Belcourt Theatre — Local services in Nashville-Davidson

I arrived early surfing for a parking spot forgetting that Belcourt validates. I finally found one about half a mile up the street by the iconic Dragon Park. Upon entering, I was greeted by the affable ticket agent who encouraged me to park in the closed business lots nearby, obviously oblivious to the legality of using private business lots. I don’t expect the agent to be a legal scholar, but patrons need improved communications to alternative options independent of their website. How about some signage as you leave the filled lots to alternatives? Or perhaps as you enter and leave the theatre - occasionally reinforced by the staff. After I grabbed my ticket, I found ample seating in the simplistic atrium. As the showtime drew closer, the lobby soon filled with many patrons half my age which was delightful to see them choosing to see a film which won’t be breaking box office records. A few minutes after the doors swung open from the prior showing, I purchased my small Dr. Pepper & fresh popcorn and quickly made my way in before the crowd occupied the auditorium. After finding an open seat, I fell back in love with the Belcourt. You quickly forgive the lack of luxury seating when the on-screen advertisements don’t last 20 minutes and add value to your experience. I was flooded with numerous reasons to return outside of the quality offering in the trailers. The lights quickly dimmed, and it felt like a time machine. You could hear laughter again – lots of it – again and again. Sure, it’s a dark comedy, but I was enjoying a movie with an audience again. It was the little things too, the mysteriously heavy dark curtains, the annoyingly late arriving patrons and those that unexpectedly leave for the lavatory less than one hour into the movie. I’ll take it all. My advice - ditch the Regal and head to the Belcourt....

I had a terrible experience at the Belcourt. I showed up, got my ticket and got in line for concessions. As I was making my way to the counter several younger people from the theater next to concessions who the people working the counter seemed to know cut in front of me and the counter people allowed them to do that. I ordered a medium popcorn and a bottle of water and had to repeat myself about five times as the girl taking my order seemed to keep forgetting what I had asked for. I started out perfectly pleasant but became more perplexed and annoyed as she asked me over and over to repeat “Medium popcorn, bottle of water”. I stepped to the side and waited until eventually I was handed a bag of medium popcorn, no water. I asked for the water and I’m sure my annoyance was clear. I went upstairs and watched the movie, some horror thing, the watching experience was good, not great. As I’m leaving, I see both of the people at the counter glaring at me. I’m stopped by the supervisor who gives me a weird, threatening speech about how the people at the counter said I was rude to them and if it happened again I’d be ejected. I tried to explain my side of the situation, but was promptly interrupted and shut down. I told this person I would be leaving and never coming back and they responded “Good.” I’ve possibly never had a more rude or dismissive interaction with employees of any business anywhere in the country. Shame on the Belcourt Theatre, you clearly care more about maintaining your cool pretentious image and giving film students a little hangout club than providing a pleasant experience to your patrons. I would not recommend this...

Whoever is in charge of programming needs a raise and recognition for their ability to select films that would ensure I would visit multiple times a week.

Whoever wrote "cinema is dead" has not been to the Belcourt where nearly every screening I went to in two months was at least 40% full. That doesn't sound like much but considering that the capacity of their two biggest theaters is about 330 and 250, that's still about a hundred people sitting comfortably enjoying a film the way the filmmakers intended it (on a big screen). Sure you can stream Casablanca or Amelie at home but have you ever enjoyed My Dinner with Andre at the theater the night four inches of snow brought an entire city to a standstill for a week?

The saddest part for me was saying "no, I'm not a member" each of the 13 times I visited this blessed establishment. The second saddest part was leaving before their upcoming screenings of the Before trilogy (all three in one day!), Fassbinder's BRD trilogy (all three in 35mm!!!), and Freaks and Total Recall (at midnight!!).

How fortunate Nashville is to have such a wonderful theater dedicated to exhibiting films that are sure to please...