A night in the cemetary with Dr. Strangelove

We went to the Cinespia screening of Dr. Strangelove at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Sat. night. I’ve been hearing of these for years, but this was my first time. Holy cow, it was beautiful! What an amazing setting and group of people.

You hear “movie in a cemetery” and it just sounds freakin’ weird, but it wasn’t at all what I expected. First of all, the cemetery is gorgeous: bright green grass everywhere, with majestic mausoleums, hundreds of palm trees, and even a swan lake (although the swans’ perching on marble grave slabs was a little bit strange).

We got there nice and early and worked it so that when the gates opened at 7:30, we were ready with our car and jetted in, getting the best parking and lawn spots imaginable. Within half an hour, this massive square of grass was packed with blankets, lawn chairs, wine, cheese, and over 2,000 smiling faces. The DJ laid down proper background music, from prog to electro to sweet summer house. For the next hour and a half, we ate, drank, and grooved to tunes; the sun went down and the palm trees silhouetted against the dusk’s hazel sky. Firecrackers were visible off in the distance.

At some point the brainchild of the organization got on the mic: “Hi, everyone, my name’s such-and-such. Thanks for coming; a portion of your donation goes to film preservation efforts; blah blah blah… Every year for about two weeks around this time we have a group of very special visitors: the junebugs! They’re mating right now and, if you haven’t noticed already, they’re kinda sloppy fliers. So expect them to smack into your head and food for a few minutes, but don’t fret, they’re harmless and will only be out for 10-15 mins. Please be nice to them.” Sure enough, a few minutes later, those damn sloppy fliers let us be. lol

The film began around 9, projected on the side of a massive mausoleum, and the first thing I noticed was the incredible sound. It was all-encompassing surround sound in stereo, and it was as loud or louder than that in the top indoor theaters these days.

Even though I think Kubrick was one of the best filmmakers of our age, I still don’t like Strangelove. It reminds me of a bad joke that goes on far too long, and I feel the political commentary is lessened by the severity of the caricature it paints. Still, it was cool to share the experience of watching it with…

…all these amazing people. The crowd of twenty/thirtysomethings were cool, hip (but not too hip), and nice as could be. Even the organizers and people who worked the event were unusually mellow and friendly. Everyone was really respectful of and helpful to others. Everyone was allowed to do their own thing: eg, we sat next to Thandie Newton (from Crash) and not one person came up to her or bugged her all evening. People were lighting up all night, and by the end you could tell everyone was feeling niiice.

An amazing, anomalous find in LA. We’ll def be going back.