I remember my first time. May, 1995. A Wednesday. A student house in Coventry, and I uttered the fateful words “anyone fancy the cinema tonight? There’s a film called Hackers that looks great”. And not one of them wanted to come, the selfish bunch. Too interested in playing Doom on their PC, watching The Bill or listening to this ‘Britpop’ stuff. They certainly weren’t busy cleaning the kitchen.

So I made my mind up, walked out of the house and settled down at the Odeon by myself. I loved every minute of the Jonny Lee Miller/Angelina Jolie electro nonsense on my lonesome. And I’ve been enjoying the joys of solo cinema for many years since.

Going to the cinema is a lot of things to a lot of people. Early on in your life it’s a great family day out. In your teenage years there’s the excitement of getting into a film you aren’t quite old enough for, and later still it becomes a sneaky way into the world of romance.

And with a group of you, a trip to the flicks can be an immensely bonding experience. I enjoyed The Matrix Reloaded simply because my slightly drunk mate – Rusty – a massive fan of the original, expressed his displeasure at the slow paced nature of the sequel by yelling “GET ON WITH IT” at the top of his voice after the first 20 minutes. It’s still the highpoint of the film.