11 Of London's Funniest And Most Poignant Cinema Style Signs

Laura Reynolds
By Laura Reynolds Last edited 92 months ago
11 Of London's Funniest And Most Poignant Cinema Style Signs

We all need cheering up every now and then, and sometimes that cheer come from surprising sources. Cinema boards and chalk boards often have something witty — or thought-provoking — to say. These are our favourites, worth making a detour to see the latest words of wisdom if you're in the area. Tell us yours in the comments below.

The Prince Charles Cinema in 2013. Photo: taigatrommelchen

Prince Charles Cinema, Leicester Square

This West End stalwart is a small independent cinema, focusing as much on cult and arthouse films as new releases.

No, not a weird apocalypse warning: Zombie Strippers is the name of a film. Photo: Simon Crubellier

The messages are often creative ways to try to get bums on seats, although the language used isn't always PG, even if the films are.

Photo: taigatrommelchen

Take a detour next time you're in Leicester Square.

Name that film? Photo: April

Shoreditch Grind, Old Street roundabout

Photo: Laura.Oliver

It may not be an *actual* cinema, but perched on the edge of Old Street roundabout, Shoreditch Grind's cinema-style board has kept us amused on many a lunchtime amble around the area. Sometimes it's current affairs ("Welcome to the 74th annual tube strike games"), sometimes it's just solid life advice ("Speedos — just say no").

p
Photo: Past London

So far in 2016, the board has displayed several tributes to recently departed celebrities — David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Prince and Muhammad Ali among them — but we're hoping that the Grim Reaper will ease up on famous people for the latter part of the year, allowing Shoreditch Grind to get back to what it does best: scathing wit and random hilarity.

Photo: that's not important right now
Photo: David Telford
Photo: that's not important right now

Its younger sibling, Soho Grind, has got in on the act to a lesser extent, announcing itself as the "New kid on the block" when it opened, but the various other Grinds dotted around town have yet to follow suit.

Ritzy Cinema, Brixton

In January 2016, the area outside the Ritzy in Brixton hosted an impromptu street party in tribute to David Bowie. Photo: sinister dexter

The Ritzy is an independent cinema in Brixton. For the most part, it displays cinema times, as you would expect, but occasionally these give way to public declarations of love, apologies, and news announcements.

It's got political at times too, with the letters imaginatively rearranged by people celebrating Margaret Thatcher's death. Staff at the cinema put forward their own message during the campaign for a living wage for Ritzy staff  in 2014.

Photo: D Mud

Screen on the Green, Islington

We've only seen Islington's Screen on the Green stray from its traditional cinema times once, and that was for a marriage proposal back in 2014 (which is a pretty good reason, if you ask us).

Know any regularly changing message boards that we've missed? Let us know in the comments below.

See also: London's best pub chalkboards

Last Updated 07 July 2016