A Fine Way To Spend A Rainy Day

If you fancy seeing a film but don't have the cash to fund repeated trips to the cinema, you could do a lot worse than head down to the BFI Southbank (Formerly the National Film Theatre) where you can get free access to the excellent Mediatheque (see below).

The Mediatheque is a facility which the BFI made available when they revamped the back half of the building earlier this year. In the space which previously housed the excellent Museum of the Moving Image there is now a rather flashy ticketing area, a superb shop, a gallery, a rather odd and over-priced but not unattractive cafe/restaurant and the Mediatheque itself.

The Mediatheque is a room which contains about fifteen computer terminals. As you walk in, you are given a set of headphones and seated at a terminal. You are then able to choose what you want to watch from a large chunk of the BFI archive. You have complete control over what you watch and can fast forward and rewind in much the same way you could a DVD. It's a bit like a better version of Sky Box Office or Homechoice but better because you are able to choose from an odd, varied mix of material. We've been there several times and there are a few things we particularly liked. In particular:

-"Relax" (see below)-This is a half hour film about a gay man going in to hospital for an HIV test. It's mostly in black and white and the film explores the man's worries as he waits desperately for the results pondering the possible consequences. It was made in 1991 and is very much of its time and shows the sheer horror faced by many people as the HIV virus spread into mainstream consciousness. The only time we see any colour in the film is when it's his own blood.

-"Eastenders"-Almost as depressingly, they have the famous episode of Eastenders which simply consists of Dot and Ethel talking about life, death, the past and many other miserable things. It's practically a half hour Alan Bennett play and it's great.

-"Abigail's Party"-Available in full, (although when we watched it, the last three minutes were annoyingly not working) Mike Leigh's dinner party gone wrong remains a painful viewing experience. Mike Leigh has made better things since then, but it's good to go back to the beginning and see what all the fuss was about.

-"The Smiths on the South Bank Show"-He may officially be an idiotic Daily Mail type now, but seeing Morrissey in all his pomp still gives us the shivers. The part where Johnny Marr emphatically explains why it was imperative that the Smiths not sign to Factory Record is particularly insightful and inspiring. And the footage of John Peel emotively praising the band was enough to remind us just how much we miss him.

Those are just a few of the things worth seeing but in fact, the best things are the oddities. Searching the database you can find five minute films going back to the pre-war years, public information films, old newsreels and all sorts of odd stuff. And since it's all free, you might be able to afford a three quid cup of coffee from the cafe next door.

A Whole Month Of Burton

It's almost December and that means it's almost time for the BFI Southbank's Tim Burton season. They're showing pretty much every film Burton has been involved in. There are a few oddities on show for the true Tim Burton obsessive. On the 3rd December for example, the screening of Burton's first feature Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, will be followed by Frankenweenie, a half hour re-working of Frankenstein that kick-started Burton's career. There's also a chance to see the real Ed Wood's tribute to cross-dressing: Glen or Glenda.

Everything you'd expect is being screened at some stage. The first two Batman films are the perfect example of how to make comic book films that respect the original whilst bringing a bit of Hollywood razzmatazz to the equation. The Nightmare Before Christmas is brilliant in places (especially the bit where the witches play hockey with pumpkins) and Sleepy Hollow is quite fun in a goofy way.

But best of all are Burton's two masterpieces: Ed Wood and Edward Scissorhands. Both star Johnny Depp. Both have all the classic Burton hallmarks: The outsider, the naive central character, the ultimate rejection of difference. The only difference is that Edward Scissorhands is ultimately a love story with a tragic ending whereas Ed Wood's stance is that even freaks can find other freaks and live happily ever after. These are the two essential films to see and we will certainly be ambling along at some point.

We may even go and see Planet of The Apes again to check if it's as bad as we remember. Mark Wahlberg opposite Helena Bonham Carter. In monkey suits. Ugh.