Paul Thomas Anderson names his favourite London cinema
Just like how every musician has their favourite record store and every artist has their favourite gallery, nothing should come between a movie director and their best-loved cinema. Indeed, nothing beats a plush seat that is perfectly shaped to the curvature of your rear, with armrests that provide the perfect amount of forearm coverage and a cup holder that covers anything from a shot glass to a supersize shake.
Often, such favourite cinemas are ones that accompanied filmmakers throughout their childhood or adolescence, with Quentin Tarantino having a particular fondness for the Cinerama Dome in LA. “I grew up in Los Angeles, so I always thought of the Cinerama Dome as a real big deal,” he told Howard Stern, “They’ve got the biggest movie in the world,” with the iconic building being featured in the director’s ninth movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
An icon of 1990s filmmaking, Tarantino climbed to acclaim alongside the likes of other LA-based icons as Paul Thomas Anderson, with both directors coming to create some of the greatest movies of the decade. Sharing a number of eccentric nights together, the pair have an unparalleled love for modern cinema and the landscape of LA in particular, with Anderson’s 2021 film Licorice Pizza being a love letter to his city.
It’s surprising then that his favourite cinema doesn’t come from the rolling hills and star-studded streets of the city, instead opting for a movie theatre across the Atlantic. Situated in the very heart of London, Anderson has a soft spot for Prince Charles Cinema, Leicester Square, which sits in the iconic West End, Britain’s home of performance that contains the oldest theatre in London.
“The Prince Charles has a place in my heart,” Anderson told Time Out, “It’s the people, the programming, the accessibility, feeling, texture… you cannot go wrong”. Built in the early 1960s, Prince Charles is the only independent cinema in the West End, earning cult status in an area which also features the vast behemoths of Odeon Leicester Square and Vue cinema.
With several of Anderson’s movies earning their place on the screen of the Prince Charles cinema, including 1999’s Magnolia and 2007’s There Will Be Blood, the director is full of praise for the modern London landmark. Continuing, he exclaims: “You also know that on any given day, you can close your eyes, press your finger to the programme, and you’ll hit something great. It’s like tuning into your favourite radio station”.
History, tradition and the preservation of independent cinema are clearly something that Anderson holds close to his heart, often being a spokesperson for the world of underground filmmaking. Helping to elevate the craft in the 1990s, Anderson has since become one of the industry’s most important creatives, pushing the boundaries of creative endeavour with each new release.
Take a look below at Tarantino, one of Anderson’s great friends, talking about one of his own favourite cinemas in the form of the Cinerama Dome below.