The Magic of the Silver Screen
Written by The Magic of the Silver Screen
Charlene Lydon, Light House Cinema
Originally from Carlow, I came to Dublin to study about twelve years ago and I didn’t leave. In the past I lived in England and Canada for a little while but Dublin is the place where I’ve settled. I think I like Dublin a bit more than I used to. It seems that since the recession began, creativity is really blooming, with people more willing to experiment and try out new things. I’ve noticed a lot of pop-up shops peppered around town. I love that air of originality around town. To recharge batteries, I love roaming around the city visiting some little pubs. Places like The Sweeney Mongrel with its cosy space to enjoy a pint or a cup of coffee. This whole area of Dame Lane, with the Stag’s Head and Dame Tavern, has this lovely air of fun, and I love that those businesses are all pitching in to create a lively space around them. My coffee spots are 3FE in Middle Abbey Street and W. J. Kavanagh’s on Dorset Street, a beautiful bar with really nice coffee. I’m also a big fan of Coffee 2 Go on Mespil Road because they make delicious coffee and it is close to my office.
My remedy for a rainy day is a trip to cinema. There is no other place like it to make you forget about the weather completely. The Light House Cinema has a good variety of movies to keep you happy regardless of the weather outside. We play arthouse films, documentaries, foreign language films and cult films. Our programming also includes commercial movies that we feel deserve a place in our cinema and that our audience would like to see in the comfort of the Light House. Our film seasons have so far successfully proven the point that a good movie tastes best on the big screen, shared with other people. This Christmas we have two programmes: ‘Naughty’ and ‘Nice’ selections of movies that would appeal to both children and adults. In the ‘Naughty’ strain there are Die Hard, Gremlins and Hollywood Babylon, a midnight movie club. The ‘Nice’ part is mostly playing be at the weekend, with Elf and Home Alone, all these classics we cannot imagine Christmas without. We’ve also got a bar, which brings a more social aspect to an evening in the cinema and encourages creating a community around film-going.
