Showing posts with label Los Angeles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Los Angeles. Show all posts

Sep 5, 2024

Searching For Hollywood's Oldest Cinema

With the film festival tour for my documentary, "Your Cinema Needs You" and some of my travel shoots overlapping this year, I've made a point of searching out old cinemas in a lot of the different places that I've been going.

In Los Angeles, a city full of incredible theatres, I thought it would be interesting to find the oldest cinema in Hollywood. This lead me down a bit of rabbit hole.

Hollywood Oldest Cinema Movie Theatre



For starters, until Hollywood was incorporated into Los Angeles in 1910, the town had regulations specifying no theatres. Once incorporated, this changed quickly. The first cinema built in Hollywood in 1910 was called the Idyl Hour, which was later renamed the Iris Theatre, however the location changed several times in just a few short years. A very familiar story.

Hollywood Oldest Cinema Movie Theatre

Hollywood Oldest Cinema Movie Theatre

Hollywood Oldest Cinema Movie Theatre


With only a few images and an old fire map to go on, the theatre would've been located on prime real estate on Hollywood Boulevard. Unfortunately, when I went to see what was there today this is what I found - an empty lot with a direct view of the Hollywood sign.

The cinema had been defunct since the 1920s and the name moved again, but I was curious if the building had been repurposed or modified. What makes this location special is just how many incredible cinemas are still in the area.

Hollywood Oldest Cinema Movie Theatre

Hollywood Oldest Cinema Movie Theatre



Grauman's Chinese Theatre (now the TCL Chinese Theatre) is just a few blocks away and in addition to still hosting movie premieres to this day, it's endured as one of the most famous movie palaces in the world. Quite the contrast from where the Iris began over a century ago.

Each of these detours makes me further appreciate what was uncovered in making the documentary about Medicine Hat's Monarch Theatre. It's a fascination about how much has changed, what's been left to find, and that through it all that little cinema back in Medicine Hat has survived when so many others didn't.

Hollywood Oldest Cinema Movie Theatre

Hollywood Oldest Cinema Movie Theatre


Aug 20, 2024

I Funko'd Myself in Hollywood (Again)

My strict rules for purchasing any Funko Pops aside, I took the bait at the Hollywood Boulevard store in in Los Angeles, California and created myself in miniature vinyl form once more.


As was the issue last year, a blonde dude in a hoodie doesn't look personalized. Then I saw the popcorn and trophy accessories and it clicked. 
In keeping with this year's over-extended theme I made the Monarch Theatre premiere / film festival version of myself to compliment last year's mini-me Funko travel photographer. 

In short, this became another brilliantly kitschy souvenir from the latest Hollywood travel shoots ... and, let's be honest, one more opportunity to name-drop "Your Cinema Needs You" as the international festival tour rolls on through 2024. 

Aug 10, 2024

Inside Hollywood's Iconic Chinese Theatre

The iconic TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, California attracts plenty of attention along Hollywood Boulevard, however the interior of this movie palace is even more impressive. With painted murals and embellished Chinese decor, the lobby of Grauman's Chinese Theatre is completed with classic movie memorabilia and programs from some of the Hollywood premieres that have been hosted at this landmark over nearly a century.

Inside TCL Chinese Theatre Graumans Hollywood Interior Movie Palace


Inside TCL Chinese Theatre Graumans Hollywood Interior Movie Palace


Inside TCL Chinese Theatre Graumans Hollywood Interior Movie Palace

Inside TCL Chinese Theatre Graumans Hollywood Interior Movie Palace

Inside TCL Chinese Theatre Graumans Hollywood Interior Movie Palace


Inside TCL Chinese Theatre Graumans Hollywood Interior Movie Palace

Inside TCL Chinese Theatre Graumans Hollywood Interior Movie Palace

Inside TCL Chinese Theatre Graumans Hollywood Interior Movie Palace

Inside TCL Chinese Theatre Graumans Hollywood Interior Movie Palace

Inside TCL Chinese Theatre Graumans Hollywood Interior Movie Palace


Inside TCL Chinese Theatre Graumans Hollywood Interior Movie Palace

Inside TCL Chinese Theatre Graumans Hollywood Interior Movie Palace

Inside TCL Chinese Theatre Graumans Hollywood Interior Movie Palace

Inside TCL Chinese Theatre Graumans Hollywood Interior Movie Palace

Inside TCL Chinese Theatre Graumans Hollywood Interior Movie Palace


Aug 2, 2024

More Travel Shoots in La La Land

Admittedly, I wasn't exactly itching for more Los Angeles, California travel content considering the number of visits (and still unreleased shoots) over the last few years. That said, if there's one place that I could go again and again and not get bored, it would be Los Angeles.

The focus of these latest shoots was "the kitsch of Hollywood". Movie studios, theme parks, theatres, and memorabilia helped to round out the set dressing for an already extensive collection of locations. As always, there was a lot to see and do and I can't wait to share more from this series in the months ahead. See more on the @editingluke Instagram. 


 

Aug 1, 2024

Glamor Tram: Studio Tour 60th Anniversary

This year the Studio Tour at Universal Studios Hollywood in California celebrated its 60th anniversary. The limited-time event saw the return of the iconic Glamor Trams from 1964 along with nods to past attractions that once defined the studio theme park. 

I snagged myself one of the 60th Studio Tour Glamor Tram popcorn buckets, which in addition to being a great kitschy souvenir, was also the most cumbersome thing I could have found to carry around a theme park for a day. I do love a throwback though - so, worth it!

Glamor Tram 60th Studio Tour Universal Hollywood

Glamor Tram 60th Studio Tour Universal Hollywood

Glamor Tram 60th Studio Tour Universal Hollywood

Glamor Tram Vintage

Glamor Tram 60th Studio Tour Universal Hollywood

Glamor Tram 60th Studio Tour Universal Hollywood

Glamor Tram 60th Studio Tour Universal Hollywood

Glamor Tram 60th Studio Tour Universal Hollywood