A Night of Sun, Sex and Slavery with Imperial Cinema

It’s amazing how things happen and time passes without you realising it. For some of you reading this, the upcoming Spring All-Nighter could very well be your last. This could be your final chance to sit in a crowded room and spend an evening, a night and part of a morning watching some of the best films that the last few months have had to offer. To those I say, what are you waiting for? This is something that you will not be able to experience for the rest of your life while you slog away in a lab (or in an office, if you sell out). Make sure you buy a ticket, grab some friends and make your way to the second floor of the Union. To those who aren’t in their final year, I say pretty much the same thing. If you’ve been before, then make it a tradition. If you haven’t, then you might as well come and give it a try.

As an innocent Fresher I attended my first All-Nighter as a punter. Overexcited as always, I spent the preceding days trying to convince my friends in halls to come with me. And I can say without slanting the truth or hyperbole that that was the best and most bizarre evening in the entirety of my first term of Imperial. Sleep deprivation makes for both strange conversations and strange actions. Seven sugars in a cup of tea? Easy. Quadruple layered brown sauce sandwich? No problem. A failure to understand the plot of some films leading to convoluted conversations on the subject with complete strangers? Of course. A massive grin on my face for the rest of the next day? Even 9am lectures couldn’t get rid of it.

Now, I’m about to go to my fourth All-Nighter, this time as a cynical second year and somehow the incoming chair of Imperial Cinema, and I am more excited than ever before. We’ve got five fantastic films that boast a ridiculous thirty Oscar nominations between them, more tins of hot dogs than you can shake a stick at and enough hot beverages to fill a fairly small ocean.

1. Our first film of the evening, boasting only a pitiful three Oscars to its name, is Dallas Buyers Club. Set in the earliest days of the HIV epidemic, the film follows the true story of Ron Woodroof, a man diagnosed with AIDS and given 30 days to live. After being ostracised by family and friends, Ron takes medicinal matters into his own hands, smuggling in unapproved drugs from all across the world and distributing them to other sufferers through the eponymous buyers club. Featuring remarkable acting, with Oscar wins for both Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto, this film truly is the start of what critics have dubbed ‘The McConaissance’.
2. Next up we’ve got another true story and another Oscar-bait favourite topic: this time slavery. As intense as it is harrowing, at times _12 Years A Slave _can be hard to watch. You’ll be glad you did though; this certainly is not a film to be missed. When Solomon Northup is tricked into slavery he must endure years of beatings and betrayal as he learns to rely only in himself in his bid to once again be free. This is the Schindler’s List of slavery film; bold, brutal, and fully deserving of its best picture win.
3. Third is Martin Scorsese’s self-indulgent romp, The Wolf of Wall Street. _Wolf _is basically the story of one man’s descent from righteousness and morals into greed and corruption. Somehow the combination of lavish parties, public groping and goldfish eating work together, making an unforgettable 180 minutes. Though perhaps overlong in places, this is Scorsese at his finest, managing to keep you from wanting to punch Leonardo DiCaprio’s Jordan Belfort in the face. Just.
4. The penultimate film of the evening is Philomena, our fourth best picture nominee of the evening. Though almost certainly a feel-good film, it avoids the normal pitfalls and clichés of this sort of film, managing to be heartwarming rather than the usual sentimental mush it so easily could have become. The premise is simple. An Irish woman gives birth out of wedlock and gives up the child for a closed adoption to the United States. Years later, Philomena meets Martin Sixsmith, a BBC journalist with whom she decides to search for her son. Much of the reason that this film was such a hit was the near-faultless performances by Judi Dench and Steve Coogan who, between them and the rest of the cast, make the tear jerker scenes do what they are supposed to, and fill the rest of the film with a subtle tinge of hope.
5. The All-Nighter is wrapped up by the only one of the five not to be based on a true story, Alexander Payne’s N_ebraska_. We continue this year’s theme of a monochrome film to end the night, which gives a stark, surreal and utterly beautiful feel to the film. From black and white sunset to the rolling field of Nebraska, the cinematography is wonderful, helping to elevate it from good to something truly great, as does the absurd humour, summoning stifled giggles and out loud laughter in most scenes. Especially at six in the morning that this film will be playing.

So there you have it, this year’s All-Nighter line-up, featuring five Best Picture nominees, four true stories and a bucket and a half of tears. Bring your friends, your mild acquaintances, that guy who studies on the same floor of the library as you that you nod to occasionally, and most definitely bring a pillow. See you there!

The Spring All-Nighter is on Tuesday March 25.

Tickets are £10 online (until 4pm on the day) or £12 on the door. If you don’t fancy staying all night, tickets are £3 per film on the door.

For an extra £5, you can get All-You-Can-Eat Hot Food and Drink all night! This includes the usual mix of tea, coffee, toasties, hot dogs, soup, pot noodles and more.

Tickets can be bought from tickets.imperialcinema.co.uk