Your
Belmont
Memories
Spoons
"I had seen the film The Disaster Artist at the Belmont and enjoyed it. Typical of the majority of films I went to see at the Belmont the audience was small. So when the opportunity arose to see the film that inspired The Disaster Artist and there were only a limited number of screenings I felt I had to go and see it. I usually aimed to arrive 20 minutes after the official start time so as to avoid the adverts. This has rarely been a problem.
On this occasion I was a little bit earlier than this and was stunned to see people queuing up outside. "What is going on?", I am thinking. "Why are so many people interested in a film of limited appeal?" I get to the ticket desk and I am lucky to get one of the last remaining seats in the front row of the large Screen 1. I prefer to sit near the back so as not to strain my neck and go swivel-eyed trying to take in a large screen close up. I was invited to take some plastic cutlery on the counter. "What is this for I asked?". "It is part of the film." was the reply with an enigmatic smile.
Sure enough Screen 1 was packed out. The film starts and a little way in the people behind me shout "Spoons" and I am showered in plastic cutlery . This happened at key points during the film. Also the audience shouted out phrases at certain repeated phrases or camera shots. The audience clearly knew this obscure film very well. Never in my 50 years of cinema going have I encountered such an immersive experience. Well done to the Belmont.
The film, in case you want to look out for it, is "The Room" by Tommy Wiseau. A film that has to be seen in a cinema.
Bruce Taylor
Share Your Memory
Spoons
"I had seen the film The Disaster Artist at the Belmont and enjoyed it. Typical of the majority of films I went to see at the Belmont the audience was small. So when the opportunity arose to see the film that inspired The Disaster Artist and there were only a limited number of screenings I felt I had to go and see it. I usually aimed to arrive 20 minutes after the official start time so as to avoid the adverts. This has rarely been a problem.
On this occasion I was a little bit earlier than this and was stunned to see people queuing up outside. "What is going on?", I am thinking. "Why are so many people interested in a film of limited appeal?" I get to the ticket desk and I am lucky to get one of the last remaining seats in the front row of the large Screen 1. I prefer to sit near the back so as not to strain my neck and go swivel-eyed trying to take in a large screen close up. I was invited to take some plastic cutlery on the counter. "What is this for I asked?". "It is part of the film." was the reply with an enigmatic smile.
Sure enough Screen 1 was packed out. The film starts and a little way in the people behind me shout "Spoons" and I am showered in plastic cutlery . This happened at key points during the film. Also the audience shouted out phrases at certain repeated phrases or camera shots. The audience clearly knew this obscure film very well. Never in my 50 years of cinema going have I encountered such an immersive experience. Well done to the Belmont.
The film, in case you want to look out for it, is "The Room" by Tommy Wiseau. A film that has to be seen in a cinema.
Bruce Taylor
Important space for a lonely teenager
"I cannot emphasise enough how much the Belmont means to me. When I was a teenager I didn’t have many friends and the Belmont was where I learnt how to spend time alone and still enjoy myself. I went almost every weekend, travelling from out of town to see all kinds of indie movies. The space that the Belmont created is totally unlike anything at any other cinema or any other space in Aberdeen and it broke my heart when it closed so suddenly. I am holding on to hope, for my inner teenager, that the Belmont is brought back to life."
Flora Gosling
A student's staple
"My favourite experience was going to see Spice World. As a student in Aberdeen going to the Belmont was always a wee treat. Lover of all things cheesy, over the top and spicy and as someone who was too young to see Spice World when it came out, it was a no brainer.
I think its the type of movie some would see as a waste of money to go see - but the energy in the room was amazing! Everyone was singing, laughing, and cheering. I've always appreciated that Belmont showed movies like this.
The Belmont was a place I always visit whenever I return back to Aberdeen...It feels like there's a real missing piece if it disappears. It was one of the few places we could see foreign films and older classics. I have so many great cinema memories from there. Save the Belmont!"
Kumi McKenna
Birthday Party
"For my (I think) 8th birthday party, we hired out a screen in the Belmont to play 'A Little Princess' - a favourite of many a wee girl in the 90s, when this was. The Belmont staff were great, showing us how the projector worked and letting me 'start' the film, and then giving us a space to have a bit of a party after the film too (cue a Now That's What I Call Music 38 album being played on repeat).
Having not long moved to Aberdeen and with it, a new school, this is a really fond memory of getting to bond with the other girls in my class, in a place that made us feel really special.
The Belmont would continue to be a big feature throughout my childhood and teenage years - family trips to the cinema, and heading out after classes to catch a film in an attempt to seem very grown-up and wise to the world. It would be a huge detriment to Aberdeen and the people that live there for it to be no longer."
Ailie Crerar
Diversity & Inclusion in Cinema!
"The Belmont was the only cinema in Aberdeen that showed foreign cinema, low budget indie films and LGBTQ+ films too. We’ve lost a huge part of Aberdeen’s cultural diversity by losing our only cinema that screened the films that the big chain cinemas won’t show due to them having smaller audiences.
If it wasn’t for The Belmont cinema, I would never have been able to watch some of my favourite indie & LGBTQ+ films on the big screen the way they were intended to be viewed."
Krystle Boss