The Liquid Muse

Hollywood Forever

I’ve been dying (no pun intended) to watch one of the movies in Hollywood’s most famous cemetery since I first heard about it, a few years ago. Back then, I believe they showed all classic movies. People could relaxed-ly show up with food and wine and casually wander in, meander down the cemetery path and lackadaisical plop down any old place to enjoy a movie projected against the mausoleum wall.

Like everything in our fair city, cool stuff doesn’t stay underground for long. I finally made it out two Saturdays ago, with my hubby and a group of friends. Dawn and Ben showed up around 6:45, like we did, but Dawn’s friend Roxanne had staked out our prime spot in the two-block-long line a couple of hours earlier!

When the gates opened at 7:30, hoards of people filed in, each handing over $10 to the gal at the front and nearly raced each other past headshot-bearing tombstones to snatch up a little parcel of land. Our asses securely “par-terre,” we did what any respectful people would do in a cemetery - and uncorked the wine.

Of course, the first bottle of wine went down way too easily. So, we opened a couple more. My new favorite, easy to drink wine (and easy to take along with its screw tops!) is Eleven Tongues. This delightful, South African wine is named for the 'eleven tongues' spoken in that country. I've tried the Shiraz, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc and really enjoyed them all.

As we noshed on Roxanne’s fried chicken and nibbled on humus, guacamole and salad. Sitting there amongst good people, both living and dead, I breathed a sigh, happy to be in LA, living the oh-so-glamorous life.

Shortly thereafter, the wine had played its part and I grimaced at the thought of standing line the 50-person long line for the port-a-pottys. This is where I was really impressed with Cinespia, the organizers of this event. Not only were there security guards keeping everything rolling along in an orderly fashion but the portable poopers were clean and didn't even smell bad. THAT alone is worth ten bucks!

The surprise of the evening was when the star of the featured film showed up to speak before the movie. Paul Reubens (aka: Pee Wee Herman) co-wrote the film with Phil Hartman and Michale Varhol. I didn't realize that it was also one of Tim Burton's early directing gigs. Nestled comfortably in cocoon of blankets, it was hard to leave. Then again, looking back, it is a cemetary, after all. I guess leaving is a luxury for which I should have been grateful...

There are only a few screenings left for the summer, so grab a blanket, a picnic and some buddies and head over to Hollywood Forever. Life is too short to waste time...