, programmes like you used to get in the 80s about the film for purchase, and a nice waiting area that overlooks Kabukicho. Leaving at night down the escalator into the busy streets of Shinjuku is something i’ll never forget. One nice touch is that the chairs in front have a holder to hang your umbrella in.
If I had a time machine, I would end up here, late 70s/early 80s and take many photos as my memory is blurry now of the Carlton, I cannot remember the odd things, the texture detail, like the carpet colour, or the patterns on the walls, but I do remember the general layout, with the ticket kiosk directly infront as you walked in, where you would get a tiny little ticket that had that smell, then to the right was the well-stacked confectionery stand, with shutters that were rolled up when it opened up, and the tiny burger stall to the right of the stairs selling hamburgers and crisps. Up the stairs, you round around which had film posters on the walls until you come to screen 2 first to the left, with to the right, a tiny seating area. Continuing past, you came to the stairs that led up to screen 1. As a kid, if I were in screen 2, I would go out of the back and head around to screen 1 and try and peek at what was showing in there. The Picturhouse Screen 1, which sadly closed last year in Bromley, reminded me of Carlton's Screen 1, where you walked into the centre, stalls above and below. For some reason, I do remember the radiators and the grills on the side walls, though, and the clock at the back, next to the projector, was it painted red screen1?
I saw many, many movies here, but what stands out most was Superman 2, 10 times, every day in its first week of release, Flash Gordon with my older brother ( he was a Queen fan ) numerous times, queuing on the stairs, staring at the posters. Both Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Close Encounters with my middle brother and my mum, my brother having fallen asleep both times, and my mum asking Can we go, as brother number 2 is asleep. No chance, even though I had to sit on the end of the upright chair just to look over the chair in front, practically standing, I was not leaving this place until the very end. I remember seeing Convoy on Bonfire Night, because my parents hated fireworks, and our neighbour said some guy does a moony in the film, which was apparently funny. I saw Kiss, Phantom at the Opera with my older brother ( the Queen fan ), along with Island of Dr Moreau and a bunch of denim-clad rockers, who shouted at DrMoreau throughout that the usher threatened not to show Kiss, which, when they did, they turned the volume to mute, and everyone shouted again that they were deaf. Return of the Jedi in the Pullman seats, remember the Pullman seats? One felt so special sitting in those bad boys. I don’t think I’ve ever sat in such a comfy chair since.
Every film had a short on before it, usually a documentary. I remember the one that played in front of Superman 2, because I saw it 10 times, and because the films were just on play, we would stay behind and claim we hadn’t seen the shorts, any excuse just to stay longer.
Sadly though, I do remember leaving the cinema for the last time, not knowing it would be my last. I don’t know what I would have just seen, but I do remember the Jaws 3 poster on the wall as you exited, excited to see it very soon. Sadly, I didn’t; it closed without any fanfare, or a proper goodbye. I’ve dreamt of the Carlton a few times, once when I was told it had reopened and I went there; it looked different, but everyone there wanted to be there, an odd dream to have………So to those who worked at the Carlton, I salute you…Thank You
I have to assume this is AI-generated based on the grainy B/W one that’s around here, since the bike is different, but wow, it’s incredible, and it appeared just after I wrote about this cinema. To see this in such clear detail has made me a very happy person.
I watched Joker:Folie à Deux here in Oct 2024, subtitled, with a full audience, all sitting in absolute silence throughout to the very end of the credits, including the distribution logo. Calmy, they all got up, collected their rubbish, walked out in silence, handing over their waste to the waiting staff with utmost respect. The foyer is worth a visit alone, lots of merch related to the films on display, programmes like you used to get in the 80s about the film for purchase, and a nice waiting area that overlooks Kabukicho. Leaving at night down the escalator into the busy streets of Shinjuku is something i’ll never forget. One nice touch is that the chairs in front have a holder to hang your umbrella in.
If I had a time machine, I would end up here, late 70s/early 80s and take many photos as my memory is blurry now of the Carlton, I cannot remember the odd things, the texture detail, like the carpet colour, or the patterns on the walls, but I do remember the general layout, with the ticket kiosk directly infront as you walked in, where you would get a tiny little ticket that had that smell, then to the right was the well-stacked confectionery stand, with shutters that were rolled up when it opened up, and the tiny burger stall to the right of the stairs selling hamburgers and crisps. Up the stairs, you round around which had film posters on the walls until you come to screen 2 first to the left, with to the right, a tiny seating area. Continuing past, you came to the stairs that led up to screen 1. As a kid, if I were in screen 2, I would go out of the back and head around to screen 1 and try and peek at what was showing in there. The Picturhouse Screen 1, which sadly closed last year in Bromley, reminded me of Carlton's Screen 1, where you walked into the centre, stalls above and below. For some reason, I do remember the radiators and the grills on the side walls, though, and the clock at the back, next to the projector, was it painted red screen1? I saw many, many movies here, but what stands out most was Superman 2, 10 times, every day in its first week of release, Flash Gordon with my older brother ( he was a Queen fan ) numerous times, queuing on the stairs, staring at the posters. Both Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Close Encounters with my middle brother and my mum, my brother having fallen asleep both times, and my mum asking Can we go, as brother number 2 is asleep. No chance, even though I had to sit on the end of the upright chair just to look over the chair in front, practically standing, I was not leaving this place until the very end. I remember seeing Convoy on Bonfire Night, because my parents hated fireworks, and our neighbour said some guy does a moony in the film, which was apparently funny. I saw Kiss, Phantom at the Opera with my older brother ( the Queen fan ), along with Island of Dr Moreau and a bunch of denim-clad rockers, who shouted at DrMoreau throughout that the usher threatened not to show Kiss, which, when they did, they turned the volume to mute, and everyone shouted again that they were deaf. Return of the Jedi in the Pullman seats, remember the Pullman seats? One felt so special sitting in those bad boys. I don’t think I’ve ever sat in such a comfy chair since. Every film had a short on before it, usually a documentary. I remember the one that played in front of Superman 2, because I saw it 10 times, and because the films were just on play, we would stay behind and claim we hadn’t seen the shorts, any excuse just to stay longer. Sadly though, I do remember leaving the cinema for the last time, not knowing it would be my last. I don’t know what I would have just seen, but I do remember the Jaws 3 poster on the wall as you exited, excited to see it very soon. Sadly, I didn’t; it closed without any fanfare, or a proper goodbye. I’ve dreamt of the Carlton a few times, once when I was told it had reopened and I went there; it looked different, but everyone there wanted to be there, an odd dream to have………So to those who worked at the Carlton, I salute you…Thank You