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Cinema in the Cemetery is fun, not Creepy

A few weeks ago, I went to an outdoor film screening in Hollywood. I’ve been to many outdoor screenings in cities all over the country, but this one was special. This wasn’t just some projector set up in a city park. This screening was held in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. This was Cinespia.

Pack up your wine and cheese for movies under the stars, among the stars.

For those of you not in the know, Cinespia is a summer series of film screenings held every Saturday night in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Santa Monica Boulevard. It has quickly become one of my favorite things to do in the summer. There’s really nothing better than hanging out a blanket sharing wine and cheese with friends and watching a classic Hollywood film …projected onto Rudolph Valentino’s mausoleum!

Cinespia screens a new old film every Saturday night. Most films are from the Hollywood canon, but every couple of weeks you will see a cult classic on the bill, which is always fun. Gates open at 7 and the movie starts at 8:30. I recommend getting there early so that you can set up your blanket, break out the boxed wine, and explore the cemetery. I found Johnny Ramones’ grave once while doing so.

Of all the film-related events that I have attended in L.A., Cinespia ranks at #1 on my list of magic movie experiences. It probably always will. There is something so wonderfully surreal about sitting in a cemetery amongst Hollywood’s deceased – some of whom were elite players, like Douglas Fairbanks – and watching a classic Hollywood film. Andre Bazin, a revolutionary film critic, once wrote that if you were to psychoanalyze filmmaking, you would find a deep-seeded desire to ‘embalm the dead’ and preserve time. Think about how often hear about deceased movie stars as living on forever in the movies. It’s just like that Kinks song: “Celluloid heroes never really die.” This is what makes Cinespia so great. It’s one of those events that makes living in Hollywood worth it.

You can check out Cinespia’s event calendar here. There are a few screenings left in the season. Enjoy! – Sarah Morisano

This entry was posted on Monday, August 16th, 2010 at 10:44 pm and is filed under Fun in the City. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.