Seeing a movie in L.A. can be a singular experience—after all, it’s the headquarters of American cinema.
Because so many people in Los Angeles make movies themselves, revival screenings there function as a source of inspiration and community as much as entertainment. They’re often unique interactive events.
At the Academy Museum, rarely seen silent films whose scores have been lost to time might be shown along with new, period-accurate music arrangements by contemporary composers. Two popular L.A. cinemas are programmed using Quentin Tarantino’s private film collection. The Stop Making Sense dance party screenings at Vidiots have become beloved events in its community, and at revival houses like the Egyptian and the Aero, world-famous directors, writers, and actors who normally avoid publicity might turn up in person to share their craft and influences with audiences who love film as much as they do and revel in the nuances of a shared theatrical experience.
L.A.’s longest-running cinemas are also often surviving Art Deco masterpieces and representatives of the whimsical and neon-lit architecture that once defined 20th-century Southern California.
While streaming services give the illusion that every movie is accessible from your sofa, the reality is that the titles available on digital platforms at any given moment only represent a tiny fraction of what’s out there. But the personal and institutional film collectors of Los Angeles care for huge libraries of rare, pristine, and cult prints, so each night somewhere in the city, there’s always a place to see a scarcely screened picture—and it may be the only chance you’ll ever have to watch it. (Conveniently, the independent Revival Hub website and newsletter tracks all the upcoming screenings in the city.)
We love an evening or matinee at a true L.A. revival house. Going from west to east, here are some of our favorites:
1328 Montana Ave., Santa Monica
True to its aeronautic name—it originally served workers who built aircraft in the neighborhood—this 1940 single-screen cinema was designed by architect R.M. Woolpert in the Streamline Moderne style, which has been preserved over the years through several restorations. Programmed by nonprofit year-round film festival American Cinematheque—a critical institution in the global film preservation/cinema experience worlds—the Aero has been a West Coast point of pride for generations. The Aero is also able to screen advanced screenings of contemporary releases, as well as revival and restoration titles.
611 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles (Fairfax District)
LA is a town that appreciates its beauty sleep, so don’t expect the raucous all-night energy other that cities its size usually offer. For night owls looking for a good time, though, we love chasing a 9:45pm flick at Brain Dead Studios. The crowd tends to be a little rebellious and a little nerdy, like the Brain Dead designer streetwear brand itself, and the 35mm and digital projection films they play tend to reflect the audience.
“We definitely have a younger audience for most part,” said company cofounder and artistic director Kyle Ng to LAist. “An ‘old title’ [for them] might be [2003’s] Lost In Translation.” Retro appreciation, though, is baked into Brain Dead’s DNA: It originally opened in the 1940s as The Silent Movie Theater and more recently operated for a decade as the scandal-plagued Cinefamily before closing in 2017. Now owned and operated by Brain Dead, the revived space pairs the 163-seat theater with Brain Dead clothing retail space and a little hidden gem patio that hosts pop-ups, DJs, and live events.
We recommend pairing a screening with some poppy seed strudel and coffee at Canter’s Deli, a landmark for generations of LA artists, or a nightcap at The Kibitz Room, the deli’s connected dive bar, which are both a 2-block walk south.
David Geffen Theater at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
6067 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles (Miracle Mile)
Despite being one of the more affordable places to see a movie on the big screen in Los Angeles (regular adult tickets are only $10), this one might feel the most posh. The 952-seat David Geffen Theater, part of the Oscars’ own Academy Museum (an excellent institution that only opened in 2021 but already feels like an essential asset of the city) has the energy of watching a picture at the Oscars ceremony telecast, minus the formalwear. Everything is draped in luxurious Academy Red fabric. Here, pictures of every kind are given respect.
The Geffen can screen films of various types, including 35mm, 70mm, and laser projection, and it’s one of a handful of cinemas on the planet that’s equipped to screen antique nitrate prints. It’s grand, it’s refined, and there’s a real attention to detail in the stagecraft, like the hundreds of dramatic stage & accent lights and a curtain that artfully slats open for the pre-show live announcer. If you get up to use the bathroom, an usher will illuminate stair corners on your path with a red flashlight so you don’t trip.
While what you see at the Academy Museum is incredible, you’ll be even more enamored with what you hear. The 100-plus speakers and the amplifiers in the Geffen, paired with sound engineering by acoustician Jaffe Holden, create an unrivaled soundscape. “There’s no reverberation of the sound in that space,” says K.J. Relth-Miller, Director of Film Programs. “[When we do] live scores, [we] have to mic and mix every single musician, because there is no echo…The sound just disappears as you leave the theater.” The Museum’s second cinema, the Ted Mann Theater, is smaller (277 seats) but just as state-of-the-art.
7165 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles (Fairfax District)
Even in a town with some of the world’s most ornate and historic movie palaces, there’s a strong case to be made for the New Beverly being the quintessential cinema of LA. The humble, street-level, single-screen Mid-City former porn theater dates back to the 1970s, but in 2007, it was purchased by Oscar winner and longtime benefactor Quentin Tarantino.
The New Beverly enjoys access to Tarantino’s extensive personal collection of rare prints, and the landmark has endured as a reliable and unpretentious hub for double features, triple features, blockbuster hits, grindhouse features, and cult flicks, all projected in 16mm or 35mm and preceded by Looney Tunes shorts and vintage trailers. On the cinema’s website, Tarantino puts it plainly: “As long as I’m alive, and as long as I’m rich, the New Bev will be showing double features in 35mm.”
One practical note: the seating isn’t highly raked (inclined), so for films with subtitles, stake out a seat with a good line of sight of the bottom of the screen.
6712 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles (Hollywood)
It’s such a relief to step out of the crowded and stressful Hollywood Boulevard into the serene, spacious courtyard of the Egyptian movie palace. The TCL Chinese Theatre, a few blocks west, may be the more recognizable tourist darling on the Boulevard, but it’s the Egyptian Theatre (opened 1922) that lays claim to having invented the very concepts of the film premiere and the red carpet.
The Egyptian plays films from every decade, but it’s the Golden Age classics that really fit the profile here. The 516-seat auditorium and historic facade recently finished major renovations, including a recent $70+ million restoration funded by Netflix following the platform’s acquisition of the space from American Cinematheque, with whom it continues to share programming. It’s a great space to see digital, 35mm, and 70mm screenings, as well as extremely rare nitrate prints, which are prized for their contrast and crispness.
About nitrate film, Relth-Miller of the Academy Museum (another LA spot that projects nitrate, as does the Billy Wilder Theater at the Hammer Museum in West LA) says, “It shimmers. It glimmers. There are more depths with the black. There’s more nuance with the whites and the shadows and the highlights. And it just feels like it’s breathing, it feels alive. And with color, that’s even more so.”
Another attractive honor for the Egyptian: Its bathrooms are probably the newest and nicest of any LA theater. There are plenty of places to eat on Hollywood Boulevard outside, but we particularly love Musso and Frank Grill, an LA institution since 1919 that has appeared in plenty of movies of its own.
6000 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles (Hollywood)
For many LA natives, summer isn’t complete without at least one Saturday night spent cozying up on a blanket on the grass in Hollywood Forever Cemetery for an outdoor screening. Cinespia produces film screenings in unconventional spaces like the Rose Bowl Stadium, parks, and Downtown LA’s spectacular movie palaces not normally accessible to the public.
But for since 2002, Cinespia’s most popular events (May through September) are evening screenings in a green space at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery amid (but not on top of) the final resting places of the likes of Judy Garland, Paul Reubens, Cecil B. DeMille, and within sight of the tomb of Hollywood pioneer Douglas Fairbanks. Movies are screened against the wall of the mausoleum containing silent movie superstar Rudolph Valentino. The ticket price is more reflective of seeing a band or attending live theater than a regular movie, but it’s worth the splurge to experience such a popular social event in an iconic location of Los Angeles (the cemetery adjoins the back wall of the Paramount lot) in a new and novel light. Fans of Cinespia would also enjoy the Secret Movie Club, which produces pop-ups in Downtown LA’s ornate Golden Age theaters.
1822 N Vermont Ave., Los Angeles (Los Feliz)
The cursive green neon sign of the Los Feliz 3 has been a fixture of this neighborhood, the setting of 1944’s Double Indemnity, since the middle of the Great Depression. The small-but-adored cinema originally opened as a single-screen theater but was chopped into three screens (144, 60 and 55 seats) in 1993. Programming is split between American Cinematheque in the largest theater, and fresh releases in the smaller spaces. It’s the least grand theater in the American Cinematheque lineup, but like its other houses, it’s close to the hearts of LA cinema lovers and regularly hosts special events and talkbacks. Its charming storefront neighborhood, Vermont Village, is one of many historic neighborhood Main Streets that characterize Los Angeles charm—restaurant/lounge The Dresden, a few blocks south, is another nightlife institution that has appeared in films including Swingers (1996) and Anchorman (2004).
4473 Sunset Dr., Los Angeles (Los Feliz)
The second of LA’s two Tarantino-owned cinemas (1993’s True Romance was filmed here, and he acquired The Vista in 2021 and extensively renovated it for two years), The Vista also has a casual vibe, but its commitment to a phone-less and talking-free viewing experience is dead serious. As a result, audiences at the Vista, which first opened in 1923 on the site of the famous outdoor set for D.W. Griffith’s iconic Intolerance (1916), tend to be engaged and polite.
Unlike Tarantino’s New Beverly, which operates exclusively as a revival house, The Vista offers a combination of new releases presented on 35mm and 70mm film, as well as retro titles and cult cuts that are presented in 16mm and VHS in the Parisian-style Video Archives Cinema Club 20-seat micro-cinema.
4884 Eagle Rock Blvd., Los Angeles (Eagle Rock)
Sequels aren’t usually as good as the original, but the new iteration of the beloved Vidiots video rental store (originally opened in Santa Monica in 1985 by Cathy Tauber and Patty Polinger and re-opened in Eagle Rock as of 2023) is a Terminator 2-sized exception. Stocking a catalogue of nearly 70,000 Blu-rays, DVDs, and VHS tapes, including titles long out of print, the new Vidiots rental store operates in tandem with its 271-seat 35mm and digital projection theater and smaller second screening room. Aesthetically, it’s all a little punk and alternative, but in a neighborhoody, all-are-welcome kind of way.
“I don’t even call it ‘inclusive’,” says Executive Director Maggie Mackay. “It’s representative.” Generally speaking, art house movie theaters can be a bit of a bro club, but Vidiots has been bucking that cliché ever since its origins as a women-owned cinema space serving the entirety of LA. “We do a lot of programming with multi generations in mind. We want to see grandparents bringing their grandkids in. We want to see teenagers coming by themselves, because a lot of us became film fans because we had access to video stores and movie theaters [growing up]. Those were always really open spaces for teenagers.”
For drinks and bites nearby, Walt’s pinball bar and The Capri Club Italian restaurant down the street are favorites among regulars.
Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts, 3131 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles (University Park)
Because it’s supported by the University of Southern California (USC), it can take chances with its schedule. “There’s nothing existential for us about [worrying about] an empty house,” says Alessandro Ago, Director of Programming and Special Projects at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. “As a result, we can go pretty wild.”
LA has a handful of official IMAX theaters that play contemporary studio and special anniversary releases, including the Regal Irvine Spectrum and the Universal Cinema AMC at CityWalk Hollywood, and they’re all much larger than what you’ll find at USC. But the reason you should seek this one out is that the theater’s academic foundation and ability to offer tickets to the public at no cost (reservations are required) means it has the freedom to showcase the deepest deep-cuts, like those featured in AGFA Movie Hooky Club Tuesday matinees.
“It’s like: this is your shot. You wanted to see Vegas In Space on an IMAX screen? Here you go,” says Ago. The theater is located in an active academic media lab at the Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts, but non-student visitors shouldn’t be shy about buzzing in (which you may have to do); Ago estimates more than half the attendees have no connection to the school.