The UK cinemas named among the world’s most beautiful

Portobello Road’s The Electric Cinema is a glitzy step back in time - (Electric Cinema)

As we power through awards season, statuettes are being handed to filmmakers for best picture, production design, actor and director – but what about the cinemas behind the silver screen?

Time Out has announced its most beautiful cinemas in the world ahead of the Oscars on Sunday (2 March), with eight UK and Irish screens making the list of handsome picture houses.

In London, the swanky screens of the Soho House Group at The Electric took fifth in the rankings, hailed as the “comfiest cinema on the planet” for its luxury beds and unique concession stands, while Dalston’s Art Deco Rio Cinema was declared 13th best.

Elsewhere in the city, BFI Southbank, the “beating heart of British cinema”, scored 32nd spot, with Genesis Cinema on Mile End Road (39th) and the minimalist popcorn provider at Curzon Bloomsbury (44th) also making Time Out’s top 50.

Dublin’s swishest cinema, The Stella (14th), has been restored to its old 1920s grandeur with mosaic tiling and art deco railings, while Mareel on the Shetland Islands made a surprising entry in 24th as a cinema with both screens and seal spotting in Lerwick.

The elevated Everyman Cinema chain also featured on the list for its “implausibly chic” Bath outpost (43rd), formerly the Tivoli Cinema.

As for first place, Le Grand Rex, Paris, was hailed as a “beacon for movie​ lovers” to be named the world’s most beautiful cinema with seven screens hosting glamorous premieres inside the 1932 style exterior in cream and champagne tones.

Phil De Semlyen, Time Out’s global film editor, said: “What makes a special cinema? A colossal IMAX screen and cutting-edge 4K projectors are all great but we also love it when there’s something more that makes a great temple of cinema – a sense of storytelling that starts before you’ve even grabbed your popcorn and taken your seat.

“There are a few cinemas that truly stand apart for this: cine-temples so historic, beautiful and unusual that they make taking in a movie feel like an act of pilgrimage.

“We’ve scoured the globe, from London to Paris, Jaipur and New York to Sydney and Copenhagen, to highlight the 50 most heavenly movie theatres on the planet.”

Time Out’s 50 most beautiful cinemas in the world

1. Le Grand Rex, Paris
2. Pathé Tuschinski, Amsterdam
3. Village East Cinema, New York
4. Cineteca Madrid, Madrid
5. The Electric, London
6. Cinema Dei Piccoli, Rome
7. The Astor, Melbourne
8. Puskin Art Cinema, Budapest
9. Cine Doré Filmoteca Española, Madrid
10. Le Champo, Paris
11. The Raj Mandir, Jaipur
12. The Labia Theatre, Cape Town
13. Rio Cinema, London
14. Stella Cinema, Dublin
15. TCL Chinese Theatre, Los Angeles
16. The Little Prince Micro-Cinema, Ontario
17. Cineteca Nacional de Mexico, Mexico City
18. New Beverly Cinema, Los Angeles
19. The Park Theatre, Manitoba
20. Stadtkino, Vienna
21. Sala Equis, Madrid
22. Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace, Sydney
23. Orinda Theatre, California
24. Mareel, Shetland Islands
25. Studio 28, Paris
26. Music Box Theatre, Chicago
27. Cinema Le Cosmos, Strasbourg
28. Coolidge Corner Theatre, Massachusetts
29. Metrograph, New York
30. City Le Colisée, Carcassonne
31. Phenomena Experience, Barcelona
32. BFI Southbank, London
33. Plaza Theatre, Atlanta
34. Avalon Theater, California
35. Egyptian Theatre, Los Angeles
36. Golden Age Cinema and Bar, Sydney
37. Le Cinéma du Panthéon, Paris
38. Museum Lichtspiele, Munich
39. Genesis Cinema, London
40. Grand Teatret, Copenhagen
41. The Sun Theatre, Melbourne
42. Paris Theater, New York
43. Everyman, Bath Curzon
44. Bloomsbury, London
45. The Projector, Singapore
46. Cinémathèque de Tanger, Tangier
47. Busan Cinema Center, Busan Cinema
48. São Jorge, Lisbon
49. Broadway Cinematheque, Hong Kong
50. Grand Lake Theatre, Oakland

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