Film in a hot (cool) graveyard

Only in LA, we’re tempted to say. But why not host picnics and movie screenings in a cemetery? This year, Hollywood Forever memorial park’s film program Cinespia celebrates its 10^th anniversary with an upcoming tribute to the late Elizabeth Taylor. On Sunday, May 14, 2011, Liz can be seen in one of her most sultry roles as Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

The series was launched a decade ago with a one-off screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic “criss-cross” murder thriller Strangers on a Train, and has since grown into a summertime institution that draws thousands of film fans to outdoor showings projected on the marble wall of the mausoleum where silver-screen legends like Rudolph Valentino found their final repose.

Far from morbid, Cinespia’s screenings are celebrations of life, where friends and families gather to picnic, sharing food, drink, blankets and a common passion for one of our region’s top exports.

And let’s not forget the music: Cinespia features DJ/performers to entertain you before and after the films, including Andy Votel, Cut Chemist, Gaslamp Killer, DâM-FunK, Carlos Nino, and the Numero Group.

For this month’s offering, the cemetery gates swing open at 7 p.m., and the screening gets underway at 8:30 p.m. Hollywood Forever Cemetery is located at 6000 Santa Monica Blvd. in Los Angeles. There’s a $10 donation per person, and parking is $10. All the info you’ll need to know is right here.

Posted 5/10/11