Make A Scene/ Mommie Dearest at Cultureplex

Tom Grieve, Cinema Editor

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Make A Scene/ Mommie Dearest

4 October 2019

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We’re so pleased that Manchester’s favourite queer film club have found a regular home at Cultureplex’s Mini Cini. Starting with Frank Perry’s camp classic Mommie Dearest, film fans can expect wild, “way-too-interactive” immersive screenings on the first Friday of every month, with titles swinging from high art to bad taste, from the greatest queer films ever made to films “so bad only gay men could love them.”

Over the past couple of years, there’s been an explosion in highly Instagrammable, interactive, immersive cinema events involving fancy dress, actors and elaborate set dressing. But while the treatment is usually given to big, nostalgia-tinged films from the 80s and 90s, Make A Scene’s live events are more John Waters and Ab Fab. Attendees at previous events have seen Showgirls in a Casino, Gremlin drag queens, anti-Trump placard-making and a flower-arrange-a-long screening of Little Shop of Horrors.

The film club’s showing of Mommie Dearest promises to be a similarly memorable affair. Perry’s 1981 docudrama is based upon Christina Crawford’s autobiography-cum-exposé about her adoptive mother – played deliciously by Faye Dunaway – the Hollywood icon, Joan Crawford. Devised as a hard-hitting piece of dramatic cinema about celebrity parenthood and abuse, the heightened atmosphere and bizarre, quotable script earned the film a Razzie for Worst Picture. But those same properties helped the film commercially, and it has been championed as a camp comedy and embraced by the queer community.

As always, Make A Scene’s Gary Williams will be hosting on the night and audience members familiar with the film are expected to be quoting along: “Barbara, please!” “Christina, bring me the axe!” “No wire hangers!” etc. In honour of the film, Make A Scene and Cultureplex will be running a wire hanger amnesty on the night. Filmgoers clearing out their closets will be able to trade in their hangers for a free cocktail, because it’s what Joan would have wanted.

Where to go near Make A Scene/ Mommie Dearest at Cultureplex

Manchester
Restaurant
Bistrotheque

The in-house restaurant at Cultureplex offers up seasonal menus by Blaine Duffy, as well as some unique classic dishes.

Brownsfield Mill building in Manchester
Manchester
Tourist Attraction
Brownsfield Mill

Now a Grade-II listed building, Brownsfield Mill in Manchester was constructed in 1825 as a power mill, and later housed the A.V. Roe and Company aviation factory. The former mill forms part of the Piccadilly Basin and is to undergo refurbishment for potential use as flats or office space.

Chopstix Manchester
Manchester
Restaurant
Chopstix Manchester

Chopstix is a noodle bar based on the approach to Piccadilly Station, with a great range of quick and easy Chinese dishes.

Manchester
Event venue
DIECAST

We try out the Sunday roasts at Diecast, Manchester’s new creative neighbourhood, food hub and cultural space.

Idle Hands - Coffee Shops in Manchester - Creative Tourist
Manchester
Café or Coffee Shop
Idle Hands

They say an idle brain is the Devil’s playground. So what, then, can be said about Manchester’s Idle Hands coffee shop? Artisan, specialty coffee enthusiasts Idle Hands have settled and Dale Street and we’re very happy about it.

Manchester
Restaurant
Niwa Yakitori

Charcoal grill yakitori supper club held in a beautiful Tokyo-style backstreet cafe in the North Quarter.

ABode Manchester
Manchester
Hotel
ABode Manchester

ABode Manchester is a boutique hotel. With a signature restaurant and bar. Conveniently situated Near Piccadilly Station.

Manchester
Restaurant
Store Street Exchange

Large open plan restaurant on the ground floor of DoubleTree by Hilton, near Manchester Piccadilly. The food is high quality, with a variety of menus, including a la carte and afternoon tea.

Dakota
Manchester
Restaurant
Dakota Bar & Grill Manchester

Great-looking brasserie based in the luxury Dakota Hotel on Manchester’s Ducie Street, now featuring a retractable terrace to handle all types of Manchester weather.

Manchester
Hotel
Dakota Manchester

Dakota is a top tier luxury hotel near Piccadilly Station, featuring the largest suite in Manchester, a Champagne Room and Cigar Garden.

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