Film and the beauty of sitting in the dark

So yes ok I have been hiding from January too. I haven't ventured out much and have mainly spent my time moping. But now the end is in sight; I have begun planning my holidays, I don't feel so guilty about breaking my New Year's resolutions and everything is looking a little cheerier.

Of course there is still the typical shitty British weather to contend with. This means that activities are limited to indoors making it a perfect time to hibernate in your local cinema.

I love the cinema and have written about it before in this blog but that was very site specific and now I want to talk about your local generic/independent cinema.

I always think of it as a nice excuse to watch telly in the dark and not talk to people under the pre-text of going out and being sociable. And you can eat sweets. I require little else from life.

In London there is no shortage of cinemas but I have done a little research and most (if not all cinemas) offer some form of discount on some days-

The most obvious is of course the hugely popular Orange Wednesday which can be redeemed at bigger cinemas such as Odeon, Vue and Cineworld. If you have been living inder a rock for the last ten years and don't know what this is- to redeem your 2 for 1 voucher for the cinema you text FILM to 241 on an Orange phone and they send you a code that you show when purchasing tickets. This deal can also be used at the independent Picturehouse cinemas. Picturehouse now has six cinemas across London in Brixton, Clapham, Greenwich, Stratford East, Notting Hill and a newly opened branch in Hackney.

I visted the Hackney branch a few weeks ago to see Shame, which was very disturbing and mostly makes sex seem very unappealing. I would advise against sitting in the middle of the raised seating because this will you put right in line with a ten foot image of Michael Fassbender's crotch. It makes for very awkward viewing.

My latest find is the Barbican cinema, which offers tickets for a fiver on Monday nights when booked online. TIP- our screen was on level -2 that is MINUS 2. It is bloody confusing to get to but get someone to point you in the direction of the lift and all becomes clearer. This venue makes for an interesting Monday night but be quick because tickets sell out fast.

The lovely BFI on the South Bank also offers films for a fiver on a Tuesday. This can be done online and you simply redeem the discount at the checkout. I love the BFI building for it's amazing film shop, exhibitons and the bar which has deck chairs outside in the summer. I am easily pleased.

Then there is the general arts venue, Rich Mix, in Shoreditch. This is situated on Bethnal Green Road in the amazing borough of Tower Hamlets, which means anyone with an Idea Store or Tower Hamlets library card can go and see films for £5 on Mondays and Tuesdays.

I will take a minute to mention the Curzon and Everyman cinemas that are scattered across West and North London. From what I can gather, their situations (for example Belsize Park and Mayfair) means that they don't have to offer discounts because they are in expensive areas. You can get a few pounds off tickets costing £11-12 if you're a student but it's still quite pricey.

One cinema that I think is worth saving for is the Electric on Portobello Road. It is a beautiful little screen with proper armchairs (or for couples there are double sofas at the back) with a holder, not for your just a drink, but a wine bottle! Sorry did I forget to mention my ideal film experience includes Haribo and wine? I never said I was refined. The bar is actually in the cinema allowing you to nip to get more drinks at opportune moments without missing too much. Of course all this does not come cheap- it's £15 per person- but on Mondays and Sundays there are £8 tickets available for the first three rows.

The crowning glory of the London cinema scene I think has to go to the Prince Charles Cinema near Leicester Square. Despite the unappealing locationn this cinema has a lot to offer. Tickets normally cost about £10 for evening and weekend shwoing, but if you become a member then this gets reduced to £7.50 and matinee showings for members only cost £4. The fantastic bit being that it is only £10 for a year's membership or lifetime membership costs £50. The thing I love most about this cinema is that they do movie marathons, old film creenings, sing-alongs and other special events. An example being their double bills season which sees classic films such as Leon followed by Kick Ass. Amazing.

I am particularly excited because next week there is a screening of Tyrannosaur followed by a Q&A session with Olivia Coleman, who I love.

I think that is quite a comprehensive list, but now I am quite exhausted so I think I will just go to bed and stick on one of my Love Film rentals. It's still January and I still can't quite be arsed.

Come on, we will get through January together

Is it just me or are people (myself included) complaining about January more this year? I don't know if it just me feeling grumpier and hard done by- I had to work three days between Christmas and New Year- but Lodoners seem greyer and more miserable than normal. I know I am quite a naturally cynical person but come on people it's 2012! There's the Olympics, the Queen's Jubilee and it's Charles Dickens' 200th Anniversary (all these things will invariably end up in future blogs FYI). No? Well how about some cheap grub then? When the gym just seems too cruel a place and it's dark at 4pm why not head to a cosy restaurant in the knowledge that it won't break your already decrepit bank account.

There are loads of deals for chain restaurants all over the country through websites such as moneysavingexpert.com and myvouchercodes.co.uk but I think I have found something better.

There is this thing called a taste card which gives you 50% off or 241s on food in hundreds of restaurants across the UK. However, if you want to focus on London go to the website and search for restaurants in area of London and you can see that there are loads. This includes chain restaurants such as Zizzi, Pizza Express, Strada, Prezzo etc ass well as independent ones.

Read the specification to each restaurant carefully since there are some restrictions. For example, most of the deals are only valid during the week, some require you to book in advance and others limit the number of people you can use the discounts on.

Normally the card is £69.95 for 12 months but you can get a free month's trial. I tried it back in November and the thing I like most was that you don't have to sign up and then cancel to avoid getting charged. I have signed up for so many free things and then just forgotten to cancel them. I realise these companies are waiting to make money from my stupidity but that doesn't really make it easier to swallow.

All you have to do is enter your details into the website, tell them where to send it and they happily comply. My friend Lou was the one who told me about it and when she had finished her month's trial, and she didn't take up a full membership, the taste people emailed her and offered it to her for half price. This didn't happen to me but it would be worth the £35 for a whole year.

I think I only used it twice- once in a very nice Zizzis near Covent Garden and once in an awful looking Mexican place off Shoreditch High Street called Chico Bandito (and yes that's as every bit as bad as it sounds). The food was actually pretty good and they did amazing jugs of Margaritas. The ultimate downside was that as we walked in they placed over-sized sombreros on our heads. In my mind that is a deal breaker.

Request a card now and you could be as happy as these people in a matter of days.

Let me know who goes where and how it turned out and don't worry only 23 days left.