Dukes @ Komedia

Big comfy sofa — check.
Lots of leg room — check.
Lovely café and bar — check.
This cinema gets on huge tick. Best ‘check’ it out if you want to watch a film in Brighton.

So much better than the big chain cinemas. You can enjoy a wine plus there are 2 seater chairs at the back perfect for a snuggle on a date. Excellent choice of snacks too :)

Aaah I do love going to the cinema now that I have discovered Dukes.
I know a lot of people won’t agree with me but I think I actually prefer this cinema to the old Duke of Yorks on London road. Duke of Yorks certainly has lots of character however I really like the new and modern feel of Dukes at Komedia.
I recommend booking a couple of days in advance and that way you can book a sofa which is the same price as the standard seats. Although calling any of the seats standard doesn’t seem fair at all as they are certainly bigger and more comfortable than what you get in a standard cinema.
I suppose what I like is that its quite a grown up cinema. I love that you can get a nice glass of wine to enjoy with your film. You can even arrive early and have a drink in the bar before the screen opens. The food is good with a nice selection of cakes and snacks. They stock some local products as well such as lick frozen yoghurts. Another little touch is that you can help yourself to glasses of tap water from the bar area so this way you can avoid overpriced bottled water leaving you more to spend on wine & beer… happy days!

Duke’s @ Komedia, along with Duke of Yorks, is another place, where you can watch independant films in Brighton. It’s situated in the lanes, the environment is not as magnificant as Duke of Yorks, but I find Komedia better place to watch films, particularly if you’re a proper cinephile.
As all picturehouses across the UK, there are great memberships, which offer really cheap tickets and good discounts by the bar, as well as MUBI subscription for three months. (For £10 student discout, you get two tickets for free).
As for programme, Komedia makes much more screenings than Duke of Yorks, and you can find out a higher varienty of films there, from new, to old, from underground to mainstream. They do discovery Tuesdays, more series of films (recently there were screened the best of Hayo Miyazaki) and many other useful events. I love finding out just random films on their webpages, but still, I would love to see more of unexpected screenings.
The only thing which makes me upset, that godzilla type films take more space in their programme than actually independent films, but I imagine, that’s how they maintain their survival. Hopefully, in the future, this will change.

Came here for the first time the other night and was really impressed, the Café and bar look impressive, though i didn’t eat and only had a pint.
I was in the top screen (can’t remember the number) its a good size without being too big or too small. The seats are so comfy, maybe too comfy as for the first 10 minutes of the film i was really struggling to keep my eyes open, this had nothing to do with what i was watching, maybe its more to do with me turning into a pensioner.
The only minus point was that i found it quite cold in there and had to keep my coat on, but read the last sentence of the last paragraph and it could be more to do with that.
A good alternative to the DOY and far better than the multi screens.

Really hate to have to do this…
Why is it always that the really cool places to go have really attitudey unhelpful staff? It really let’s places down.
My mother has just had another baby recently and I love meeting them for coffees and occasionally going to see a film at the ‘big scream’ with them. The Big Scream gives new mothers an opportunity to view the latest films with their babies (under 12 months) in the company of other mothers and their wee screaming bairns. FAB idea, these are the kind of things I love about Dukeys.
Anyway we decided to try it at Dukes @ Komedia this time around, to go drool over Gosling. Usually I am fine to accompany them. While I was buying a coffee and ticket I was told by the girl she’d have to check whether it was ok for me to go in as I didn’t have a baby with me. I stated I was WITH a baby but still the manager had to come and chat with us. Kind of ridiculous — why would I Prefer to go to a film with a load of screaming babies shouting over it? Are you seriously being stuffy about it? It wasn’t busy at all either.
At first, when he began talking I thought he really wasn’t going to let me in but as he went on he explained that the license prevented them from allowing single people in but in this case I would be viewed as a carer. I can understand turning away people on their own because it is specific for mothers BUT I was clearly here with mother and baby. It was the girl standing behind him that was being shirty and unpleasant, standing with her arms crossed, angrily trying to chip in. Really? Tone it down love. There was no need for that attitude — she doesn’t have great people skills anyway as I saw her with some other customers.
If they’re going to carry on upholding the ‘Dukes’ name — such a great establishment, they could do with brushing up their customer service and she could learn how to smile!
The coffee wasn’t good either :(hopefully they’ll improve next time around but I am a bit put off.

I have to admit, I was a little sceptical with regards to this new offspring of the delightful Duke of York Cinema that has become a Brighton institution over the years. You can’t beat the old fashioned cinema on London Road, with its one small screen and infamous legs poking off the roof.
Well, you can’t beat it, but maybe you can equal it. The brains behind the DofY have taken over part of Komedia in the Laines and added two new screens, enabling the range of movies to be greatly increased. They still focus on more art house and world cinema films but also touch a little more on the mainstream now as well. We popped in today on the off chance and were just in time to catch ‘This is 40′. Like the original Dukes there is a delightful café/​bar area, selling light meals, homemade cakes, ice cream, ales from the Dark Star brewery, and a selection of wines. I love the fact that you can take your alcoholic drinks into the movie — a real treat.
You select your seats when you purchase your tickets. The back row has double seats for no extra cost so you can cosy up to your loved one! All the seating is really comfy and there is loads of leg room. This really does feel like a luxury experience compared with your mainstream cinemas.
The toilets are upstairs and are definitely an improvement on the DofY –all brand spanking new with luscious soaps and hand creams.
The price is slightly more than your average cinema but I would rather come here any day of the week than the Odeon or Cineworld. It was certainly a challenge for these guys to expand without losing the essence of what makes them special, but they seem to have achieved it hands down.