Pop Up Screenings Presents Anchorman

The British climate is something that refuses to be tamed. A record breaking April can lead to a questionable May, with promises of a scorching Summer brushed away with a “we’ll see on the day attitude.” Which is fine if there’s some safety net should the rain fall, but in the event of a pop up outdoor cinema event that spans the weekend, it’s a case of all or nothing.

The British climate is something that refuses to be tamed. A
record breaking April can lead to a questionable May, with promises of a
scorching Summer brushed away with a “we’ll see on the day attitude.” Which is
fine if there’s some safety net should the rain fall, but in the event of a pop
up outdoor cinema event that spans the weekend, it’s a case of all or nothing.

Pop Up Screens paved a season of outdoor cinematic events
from the 27^th to the 29^th of May, promising the fail safe
line up to bring film lovers to Ravenscourt Park for an alternative viewing
experience. The opening night bought us Anchorman, a comedy that spurred a
following of thick moustaches, scotch connoisseurs and one liners proclaiming
love for household appliances. It’s a film that most people under the age of 30
know word for word, and with The Big Lebowski and Ghostbusters showing the
following evenings, it felt as if Pop Up Screens could outrun the weather.

This feeling of invincibility lasted until Friday morning,
where thick clouds and contrasting weather reports cast a shadow over the
possibility of anyone getting a glimpse of this magnificent nylon suits. PUS
had two options; bow out disgraced or bite down and embrace the weather. The
latter was confirmed in a Tweet, “The event is happening. We are playing
chicken with the British summer!”

1,500 plastic ponchos were ordered, 3 fingers of Glinlivet
was added to the menu and hundreds of people showed up. It didn’t rain.
Burgundy was smiling upon as all. You did have to be part of a dedicated bunch
to attend; despite turning up from seven the film couldn’t be seen until the
sun had gone down, and with all heat leaving with it there was much donning of
layers as a girl put gloves onto her feet. A few ultimate technical glitches
warranted some yelps, although a soundtrack fault encouraged the more hardcore
fans to step in with the dialogue, and the singalong Afternoon Delight bought
the metaphorical house down.

It highlighted that evening the sort of screening that can’t
be streamed, and it’s unfortunate that English weather proves such a cruel
mistress otherwise this would open up a whole new niche of nights out and an
additional source of income to the industry.

Thankfully there’s much more to come over the next few
month, the next notable being a whole throng of screenings hosted by cinema
group Nomad, the country’s first roaming outdoor cinematic experience that is
ravishing locations in and around London to bring the best in contemporary,
classic, cult and commercial film to audiences. In July, lie back and let
anything from The Truman Show to Thelma and Louise wash over you in what’s
tipped to be the hottest summer since the 70’s (We know but we could all do with
taking a leaf out of Pop Ups book.)