We all love watching a movie unfold on the big screen outside—whether perched on your picnic blanket with a bottle of wine or reclining in your car with popcorn and soda. And if it so happens that the place where the movie is shown features an incredible backdrop of its own—a wooded space or a beautiful city skyline—that just makes the experience all the more inviting. It's cinematography on a grand scale! And Time Out celebrated just that with its newly revealed list of the most beautiful outdoor cinemas in the U.S.
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Coming out on top in America (and No. 4 on the worldwide list) is Cinespia at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles. It may provide an eerie setting to watch a movie in a cemetery but don’t worry; you’ll be sitting on a grassy lawn and not a gravestone. Bring your blanket and your own snacks to watch the film projected onto the back of a mausoleum. Silver screen ghosts will radiate approval around you, like Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney and Cecil B DeMille, who are all buried here.
This summer’s remaining shows include Psycho, Zoolander, Point Break and The Addams Family (Anjelica Houston and Christina Ricci at their best!), as well as a double feature “Full Moon Slumber Party” with An American Werewolf in London and The Lost Boys. The outdoor screenings include extras like themed photobooths and DJ sets...even fireworks sometimes.
Second on our domestic list (No. 17 worldwide) is Red Rocks Amphitheatre just outside Denver, Colorado. While mainly known as a live concert venue nestled in (what else?) monolithic red rocks with spectacular views over the scrub brush dotted hillsides, the Film on the Rocks movie series opens when warm weather hits the Rockies. This summer, there are five showings total, with one left on August 18: Shrek 2. This extraordinary venue has to be seen to be believed; it’s breathtaking. If you arrive early, it’s fun to scramble over the rows of backless stone steps that provide seating.
And coming in at No. 23 worldwide is the Rooftop Cinema Club in Los Angeles. (We can personally attest that this is a great place to see The Shining!) You’ll arrive just as the sun sets to grab food and beverages from the rooftop snack bar—and to grab photos of the city seen from above. You’ll get your own personal headphone set to ensure you dial up the volume you want while you sit back and take in a big-screen favorite. (RCC showcases new releases as well as cult classics.) The club has eight locations across the U.S., but only the downtown L.A. location puts you in the heart of movie-making country.
Honorable mention: While San Francisco’s Fort Mason Flicks hasn’t been showing movies since 2021, its setting at an old army base on the waterfront with views of the bay and Angel Island make it a drive-in experience we hope will return!