BFI London Archives – URBAN-ADVENTURER

December 16 2023

Last-Minute Gifts for Movie Lovers

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We all have that one friend who gets to be the first to see the new movie releases, knows all the classics movie quotes, and nothing gets them more excited than a movie marathon. And – of course – they have all the collectables, merch, and figures, so it’s very difficult to surprise them with something they don’t have already.

Come with me to the official BFI Shop and ODEON Cinema to find something special for your movie-mad loved one.

Cinema Essentials

Photo Source: odeon.co.uk

Cinemas frequently come up with cool cups and popcorn buckets for the most anticipated new movie releases. At ODEON Cinema, one of the hottest releases is definitely the WONKA movie. This cup with candy decoration under its lid and the WONKA hat popcorn bucket are a must-have for a Willy Wonka fan.

Photo: Urban Adventurer

You don’t have to be a mermaid to dive deep for this shiny Aquaman popcorn bucket and cup. They’re covered with gold scales and decorated with Aquaman logo.

Photo: Urban Adventurer

For Disney-enthusiasts, I found an adorable purple cup adorned with stars and the portrait of the main character, Asha.

Photo: Urban Adventurer

Any Marvel fans out there? How about these cool The Marvels character cups?

Photo: Urban Adventurer

Gift cards are always a good idea as a stocking filler because it gives the receiver a complete freedom of choice on what they want to buy. ODEON have lots of different designs and you can top up with any amount you wish between £5 – £100.

BFI Shop

0 Belvedere Rd, London SE1 8XT

Photo: Urban Adventurer

BFI Southbank’s official shop has a lot to offer when it comes to last-minute gift ideas. They have tons of books, Blue Rays, tote bags, card games and more.

DIY Movie Night Popcorn Kit

Photo: Urban Adventurer

Turn popcorn making into a fun family activity! Each family member can make their own tasty popcorn using five different seasonings from salt & vinegar to toffee to sweet chilli.

Popcorn Bucket List

Photo: Urban Adventurer

This is not your ordinary bag of popcorn! Every piece of ‘popcorn’ in the bag is actually a TV show or movie suggestion. Pick a ‘popcorn’ and see what movie or TV show you’ll be watching next. Perfect stocking filler.

Quirky Socks

Photo: Urban Adventurer

Get settled in the Overlook Hotel if you dare. These socks feature the iconic geometric pattern of the Overlook Hotel from Stephen King’s classic novel’s film adaptation. One size fit all.

Photo: Urban Adventurer

These National Film Theatre pattern socks are produced exclusively for the BFI.

The National Film Theatre (NFT) was designed by Norman Engleback and built within just 15 months. The pattern of the socks pictured above, takes inspiration from the black and gold wallpaper adorned the screen shutter in the original NFT 1 auditorium. At the start of the movie, the shutter would be pulled to the sides to reveal the screen. The same shutter provided backdrop to interviews with the greatest actors, actresses and directors, such as Alfred Hitchcock.

Photo: Urban Adventurer

The original NFT sign is still there on the Southwest side of Waterloo Bridge. It was lovingly restored to bring back its original glory in 2018. Today, this is the visual of London Film Festival.

Make sure you bring your movie enthusiast to the BFI Bar to sip a delicious cocktail and pose in these socks after Christmas.

Tote Bags

Photo: urban Adventurer

Does your friend live and breathe with sci-fi? Love comedy? Or has a keen interest in movies from the glorious 1950s? A stylish tote bag is not just a nice accessory, but also very practical in the everyday life.

Card Games

Photo: Urban Adventurer

What could be better than gather the family and play a fun card game around the table at Christmas Night? Test your knowledge of film directors, break the emoji code or come up with funny filthy parodies of film titles while the others try to guess the original title. Guaranteed fun all night long.

Books

Photo: Urban Adventurer

Whether you’re loved one is a huge fan of Tim Burton’s unique dark universe, a lover of the movies from the 1990s or a Disney enthusiast, BFI Shop definitely has something special for them.

From special editions to archives to original story books, you’re guaranteed to find something to put under the Christmas tree.

Water Bottle

Photo: Urban Adventurer

With these vibrant yellow ‘Nitrate’ water bottles you not only can surprise a true film enthusiast for Christmas, but also support the hard work of BFI National Archive to preserve nitrate film for future generations.

Nitrate film was made of highly flammable cellulose nitrate, but in return for its dangerous nature, it had the deepest and richest colours of any film stock.

Cinemas needed special licence to be allowed to screen nitrate films as these films required rigorous system of checks and safeguards.

The graphic you can see on these water bottles are directly adapted from the original nitrate safety signage.

BFI Southbank is one the handful cinemas in the world that are able to screen nitrate.

T-Shirt

Photo: Urban Adventurer

An official BFI Film Festival tee is something a true move enthusiast’s wardrobe cannot miss. These limited-edition T-shirts celebrate the UK’s biggest annual event, BFI London Film Festival 2023.

Available in white and black.

Fair Wear Foundation endorsed and vegan certified by PETA.

The Finishing Touch – National Film Theatre Wrapping Paper

Photo Source: BFI Online Shop

Wrap your gifts up in cinematic style with black and gold National Film Theatre wrapping paper.

There are tons of other items available at BFI official shop, including, Blue Rays, postcards, mugs, and more.

There’s one week till Christmas, so you still have time to visit BFI Shop or pop in one of the ODEON cinemas to grab the perfect gift to put under the tree or add some lovely stocking fillers to the list.

Ready for your next adventure? Knoops – that is famous for their fully customisable chocolate drinks – are celebrating the release of the WONKA movie with a WONKA-inspired hot chocolate. Why not treat your film-lover friend with a WONKA Winter Warmer at Knoops Covent Garden shop which provides prefect background for your Insta pics?

October 5 2019

BFI London Film Festival 2019 – Day 1, 2, 3

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Day 1 – The Opening Night Gala

The 63^rd BFI London Film Festival opened its gates on 2^nd October with The Personal History of David Copperfield, starring Dev Patel, Hugh Laurie, Tilda Swinton, Gwendoline Christie and Ben Whishaw. The opening night gala was held at ODEON Luxe Cinema, Leicester Square, and apart from the major stars many of the supporting actors and actresses appeared on the red carpet: Darren Boyd, Morfydd Clark, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Aimee Kelly and Daisy May Cooper who was dressed as a magician and was wearing a robe with magician David Copperfield. When she was asked why, her answer was as weird as her dress: she said because she didn’t get the film even if she was in there.

Tilda Swinton didn’t show up in the premiere. Unlike Hugh Laurie, Gwendoline Christie and director Armando Iannucci!

Dev Patel

Dev Patel who plays David Copperfield in the film showed up early right after the child actor, Jairaj Varsani who plays the young David Copperfield in the film. Dev gave some autographs but his strict schedule for the night didn’t allow him to spend much time with his fans.

Gwendoline Christie

Gwendoline Christie looked stunning in her ombre coloured airy dress which was red at the bottom and white on the top. After posing for the photographers she signed for her fans, but she didn’t take much selfies.

Hugh Laurie

Hugh Laurie arrived right after Gwendoline. He spent some time with his fans, giving autographs but didn’t take selfies saying he was in a hurry he had strict schedule for that night.

Day 2 – American Airlines Gala

The second day of BFI London Film Festival 2019 brought us The King with Timothée Chalamet, Ben Mendelsohn, Joel Edgerton and Johnny Depp’s ravishing daughter, Lily-Rose Depp.

Timothée Chalamet

Timothée Chalamet was literally consumed by his fans during the premiere. Girls and boys were all screaming while Tim was giving autographs, taking selfies and giving lots of hugs and kisses. He made sure to give autograph to his every single fan and went back if he missed somebody or somebody asked for a warm hug. Timothée was wearing a sparkling blue jacket making it easy for everyone to spot him even in the biggest crowed.

Joel Edgerton

Joel Edgerton’s main goal in the premiere seemed to please the press by giving long interviews. He did give autographs and did selfies but not many. I was one of the lucky ones who managed to get both autograph and selfie with him.

The King Joel Edgerton Timothee Chamalet

Lily-Rose Depp

Lily-Rose Depp looked absolutely gorgeous in her black and white evening dress. She was smiley and looked happy to be at BFI London Film Festival. She gave some autographs and took some selfies as well but not too many because she was literally shaking in her backless dress in the cold windy weather. On the top of the cold weather the rain started so she escaped into the cinema very soon.

**Day 3 – Hope Gap Premiere**

Day 3 was a funny day at BFI London Film Premiere. I went to Leicester Square early in the morning as usual to write my name on the list, but I found nobody. There were absolutely no fans till afternoon, and I didn’t even see the security till 1pm. As the place around ODEON Luxe Cinema was completely deserted – no red carpet, no barriers being built, no fans – when I finally spotted a security man I asked if there would be premiere at all. It turned out that that premiere would be so small security hadn’t even started to build the barriers and lay the red carpet down till 2pm, because as they said: “no major names” would appear.

My wristband number was 3 at 1pm which was ridiculous. I was thinking of going home but finally changed my mind and stayed. And I made the right decision.

Annette Bening

Although, the highly anticipated Bill Nighy didn’t appear, the Oscar nominated Annette Bening showed up. She was wearing a simple black costume with simple natural make-up. She signed for a few people than went straight to the cinema.

Apart from Annette Bening some of the supporting actors and actresses appeared along with that director William Nicholson who worked as a writer on the Oscar winning film, Gladiator.

At the end of Hope Gap premiere I was lucky enough to get a complementary ticket for the film. Hope Gap is a drama about a couple (Annette Bening and Bill Nighy) decided to divorce after 29 years of marriage. This film guides us through all the emotional journey Grace (Annette Bening) goes through when Edward (Bill Nighy) tells her and their son Jamie (Josh O’Connor) he wants to divorce.

Today is day 4 and I have already collected my wristband for today’s premiere Jojo Rabbit with Scarlet Johansson. Rumours say she will not come to the premiere but who knows. Annette Bening was not supposed to come yesterday either…

Keep updated with what’s happening on the red carpet by following me on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. See you at my next adventure.

See all events and programme of BFI London Film Festival 2019.