Jonathan Melville: Imaximum movie fun on offer at Cineworld

YOUR mission, should you choose to accept it, is to try to watch the latest blockbusters on the biggest screen you can find in Edinburgh, including the upcoming Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and The Dark Knight Rises.

That’s not an impossible mission thanks to the announcement that Fountainpark’s Cineworld is turning Screen One into the UK’s latest IMAX screen on December 21, with Tom Cruise’s new outing as Ethan Hunt helping to launching it.

It’s fair to say we’re spoiled for choice when it comes to cinema screens in this city, the IMAX yet another excuse to head out into the cold this winter to experience new worlds on the big screen.

I frequently lose count of the number of films being shown around town, this week being no exception. If you don’t fancy Happy Feet 2 there’s the low budget Weekend along the road. Martin Scorsese fans can even choose between 2011’s Hugo and 1978’s The Last Waltz, showing on the same night in different places.

I’ll be heading along to sample the action-fest that is Mission Impossible in a few weeks, but I’ve also got my sights set on religious satire We Have A Pope at the Filmhouse and It’s a Wonderful Life at the Cameo on Christmas Eve.

Many of the best films aren’t flashy and have no CGI but they do draw you in with their finely tuned scripts and acting talent. If they scare you or leave you smiling, they’ve done their job.

So while we’ll soon have Wrath Of The Titans, The Hobbit and The Amazing Spiderman enticing us with ‘immersive’ experiences in 3D and IMAX, a glance at the listings in other cinemas should show that smaller and sometimes older films can be just as immersive if we give them a chance.

Visit www.reelscotland.com for more movie comment