Oscar has something to say...

Our very own CineMonkey, Oscar, would like to say a massive thank you to all his new friends that he's made at CineMonkeys and MiniCineMonkeys this summer. He's had a fantastic time meeting everyone and making new friends and hopes you have too!

If you'd like to see him again, you'll be pleased to know that we are planning more CineMonkeys and MiniCineMonkeys sessions for the future. To help our planning, if you came to any of our sessions this summer we'd love your feedback on them. Just drop us a line via email, facebook or twitter and let us know what your favourite activities and films were, and why.

We've got some lovely CineMonkeys pin badges to reward you with, if you do!

Until then... Oscar says "see you soon!"

Is this film suitable for my child?

The question we get asked most about our films (after 'how much is it?') is usually "Is this film suitable for my child?" It's a very difficult question to answer, so we thought we'd post up some thoughts on it here.

As parents, you'll know better than anyone what might be likely to scare your child. It's different for everyone, and sometimes even a film that's rated U can cause some children to be frightened, or likewise, a fairly young child could sit supervised in a 12A and be completely fine. So from our point of view it's very hard to tell parents when they ask whether a film is likely to scare a child or not.

The BBFC ratings (U, PG, 12A, etc.) give you some guidance on the content of a film; a U film contains no material which is unsuitable for any age child, though of course that doesn't guarantee that they won't be frightened by it. You can find more information about BBFC ratings here: http://www.bbfc.co.uk/

For more information about the content of a film, the Internet Movie Database is a good place to start. They have a parent's guide for most films, compiled by parents and fans, which lists all of the things that children may find scary (or parents might find inappropriate) within the film. Here are the imdb parent's guides for the remaining CineMonkeys films in our August programme and our special free showing of Singin' in the Rain:

The Lion King (U)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (12A)
Singin' in the Rain (U)

You can find the link to the parent's guide about half way down on a film's listing page on imdb, if you'd like to look up any other films.

Lastly, our CineMonkeys films are designed to be family showings, so we won't mind at all if you need to take your child out of the cinema during the film for any reason. Our ushers will guide you back to your seat by torchlight if you want to come back in as well, of course.

If these thoughts don't help and you'd still like to talk it over with us, you can get in touch with us by emailing hao@tenburytown.org.uk. Otherwise, we hope that this has been useful, and that we'll see you at a film with us soon!

And We're Open!

It's been a very busy week. Ten months of restoration work, hundreds of hours of volunteer time and huge support from all of you brought us to Saturday night at 6.30pm when the doors opened to some very stylishly dressed characters waiting at the bottom of the red carpet.

Our 1930s evening was a fantastic success, and we had so many lovely comments from you all about what fun you had. The Regal looked amazing all lit up for the ocassion.

Our full house danced the night away to the fantastic music of Naomi Payne's Hotsy-Totsy band, with some very impressive swing dancing going on, and we were delighted to see those who'd worked so hard on the Regal to be so pleased with their Oscar awards in our awards ceremony.

Jenni Ord from the Heritage Lottery Fund, accepting the award

for 'Best Picture' from Tenbury's Mayor Sue Corfield

On Sunday, over a hundred adults and children joined us to celebrate the Regal's 75th birthday. Everyone really got into the swing of things with the party games, with much cheering from the winners, and the rendition of 'Happy Birthday' was sung with gusto. Local baker Sue Field provided us with a delicious birthday cake which was admired in looks and taste by all.

Sarah Fellows, Heritage Access Officer, cutting the cake

Our film, Bugsy Malone, was much enjoyed by all, and we were very impressed by how many children and adults got dressed up for the ocassion! There were some excellent outfits.

Usher Stephen Butler welcomes the party-goers at the door

We also launched our CineMonkeys and MiniCineMonkeys this week, with Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone and a magical themed under 7s craft session. We'll bring you some photographs next week of craft-in-action.

So all in all, a busy and successful week! Guided tours begin next Thursday, so if you're interested in having a look around and learning about the restoration please get in touch to book your place.

Finally, we just want to thank everyone who has helped us get this far; from construction workers and contractors to our fabulous volunteers to all of you who have supported the project.

We'll be continuing to bring you information about the cinema's history for some time here on the blog and over on our twitter and facebook pages, so we hope you'll keep following us.

See you at the cinema soon!

It's all about CineMonkeys!

You've probably already heard about CineMonkeys, our family film club, featuring an hour of things to make and do before a classic family film, but just in case you haven't... here's the low-down for you!

We're very pleased with our new logo and hope you like it too - it was designed by Katy from Lacon Childe School as part of a partnership project between the school and the cinema. We love the smiling monkey - look out for him at our summer events!

So, what's on? Well, we've got four great family films for you in August, each with an hour of themed craft and games beforehand;

Wednesday August 1st - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Wednesday August 8th - Happy Feet
Wednesday August 15th - The Lion King
Wednesday August 22nd - Pirates of the Caribbean

Tickets are £6 for adults and £4 for children. Some craft activities may incur an additional £1 charge.

Film fans of all ages are welcome, and you don't have to come to the craft and games session to see the film. During August, we're also showing a classic Tom and Jerry cartoon before the main feature, included in your film admission ticket. Craft sessions start at 11.30am, and the cartoon begins at 12.30pm, followed immediately by the film.

Win your way in!

We're so excited about CineMonkeys that we're giving away a family ticket (for up to five people) to each one of our CineMonkeys films. To enter the competition, just design us a poster for the film you'd like to come and see for free out of the four we're showing this August. We'll judge each week on the Monday before the film and let you know that day if you've won. There will be some prizes for highly commended entries too, so get designing!

CineMonkeys is aimed at families with children aged 7 - 12, though children of any age are very welcome. We're also running additional sessions on Tuesdays between 10am and noon for MiniCineMonkeys who are under 7, with two hours of craft and games and a short cartoon showing at 11.30am in the auditorium. MiniCineMonkeys sessions are completely free, and will feature similar craft activities and games to the following day's CineMonkeys session, but with the focus on our younger film fans.

If you've got questions about any of the CineMonkeys sessions, or if you'd like to let us know that you're coming, you can email us on hao@tenburytown.org.uk. Booking for the pre-film sessions isn't essential, but it is preferred. You can buy tickets for the films in advance or pre-order them and pay on the day - contact the Pump Rooms in Tenbury on 01584 810118 or email us.