A big night out
It can be difficult to go to the cinema in London, because there are too many films and cinemas to choose from! Most of the central cinemas are around Leicester Square, showing big blockbuster movies, you can wander around and see which film takes your fancy. There's lots of information telling you what's on if you look on the Internet or in 'Time Out' magazine. Films on a budget
The cheapest cinema in Leicester Square is 'The Prince Charles'. This cinema often shows films a few weeks later than some of the others, so if you don’t mind being a bit behind the times and want to save a couple of quid this could be the place for you. The stars come out at night
Leicester Square is also the home to star studded opening nights. People think waiting (often out in the cold) is worth a glimpse of Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts or Brad Pitt as they step out of their Limousines to attend the first night of their new movie. Watch out for the screaming fans.

Arty
There are other smaller art-house cinemas in town; one of these is 'Metro Cinema' on Rupert Street in Soho. It shows a wide variety of movies but tends not to show more mainstream films. These films are made by independent filmmakers and are not aimed at mass audiences. Every year it also has the Latin American Film Festival. Another art-house cinema is the 'Curzon Soho';

See the films first
Every year London has it's own film festival in November, you can see lots of premieres, listen to directors discussing the film and maybe see some stars too! There is also the lesbian and gay film festival, which runs in April. You usually need to book tickets well in advance.

A London classic
London's oldest Cinema institution is the NFT (National Film Theatre). In October 2002 it celebrated its 50th birthday. It shows all kinds of films from silent classics to film festival hits. Many big name film-makers have visited, from Woody Allen to Quentin Tarantino to Jaques Tati (who couldn't find the toilet and was photographed using the wall outside!). As you can see, going to the cinema in London requires a lot of thinking about, maybe you want to see a famous star, or perhaps a film by your favourite director, or just sit, eat popcorn and enjoy the latest Hollywood action movie. If you take the time to look, there's something for everyone.