One of the greatest things about living in London are all the interesting events that people put on. One of the latest concepts, put together by the Soho House Group combined food and entertainment in the form called Edible Cinema. The concept sounded amazing – watch a movie and then at times throughout the movie, consume a morsel paired to go perfectly with the movie at hand. And what better movie choice other than the dark movie, Pan’s Labyrinth.

I was impressed by the thoughtfulness and playfulness of the pairings such as the impressive “oak smoked popcorn“, a wonderful starter to consume as the opening scene drives through a woodland forest and the car pauses for a short break. Other morsels came in for of clever liquids all made with some form of Bombay Sapphire Gin (sponsoring the event).

Here are the eight morsels (above) waiting to be strategically consumed and the menu (below) of what they are.

I love the concept of this sort of cinematic experience although I think it takes a lot of time, effort and talent to get the right pairings to go with the right moments. For instance, the pipette of a highly intense cocktail mix super strong worked well with the syringe scene but the lump of orange flavoured, pure sugar cube at the end was a bit too sickly to finish off with. I look forward to the next ventures and can only think that the original Ghostbusters might make the next great experience.

Before heading away for holidays, I managed to get a booking to see Avatar 3D at the BFI’s Imax. The last 3D movie I saw required the “special” 3D glasses during only certain parts of the movie unlike this one which required it for the entire duration. It’s definitely a strange experience, but just like most things, you seem to adjust to it after a while.

Being such a visually rich film, this was definitely worthwhile seeing at the Imax although you want to get some good seats. We were particularly lucky getting seats pretty much smack bang in the middle, enjoying all three stories of movie screen in all dimensions. It’s apparently sold out at the Imax until March and I’m happy to report it’s worthwhile paying for the experience.

You can read countless other reviews of the actual movie but I will say that although the story is a little bit predicatable, it’s still worth going to see on the big screen. I’m not so sure a TV set will do it as much justice, and watching it in 3D definitely adds a dimension worth seeing.

On Sunday I ended up at Shepherd’s Bush Empire to participate in one of the Secret Cinema events, a themed evening out where the movie is secret right to the very end and the location disclosed just a few days earlier. When I signed up for the ticket, all I knew was that there were going to be “Rock Gods” and “Shady Promoters”. Later I find out the theme of the evening is 80s rock, so I end up buying a vintage leather jacket on the weekend to accommodate. I found a decent bargain at Rokit in Covent Garden too, so pretty stoked about that.

To be honest, I don’t remember that much about the 80s other than lots of curly hair and bright coloured slacks. After all, I hadn’t even hit my teens at the end of it. I had a much better understanding of 80s rock when I saw everyone else. Ripped shirts, brightly coloured, tight fitting trousers and tights, and lots and lots of messy hair apparently was the idea. The extras hired by (or from) Secret Cinema also came in complete theme and entertained us as we lined up in all of our different lines. We had bikes come through, rock papparazi, a skirmish between two rocked out blokes that made the line up in Fabric on a Friday night look super tame.

When we entered the empire we took to our second floor seats, complete with a bottle of Vitamin Water and a packet of crisps. Other attendents stood around in the aisles, handing out small buckets of popcorn as everyone else eventually made it to their seats. Complete with band kit, it wasn’t long before we witnessed a rock weding, watched a small film about a Heavy Metal Drummer in the middle east and began the session with Toronto based band, Cauldron.

It wasn’t long before the real movie was announced, apparently the premiere of Anvil! The Story of Anvil, though my sister had recently been to yet another “premiere” of it earlier in the week. It’s a great movie though be warned it’s a documentary and probably not for everyone. I’d seen it advertised and I can’t say it was one that I’d go to the cinemas for. It follows the tragic tale of a Canadian band who had a profound influence on the heavy metal music scene, yet never found the fame that they deserved. Throughtout it, we see them and their, almost, unwavering belief and passion for their music. What was surprising at the end of the movie was that Anvil the movie was suddently displaced by Anvil the band in real life. They played three songs before calling it a night, and what a night it was!