Somewhere, right this very minute, someone inside a multiplex theater is regaling someone else with stories of the old-time cinema palaces, those places where the show began long before the curtain was raised.
But those palaces don't need to be rhapsodized over in past terms. They exist now, here, around Southern California. There's a heap of 'em on Broadway -- yes, literally a heap -- and the LA Conservancy embraces their majestic movieness each summer, during the Last Remaining Seats film series.
Let's just say, right here, that tickets for this series go faster than you can snap your fingers. Oh, and did we use "snap your fingers" for a reason there? We did. The preservation-minded group announced its 2014 summer schedule today, and the finger-snappiest film of all time made the roster.
"West Side Story" is one of the half dozen treats on the list -- the Tony-Maria heartache love fest screens at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Saturday, June 14. (Ohhh, a good match, era-wise, between building and film.)
But other cinematic bon bons await. "The Lady Eve" is up first, on Wednesday, June 11 at the Los Angeles Theatre, and "Citizen Kane" ends things at the Orpheum on Saturday, June 28. "El Gran Calavera" lands at the Palace on June 25, and a new -- or, er, old -- theater is in the mix: The former United Artists theater, now The Theatre at Ace Hotel. "Back to the Future" is the June 21 movie.
We do love that an '80s classic is now making a Last Remaining Seats showing. Can that decade already be considered vintage? Tubular.
April 9 is the on-sale date to the general public, but if you're movie-loving heart is truly set on something, become a conservancy member and buy early.
The Scene
Want to find new things to do in Los Angeles? The Scene's lifestyle stories have you covered. Here's your go-to source on where the fun is across SoCal and for the weekend.
And, for sure, keep going to the multiplex, but when a screening at an old odeon of glamorous movie history pops up, do whatever you can to get to it. And helping out an organization that helps out our history buildings? We'll give snaps to that.
