Cinespia Movie Nights at Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Fred Hernandez

Hollywood Forever Cinema merges the rebelliousness of disturbing the dead with the pleasure of watching your favorite movies, and though it may seem to be a bit idiosyncratic it is uniquely entertaining. Hollywood Forever Cinema changed the negative connotation of cemeteries, which usually conjure somber and forlorn feelings of a loved one who has passed away. The Hollywood Forever Cinema re-imagines the cemetery and makes it a movie destination.

Since its inception in 2002, the Hollywood Forever Cinema has provided Angelenos with top notch entertainment in the form of canonical movie classics. Cinespia events feature pre-show DJ performances, themed photo booths, and you might even get a chance to scope out a celebrity. Tickets are usually $14 unless you’re buying tickets for the From Dusk Til Dawn screenings, which will run you $18. The screenings are hosted every year on the Fairbanks Lawn on the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, which got it’s name due to its proximity to the crypt that houses Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Jr., and the digital screening is showcased against the wall of the Cathedral Mausoleum – spooky, isn’t it?

The Hollywood Forever Cinema was first thought of by John Wyatt, a set designer working for Brad Dunning who has helping with the restoration process for the cemetery. Wyatt asked the owners if he could screen a movie and managed to show Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train in 2002 to an audience of 80 people; he would later go on to screen Sam Fuller’s Pickup on South Street to an audience of a thousand. The first season focused on classic films, but for the following years, movies of all shapes and sizes would be showcased (25 each year).

This summer is full of comedies and classic films such as Casablanca, Napoleon Dynamite, The Outsiders, There’s Something About Mary, A Clockwork Orange, and their From Dusk Til Dawn event that features fantasy films such as The Neverending Story. Complimentary coffee will be served by Intelligentsia (a Chicago-based coffee shop that uses 1950s German cast-iron roasters to make their coffee).

Bring a picnic dinner so you can enjoy the beautiful stars, no pun intended, and the cool summer nights. They have a tent that sells reasonably priced food, as no grills or fires are allowed for safety purposes, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy dinner from one of your favorite burger joints, so plan ahead. Also make sure to leave fido at home, since dogs are forbidden. The Hollywood Forever event can host as many as 3,500 people, and since alcoholic beverages are allowed (beer and wine only), it is a perfect date idea or a place to gather with friends.

If you would like to dance, music will be provided by local DJs, including the likes of Derek James, Carlos Nino, Ana Calderon, Mahssa, Turquoise Wisdom, and Elijah Wood (you heard right), Jimi Hey, Jun, Cut Chemist, David Holmes, and Gaslamp Killer. They play before the movies are screened and again after the credits have rolled, so bring a date and enjoy the most unique movie-watching experience this season.

Enjoy summer’s Saturday nights with Cinespia at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Parking passes are available for $15 on the cemetery grounds, allowing you to walk directly to the screening. Additional parking is available for $8 at the Paramount lot at 801 North Gower.