Moving the movies

St Neots is having a six-screen cinema, originally due to be finished this autumn. But something has gone wrong and it will be delayed until early next year. The photo may give you a clue.

Old and new positions

Believe it or not, the new cinema was being constructed in the wrong place. At first it appeared that the developers, Turnstone, were at fault. Perhaps they misread the plans?

But no, they faithfully began building accurately in the wrong place - the fault seems to be with the architects. The plans were wrong.

Some of the local residents complained because the building was going to be some 800 mm closer to their properties than agreed. The developers decided the right thing to do was move the steelwork (it was almost complete by then). So the cinema framework has been partly unbolted, large sections moved as single pieces, and bolted down onto new concrete pads. It's been amazing to watch.

The photo shows one of the vertical steel beams in its new position with the old position marked in blue.

Sadly we will have to wait a little longer for our cinema. We were hoping to see the second part of 'The Hobbit' here this winter, but now it'll involve a trip to Huntingdon.

(If you liked this you might also like Journeys of heart and mind and Quote me on this.)

After Earth

I've been looking forward to watching 'After Earth', and we went to see it this evening. Despite a panning from the critics I enjoyed watching it. The storyline is straightforward without any clever twists, but it was definitely not boring.

CineWorld in Huntingdon

And there are some some nice ideas here. 'Danger is real, but fear is optional', is one of my favourites. It's a reminder of the great biblical truth that 'perfect love throws out fear'.

And another thread running right through the film is that a father's approval is key to a stable and secure heart. For anyone that trusts Jesus, there is assurance that we have the Father's approval, not on our own merits but simply because the Son has rescued us and brought us into that place of peace.

Like so many science fiction films, this one has some useful talking points and good places to anchor biblical truth in conversation. It's potentially a good way to bring that truth to the hearts and minds of anyone open to receive it.

By this time next year we will have our own multi-screen cine complex here in St Neots, partly because of an American benefactor. But that's another story.

(If you liked this you might also like Journeys of heart and mind and Quote me on this.)