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Why waste your time exercising outside when you could sit back, relax and watch a movie in the fresh air? This spring and summer, enjoy your favorite flicks al fresco at any number of outdoor screenings taking place all over Los Angeles. L.A.-centric movies from "Clueless" to "Sunset Boulevard" make repeat appearances at several of these screenings, as does "La La Land" (of course.) From family movie nights in L.A. parks to classic-film fests hosted by local museums, we've rounded up a list of the best outdoor-movie screenings for 2017.
We'll continue to update the list as additional screenings are announced in the coming months, so make sure to check back periodically. (And if you know of other venues showing films, shout 'em out to tips@laist.com)
Spread out those blankets to claim your spot! (Photo by Annie Lesser/LAist)
CINESPIA
Cinespia "cemetery screenings" take place in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where you can stake out a prime spot, sip your BYOB booze and watch Los Angeles film classics from "Chinatown" to "Clueless," all while pretending you're not scared of the spooky surroundings. (Hey, there's no such thing as ghosts, right?) Hurry up and get tickets while you can, because Cinespia tends to sell out quick.
Tickets run between $12 and $16, and can be purchased here. Hollywood Forever Cemetery is located at 6000 Santa Monica Blvd in Hollywood.
May 13: Chinatown
May 20: Boogie Nights
May 27: North by Northwest
May 29: Clueless
June 3: Wayne's World
June 10: The Wizard of Oz
June 17: The Usual Suspects
June 24: Selena
Street Food Cinema (via Facebook)
STREET FOOD CINEMA
Film buffs and foodies can find common ground at Street Food Cinema, where family-friendly classics like "Aladdin" and "Grease" are screened with a side of thematically linked movie snacks. Forget the sad bags of stale movie popcorn; Street Food Cinema serves up food from local food-truck favorites like Comet BBQ and Cousins Maine Lobster. With local bands playing live music before and after each movie showing, Street Food Cinema is the quintessential chilled-out L.A. experience.
Purchase tickets in advance with general admission for $13 and reserved seating for $18, or get door tickets at most of the shows for $16 general and $21 for reserved. Doors open at 6 p.m., with music scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and movies starting at 8:30 p.m. More info and tickets can be found on Street Food Cinema's website.
May 6: Singin' in the Rain - Syd Kronenthal Park, Culver City
May 6: Aladdin (25th Anniversary) - Griffith Park
May 13: Star Wars: The Force Awakens - L.A. State Historic Park
May 13: The Breakfast Club - Poinsettia Rec. Park, West Hollywood
May 20: Toy Story - Will Rogers State Historic Park
May 20: Clueless - Victory Park, Pasadena
May 27: Back to the Future - Verdugo Park, Glendale
June 3: 500 Days of Summer - Will Rogers State Historic Park
June 3: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - Victory Park, Pasadena
June 10: Beauty and the Beast - Griffith Park
June 10: Purple Rain - Poinsettia Rec. Park, West Hollywood
June 17: Hocus Pocus - Syd Kronenthal Park, Culver City
June 17: Raiders of the Lost Ark - Eagle Rock Rec. Park
June 24: Crazy, Stupid, Love - Central Park, Glendale
June 24: Friday - Exposition Park
July 1: The Sandlot - Brand Library Park, Glendale
July 1: Napoleon Dynamite - Will Rogers State Historic Park
July 2: Fight Club - L.A. State Historic Park
July 8: Boogie Nights (20th Anniversary) - Exposition Park
July 8: Grease - Griffith Park
July 15: Deadpool - L.A. State Historic Park
July 15: Dirty Dancing (30th Anniversary) - King Gillette Ranch, Malibu (Camping*)
July 22: Pretty in Pink - Syd Kronenthal Park, Culver City
July 22: School of Rock - Victory Park, Pasadena
July 29: The Hunger Games - Central Park, Glendale
July 29: Wayne's World (25th Anniversary) - Poinsettia Rec. Park, West Hollywood
August 5: 8 Mile (15th Anniversary) - Exposition Park
August 5: E.T. (35th Anniversary) - Griffith Park
August 12: Monsters Inc. - Syd Kronenthal Park, Culver City
August 12: Almost Famous - Eagle Rock Rec. Park
August 19: Pitch Perfect - Will Rogers State Historic Park
August 19: Despicable Me - Victory Park, Pasadena
August 26: Selena (10th Anniversary) - Central Park, Glendale
August 26: Silver Linings Playbook - Poinsettia Rec. Park, West Hollywood
September 2: 10 Things I Hate About You - Will Rogers State Historic Park
September 2: Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (20th Anniversary) - Victory Park, Pasadena
September 9: Mighty Ducks (25th Anniversary) - Griffith Park
September 9: Mean Girls - Marriott Golf Course, Manhattan Beach
A screening at Eat|See|Hear (Photo courtesy of http://eatseehear.com/)
EAT | SEE | HEAR
Sponsored by Showtime, the Eat | See | Hear outdoor screening series will return to L.A for its sixth year of Saturday-night shows, mixing action classics like "Pulp Fiction" and "Goodfellas" with beloved rom-coms like "When Harry Met Sally" and "Amelie." Pets are more than welcome at all of Eat | See | Hear's outdoor events, so if you're a dog-owner (or one of those weird cat-owners who likes to bring their cat out in public), this is the series for you.
General admission tickets are $14 (plus fee) and advance purchase is recommended, but they offer a "Fashionably Late" ticket for $21 if you miss the boat. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., bands perform at 7 p.m., movies begins at 8:30 p.m. Find out more info about events and tickets here.
May 6: Mean Girls - Centennial Square at Pasadena City Hall
May 13: Casablanca (75th Anniversary) - North Hollywood Recreation Center
May 20: Grand Budapest Hotel - Santa Monica High School Amphitheater
May 27: Pulp Fiction - Autry Museum in Griffith Park
June 3: Friday - L.A. State Historic Park
June 10: The Princess Bride (30th Anniversary) - Autry Museum in Griffith Park
June 17: La La Land - Centennial Square at Pasadena City Hall
June 24: Grease - North Hollywood Recreation Center
July 1: Top Gun - Autry Museum in Griffith Park
July 8: Singin' in the Rain - Centennial Square at Pasadena City Hall
July 15: The Sandlot - Autry Museum in Griffith Park
July 22: Die Hard - L.A. State Historic Park
July 29: Young Frankenstein - Autry Museum in Griffith Park
August 5: Airplane! - Centennial Square at Pasadena City Hall
August 12: When Harry Met Sally - Autry Museum in Griffith Park
August 19: Raiders of the Lost Ark - La Cienega Park, Beverly Hills
August 25: Depeche Mode: 101 - Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena
September 2: Goodfellas - Autry Museum in Griffith Park
September 9: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - Centennial Square at Pasadena City Hall
September 16: Amelie - Santa Monica High School Amphitheater
Let's go to the movies (Photo courtesy Rooftop Film Club)
ROOFTOP CINEMA CLUB
Rooftop Cinema Club has returned to the roof of the 90-year-old Montalbán Theater for another season of films. And instead of having to fight for your turf on a lawn or struggle to hear over chatty neighbors, at these screenings, you'll get to kick it in cabana seats with wireless headphones. Take note, though, these screenings sell out at the speed of light, so make sure to get tickets quick for the remaining May and June events below.
The screenings are 18-and-over, and tickets are $17 plus a $2 booking fee. More information and tickets can be found here. Doors open at 6 p.m. and all screenings start at 8 p.m.
May 3: Drive (sold out)
May 4: Florence Foster Jenkins (sold out)
May 5: Selena (sold out)
May 6: Rogue One (sold out)
May 9: The Grand Budapest Hotel (sold out)
May 10: Memento (sold out)
May 11: Hidden Figures (sold out)
May 12: 10 Cloverfield Lane (sold out)
May 13: 20th Century Women (sold out)
May 16: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (sold out)
May 17: The Bad and the Beautiful (sold out)
May 23: The Big Lebowski (sold out)
May 24: Manchester by the Sea (sold out)
May 25: Lost in Translation (sold out)
May 25: Moana (sold out)
May 27: La La Land (sold out)
May 30: Sunset Boulevard (sold out)
May 31: L.A. Confidential (sold out)
June 1: E.T. (35th Anniversary)
June 2: Logan
June 3: Arrival
June 6: The Shawshank Redemption
June 7: Moonlight
June 8: La La Land
June 9: Moana
June 10: Who Framed Roger Rabbit
June 13: The Lost Boys
June 14: The Princess Bride
June 15: Raising Arizona
June 16: Dirty Dancing
June 17: La La Land
June 21: Hidden Figures
June 22: Casablanca
June 23: Heat
June 24: Moonlight
June 27: Top Gun
June 28: Back to the Future
June 29: Donnie Darko (15th Anniversary, 4K Restoration)
June 30: Rogue One
SKIRBALL CULTURAL CENTER
Just off the 405, the Skirball Cultural Center offers a carefully curated, themed selection of three outdoor movies each summer. While last year's selections centered around baseball, 2017's "Films That Rock" lineup celebrates "the power of music." Before the screening, check out the Skirball's Paul Simon: Words & Music exhibition.
General-admission tickets cost $10, with a reduced rate of $6 for full-time students and children, and are free to Skirball members with advance reservations—go here to buy tickets and get more information.
June 16: School of Rock
June 30: That Thing You Do!
July 14: La Bamba
Silver Lake Picture Show (Photo via Facebook)
SILVER LAKE PICTURE SHOW
The Silver Lake Picture Show offers screenings at the Sunset Triangle Plaza, and the intimate venue invariably makes the free outdoor-movie series feel like a cozy, slightly claustrophobic friend-group movie night. (If close proximity to fellow moviegoers freaks you out, make sure to get there early to stake out some personal blanket space.)
Each night's selection kicks off at 7 p.m. and runs until 10 p.m. or 11 p.m. The Sunset Triangle Plaza is located at 1523 Griffith Park Blvd., Silver Lake. For more info, visit the Silver Lake Picture Show website here.
June 22: Cool Runnings
July 6: The Notebook
July 20: A League Of Their Own
August 3: District 9
August 17: Space Jam
August 31: 10 Things I Hate About You
September 14: Scream
CSUN Oviatt Library, via Wikimedia Commons
CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE SUMMER MOVIE FEST
Recapture the glory of college movie marathons at Cal State Northridge's annual Summer Movie Fest, which screens films on the Oviatt Library Lawn every Thursday night at dusk from June through August. All-ages, animated hits like Moana and The LEGO Batman Movie alternate with more grown-up features like The Breakfast Club and Psycho. While the screenings are free, you'll have to pay $6 for general parking at student lots without a permit—all in all, though, that's not a bad deal.
Movies begin at dusk at 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, (818) 677-2477. More info can be found here.
June 15: The LEGO Batman Movie
June 22: Selena
June 29: Beauty and the Beast
July 6: Captain America: Civil War
July 13: Moana
July 20: Rogue One
July 27: Sing
August 3: The Breakfast Club
August 10: Psycho
August 17: La La Land
August 24: Space Jam
August 31: Doctor Strange
Moonlight Movies on the Beach (Photo via Alfredo's Beach Club)
MOONLIGHT MOVIES ON THE BEACH
If you're looking to watch a classic film with your toes in the sand, drive out to Long Beach for this annual series of screenings on Granada Beach. As an added perk, Alfredo's Beach Club hosts its summer-night movie series for free—you don't even have to pay for parking, which is truly magical. Movies will screen on Tuesdays from June 21 to August 30 and start at dusk around 8 p.m. The movies have yet to be announced. For more info on the screenings, visit the Alfredo's Beach Club website here.
