Film Event: Empire Live at The O2

This weekend, myself and Jack popped over to the O2 Arena in London to attend the very first AA Empire Live. Showcasing more than 50 film themed activities and event screenings, guests were invited to enjoy some amazing film previews, workshops, pop-up parties, celebrity Q&As and participate in Empire Podcasts. Here's a little look at what we got up to...

A few months ago, I made a list of all my most anticipated film events of 2016 and I'm so pleased to say that I managed to tick another off this weekend. Kicking off on Friday evening with a special preview of Swiss Army Man (Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, 2016) starring Daniel Radcliffe, Empire Live was made up of The Empire Hub - a bowling alley hosting a social hang out for masterclasses, panels, a movie quiz and pop-up parties; and The Empire City which included some fun movie props and a Empire photobooth. A few standouts from the festival included A Ghostbusters Slime-a-Long, Game of Thrones: Battle of the Bastards screening and an Aardman Model Making Workshop. 

Up first for us was a screening of Richard Linklater's sequel to Dazed and Confused (1993), 1980s college comedy, Everyone Wants Some!! (2015). Whilst it wasn't quite what I was expecting, I was so pleased to finally have a chance to see it - even more so on the big screen. Following a screening of Pixar Shorts in the Cineworld Superscreen, we grabbed a quick bite to eat at Gourmet Burger Kitchen before gearing up for our final screening.

For our final screening, we were treated to a special advanced screening of Louis Theroux's My Scientology Movie - a documentary directed by John Dower which took ten years to make. Complete with a video introduction from Mr. Theroux himself, this was easily the highlight of our day and was such an interesting and entertaining watch. I would strongly recommend giving this a watch when it hits cinemas in early October. Last but not least and being so close to the O2, we finished up our day with a quick trip on the Emirates Air Line - a 90 metre tall cable car with stunning views of the River Thames.

Being the first year of the event, I was a bit unsure what to expect but I am so pleased to have been able to attend. Despite feeling as though Empire probably could have been a little more organised with providing information about the event ahead of time, I would love to return next year to see what they have in-store. Tickets were available as both packages and individually and I think had I been again, I would definitely recommend package in order to get as much out of the event as possible. Overall, we had an awesome day and am pretty darn happy to have gotten to see some of the films ahead of release.

Thanks so much to Jack, who wasn't feeling too well this weekend, for battling through and allowing me to drag him round the O2 all day. Did you go to Empire Live - what was your highlight of the event? What did you get up to this weekend? As always, I love reading your comments so please do leave me lots of lovely ones in the comment section below.

Until next time movie lovers,