You won’t be more than a few miles away from the Los Angeles multiplex, but it’s just a cinema palace of a century-old film, an invitation-only screening room, an unconventional outdoor venue, and you’ll just hit the film here.
Of course, it doesn’t look very tattered either. Timeout rebooted the list of the most beautiful cinemas in the world (the Le Grand Rex in Paris won the top spot), and, not surprisingly, a handful of LA’s best cinemas made the cut: the TCL Chinese Theatre (#15), the new Beverly Cinema (#18), the Egyptian Theatre (#35). (In addition, he nodded to the handsome Avalon Theatre on Catalina Island and landed at #34.)
Photo: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock.com
The inclusion of Chinese theatres should not be surprising. It is probably the most famous cinema on the planet, thanks to decades of ornate red carpet openings. This means that you have to endure the crowds of tourists in its front yard.
But don’t scare the tourist spot’s status and fame walk. The tower-like exterior from almost a century ago is iconic, and more importantly, the auditorium inside is absolutely exquisite. Shining red seats and monumental golden pillars turn screening into an experience. And the image quality! The IMAX screen in Citywalk AMC only enlarges it for size, but the Chinese theatre screen is neck and neck when it comes to stellar projection quality.
Photo: Yoshihiro Makino/Netflix
Like Chinese theatres, Egyptian theatres are the home of the first ever Hollywood premiere, hatched by showman Sid Growman and designed by construction firm Meyer & Horror. The 1922 cinema had a mix of architectural changes for many years, but in the second half of 2023, a renovation from the new owner Netflix, it is absolutely beautiful (streamers still share programming duties with American Cinema Tech, the beloved nonprofit film organization that revived the space of the 90s). The interior modern cladding and plaster give way to the walls of desert blocks, painted hieroglyphs in the courtyard landed, and the auditorium ceilings are decorated with scarab sunburst organs, making them look better than ever.
Photo: Presented by the new Beverly Cinema
Beauty isn’t a measure of how you can create a gorgeous space, but that’s how the new Beverly Cinema has been put on the list. Its Beverly Boulevard marquee is unique and the intimate interior is neat and simple. But under the ownership of director Quentin Tarantino, who saved the celebratory venue from redevelopment in 2007, the new BEV has become a destination for classics, dusty B-films, grindhouse fares and rare prints of reels from Tarantino’s personal collection. The people behind the scenes here love 35mm just as much as loyal movie fans love the magic they stuff into midnight shows. It is its own special beauty.
Check out our complete list of the 50 most beautiful cinemas in the world.
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