London Boulevard
Over the years London has become a very popular place to film a movie, and our capital is back on the big screen this week in London Boulevard.
Directed by William Monahan, the writer of hit movie The Departed, the movie brings together Keira Knightley and Colin Farrell.
So to celebrate the release of the movie we take a look at some of the best movie that have used London as a backdrop.
- 28 Days Later
No list of best movies set in London would be complete without 28 Days Later included as who can forget the scenes where Cillian Murphy walks through deserted London?
They were some of the most iconic images in British film history as Danny Boyle brought scenes of a deserted post-apocalyptic London to the big screen.
Released in 2002 the movie is set four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.
The movie was a critical and commercial success when it was released and cemented Danny Boyle as one of the most exciting British filmmakers.
- Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Ok so it's not modern day London but the musical is set in London all the same albeit in the nineteenth century.
The movie reunited filmmaker Tim Burton with his long time collaborator and Oscar nominee Johnny Depp, who takes on the role of the murderous barber.
Burton really has struck gothic gold, as Gotham city comes to London, delving into his obsession with the morbid and slightly grotesque going deeper and darker than he ever did with Corpse Bride or Beetlejuice.
He sticks with his usual muted colour palette of browns, greys, and blacks which he beautifully contrasts with the streams of red gore, reminiscent of the girl in the red coat in Schindler's List.
It's grim, it's grim and a bit bleak but the movie looks stunning and it's a great performance from Johnny Depp.
- Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels
Guy Ritchie burst onto the movie scene in 1998 with his feature length directorial debut Lock Stock and two Smoking Barrels.
Four London working class stiffs pool their money to put one in a high stakes card game, but things go wrong and they end up owing half a million pounds and having one week to come up with the cash.
The movie, along with his follow up project Snatch, remains the best work from the filmmaker as the film went on be a critical and box office hit.
- Notting Hill
It's hard to believe that it was eleven years when Julia Roberts said those immortal words 'I'm also just a girl standing in front of a boy asking him to love her' but yes Notting Hill was released back in 1999.
Directed by Roger Mitchell the movie follows the life of a simple bookshop owner that changes when he meets the most famous film star in the world.
Notting Hill is used beautifully throughout the film from the market to it's gardens as a backdrop to this unlikely love story.
The movie went on be a huge hit at the box office, taking in excess of $363 million worldwide before going on to pick up Bafta and Golden Globe nominations.
- The Long Good Friday
Released in 1980 the movie stars Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren and is widely regarded as one of the best British gangster movies ever.
The film, it chronicles the story of a prosperous gangster who controls a criminal empire and whose world falls apart over the course of one week.
The movie was shot in and around the Capital including Heathrow Airport, Canary Wharf, St Katharine Docks as well as the Savoy Hotel.
Other great movies set in London include Match Point, V For Vendetta, Sliding Doors and RocknRolla.
London Boulevard is released 26th November.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw