Rich Mix

Rich Mix is a pretty decent cinema in terms of facilities. The bar’s reasonably priced, there’s a cafe on the ground floor which offers decent food so you’re not forced to resort to nachos and hot dogs if you’re starving before the show, and there’re some comfy sofas on the first floor in case you, like I did, had nothing else to do before the show started and just wanted to chill.

Given the location, I was a little taken aback by the ticket prices. I think it’s £9 per ticket pretty much every day, although you can get tickets for £5 if you go in the afternoon on certain days or have an Idea Store membership. It’s not that centrally located after all, and I guess I expected there to be one cheaper day like what the Barbican offers.

Rich Mix, yeah I love independent cinema

This cute little cinema is right in the heart of Shoreditch on Bethnal Green Road. If you live East and can't be bothered to go all the way to Angel or Whitechapel it's a great place to bop into and isn't usually too busy. The popcorn is cheap, the decor makes a welcome change from the normal cinema experience and it also has a nice area to chill and drink before or after your movie.

UPDATE: It can't go unreported that every visit is accompanied by some entertaining shambolic episode. I was there for a Polish film which they began screening without subtitles, have experienced more than my fair share of sound problems and then on Sunday they left the main lights on for the opening five minutes of the film. The reason it was five minutes was that was how long it took for the cinematic stand off amongst the audience to resolve itself when someone finally weakened and went to get a member of staff. A bit amateurish, but it all adds to the fun.

Great cinema in a great laid back setting, with comfortable seats (I've got long legs, in proportion, but still long) and prices that are fairer than the fairest maiden. You also get to utilise the large, open bar and cafe areas.

The selection of films does oscillate between new releases and slightly more left field showings (and some real humdingers when it comes to music movies).

Fair enough, generally speaking the clientele entertain more interesting barnets and are adorned with more eye-catching clobber than London's more prosaic projectors of celluloid, BUT they do have an irritating propensity to rabbit.

Have been here a number of times, generally fine but the odds of getting someone talking over the film appear to be higher than normal.

The last time I went there was a row of non-reflectives at the back talking loudly and throwing popcorn. When they were told off by someone in the audience, one of them got up and started threatening him. It ended with a bit of a scuffle in the aisle but no punches got thrown. Because of this experience I wont go back, I guess it's a bit too east London for me.

I plan on making my cinema trips more regular now that I have discovered Rich Mix. The charming decor and being surrounded by colour and creativitiy is an albeit unessential but definitely welcome change in your average cinema visit. The seats are comfy, the layout is good and the popcorn is cheap and not-heart-attackingly-salty (a problem Ive had in my usual Cinema for some time!) Im loving this place.

Great little cinema, showing non-mainstream and mainstream film. The film we happened to watch though was a bit pants, but thats not what this review is about so I shall not discuss it further.

Saw a few amateur art films in the bar beforehand, and they openly asked the audience to participate and submit their movies, which I thought was cool. My favorite I have to say was the balding trans-sexual grand/father/mother person, it was fascinating and at the same time a horrifying film.

The decor of the bar area is arty and you can relax on comfortable sofas whist enjoying a drink or something decent to eat. Thought it was nice and different not to be overwhelmed by sugared products, although they are there if you want them.

Lovely, well kept cinema with classy screening rooms and quirky decor, I'm absolutely in love with the London City scape Timorous Beasties toile wallpaper they have.

Upstairs is a comfy open plan bar/ cafe type deal that is usually occupied by media types having 'meetings' ie. drinking posh coffee and moaning.

The selection of films, as usual with the posh cinemas, is a little more arthouse which can sometimes reveal some gems and sometimes you just end up seeing pretentious pap.

My only complaint is the few times I've been quite a few problems with the sound have cropped up. One time it was uncomfortably quiet the other it fluctuated from being normal to painfully loud. Hopefully these are just anomalies.

Good seats, nice and comfy and the sound / picture quality is pretty much what you expect. Think the cinema side of business doesn't get as much attention as a dedicated cinema would: On three seperate occasions the film stopped halfway through and only resumed after a five minute delay, plus I've also seen the film projected too high leaving a gap at the bottom. Great price though (cheaper than most venues). I'm a fussy viewer though and when you have better cinemas throughout London this is fairly low down on my preferred choices.

Great variety of shows, workshops, events, films. Overall a fun creative space for art lovers

My visit here was intially know where to return to, as London is not the best for knowing where anything is. Easy to get lost, but this building is massive. It is well signed when I exited the tube and I found it quickly. When exiting the building I went for another tube station and finding my way out was not easy. I managed it eventually; you have to get to the bridge over and then its a straight line to the tube. Overall this is a arts centre full of film and theatre and is massive and must have something in that you’d like.

In its work and all areas of the organisation, Rich Mix aims are:
- to celebrate London’s cultural diversity and establish a new landmark in world culture
- to showcase work from Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and marginalised communities
- to encourage, nurture, grow and explore the cultural and creative talent of all people through a vibrant, dynamic celebration of entrepreneurship, utilising the creative industries and artistic expression as its foundations.

We are passionate about diversity, arts, creativity, inclusivity. In order to fulfill our mission we strongly believe in, and aim to:

- build an organisation whose strength is built on a mixed economy
- offer a base where established and emerging artists and organisations can meet, particularly those from BAME and marginalised communities
- promote, produce and deliver a high quality artistic and cultural programme that reflects the area.
- actively make world class arts accessible – to all ages, all backgrounds and all income groups
- place diversity at the heart of the organisation and to mainstream the cultural expression of BAME communities
- offer opportunities and leadership for young people who may have not had the chance to consider the creative arts as a career
- encourage partnership as a way to increase awareness, access and pathways to creative industries and the arts and cultural sectors.

Rich Mix is a truly enterprising and successful non profit making organisation.

Thursday Night Life is a monthly collaboration between the Rich Mix Cultural Foundation and Black Film Maker (BFM), which so far has been going off with a bang each time the event has taken place! For the last two screening events which previewed the films 'Adulthood’ and 'I love my wife’, alongside musical showcases, Q&As with the actors / directors of the films, food and drink sold out even before the night of the events.
Thursday Night Live creates an interesting social and networking forum for those who want a little bit more than a film and less than a club event. Performances from Bashy as part of the Adulthood sound track went down a storm and lively debate ensued with the Q&A in the bar after the film.
Rich Mix serves a good selection of snacks, food and drink including jerk chicken and patties. The jerk was quite hot, mind you…even for me. I would definitely recommend keeping an eye out for Thursday Night Live.

I am absolutely obsessed with this cinema/movie theatre/multi-plex with a twist. It was the welcome addition the area needed pre-2008, which hosts a myriad of cultural, artistic and film related events which never cease to calm my curiosity. There is also an Education Programme in place running a wide range of events and activities for schools and colleges, from weekend film-making workshops to theatre shows.

Grub-wise, there is a weekly cafe menu serving hot and cold options (including vegetarian and Halal options), ranging from small salads for £3.50, with hot food of reasonable quality coming in at £4.

Screen number 1 gets my vote every time, the geometric wall patterning setting the perfect backdrop for a range of blockbuster and arthouse features. If you’re date leaves you waiting in the aisles, get ready for a new retail venture starting in January 2009 with oggleverything bringing a veritable banquet of sophisticated jewellery, bags, hats sourced locally and internationally.

Nice Cinema on Bethnal Green Road where it meets the top of Brick Lane. The RiCh Mix cinema and gallery building is very modern, with none of the sticky chewing gum marred carpets that are typical of mainstream cinemas. There are 3 screens which normally show a mix of mainstream and arthouse films, at reasonable prices for London. £7.50 adult peak. Check out the funky wallpaper, and exhibitions in the gallery or have a coffee or something stronger in the large bar area. A bit off the beaten track (at least until Shoreditch station reopens) so normally quite quiet in the week.

I went here last weekend to see 'W’, thinking that it was too soon to watch Bond given that it’d only just come out. Although the seats were pretty comfortable and the venue itself quite pleasant and laid back, a couple of things disappointed me a little:
1. early Sunday night, sure, it’s not Saturday but it’s still the weekend. Why was there only one lady on the ticket desk - and why was she talking to someone on the phone for over 5 minutes when there is a queue of people waiting to buy tickets?
2. Film started at 8.45 or something like that. About 5 minutes before that, on the way up the stairs, a different lady told us that the screen wasn’t ready yet and that we should wait downstairs. We go downstairs obediently, wait 5 minutes and go up via the lift to find that everyone was already seated. On top of that, although the tickets had row and seat numbers, a helpful cinema go-er told us that it was free seating so we had to find a seat at the back.
To be honest, I enjoyed the film, the view was fine, even from the back. I was just slightly put off by the somewhat laid back attitude of the staff I guess. I would go back there for sure.

Brilliant venue for art and film. However, I booked early for the new James Bond, couple of weeks in advance to get the best seats for a mates bday, and when we arrived they had a record of my payment but had not reserved our seats! Nice! We had to wait for the whole audience to be seated (film was sold out) then ended up with 2 not so good seats and alot of agro from other customers wanting to watch the trailers in silent!
Nice cinema though, bigger than u think and very comfy seats!

Rich Mix is a community arts centre first and cinema second. Public and corporate funded and a very innovative social enterprise. They have a great roster of events such as comedy nights, jazz evenings, gigs etc. There is also a cool cinema that shows both the blockbusters and 'worldly’ movies, a cool cafe/bar area with free WiFi and a great East End feel. Situated near to Brick Lane on Bethnal Green road it is easy to get to and in one of the hippest parts of town.

If you live in the area you’d do well to sign up to their newsletter to be kept up-to-date on events planned.

This is a great little spot on the Bethnal Green Road close to Brick Lane. There’s a cinema, a cafe and a lively and dynamic programme of theatre and education events. They seem to be involved in all manner of festivals that happen around the area -and manage to represent all the diverse groups that are particular to the locality.
I really like the cinema here - it may not be something particularly sought for in a cinema - but the decor inside each of the theatres is so quirky and chic and colourful. They didn’t show any adverts also when I went there - but I don’t know if that was because I went to see Sex and the City and there were scores of die-hard impatient women. I was one of them, but that movie sucked. But the venue was lovely…