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.
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.
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.
Take a detour next time you're in Leicester Square.
Shoreditch Grind, Old Street roundabout
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").
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.
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
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.
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
