We had a great time last night as we converted our picnic site into the "Lounge of Forever." As usual, we had an abundance of food and drink - we've got the picnic thing down now. The film, a Hitchcock classic was a delight to see again. It had been years for me. And the atmosphere there is unlike any revival movie house you'll ever go to, more like lounging in your own living room - with 95,000 dead people.

The screenings run through September third, so if you haven't gone yet - you should try to make it to one of these things while they last. Next up, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

And, if I heard the low volume announcement correctly, they are thinking about extending the season past September 3rd. YAY!

The final carousel scene was awesome! :snap:

What a great place for a movie! Now, if I could have brought warmer clothes and blankets...

Oh! I forgot to mention two great collective moments!

The first was the collective applause and whoops at the appearance of Hitch himself. And the second was the collective ooohing, ahhhing and pointing when a meteor arched over the screen. Moments like those keep me returning to the scene.

That and ISM and I creating twisted Caroussel musings based on fond memories and fantasticly shot horror scenes. "Get 'em Jingles!" :)

And don't forget the continual game of "Will things catch on fire?" as we passed things back and forth over the lava lamp shaped oil lamps come signal fire.

Oh yes, and we stumbled across the best little secret for getting into the place if you can't show up early. Since CP worked until 6, we couldn't get there early enough to line up outside with everyone else. By the time we did get there, the line of cars waiting for the parkinglot to open was several blocks long, and any street parking was a loooong ways away. So, resigned to getting into the line of cars, we began to circle back, only to discover that we hadn't circled far enough back to join the end of the line and made a turn to try again. Instead, we found a small line of cars on a side street directly opposite the entrance gate. We hemmed and hawed a little, but decided what the heck. Well, turned out to be an excellent decission. Getting across Santa Monica was a bit of a hairy proposition, with a line of cars stretching either way trying to get into the driveway as well as lanes of moving traffic in either direction. But a bit of patience paid off. Even with the wait each car had to make to get across the busy street, we definitely got in a lot faster than we would have had we joined the main line.

We ended getting in and settled mere moments after the rest of the group who had parked on the streeet and sat in line outside for a while. I wouldn't rely on that as a way to get a good spot, I think we got excedingly lucky with the timing. If it's as crowded as it was this weekend, getting their early and lining up is still by far the best bet. But if you've got no other option, this was a great little shortcut to stumble across.

Those who have been there before said this was a particularly large crowd. I wonder if word has spread and it will remain so for the rest of the run, or if perhaps the fact that it was a Hitchcock film ON Hitchcock's birthday brought out the Hitchcock fans.