I never fail to draw a blank when people ask me what there is to do in Los Angeles. It’s not that I am at a loss for activities because there are none, it is that I am overwhelmed by all of the possibilities. Though I’m rarely surprised about much of anything that goes on Los Angeles, I am constantly delighted when I discover new (as in, new to me) events to attend like last night’s: Madex’s Guerrilla Drive-In a free monthly movie event held in a downtown Los Angeles parking lot.
I first heard about this event from Bored L.A. and once my friend Loren expressed an interest we decided to head off!

In true Prairie girl geek fashion, I had to gussy myself up just a tad because the movie in question is Return to Oz, featuring one of my favorite prairie girls of all time, Dorothy (played by the adorable and talented Fairuza Balk.) I don’t have any head-to-toe shots, but you get the idea from this picture I’m sure:

Dress: Festival from ModCloth | Tights from Forever 21 | ankle boots by Naturalizer

We first stopped by a local Asian noodle house – but the food left me feeling gross and nauseous all evening so I am not going to post my pictures, except for Loren’s salted plum club soda beverage:

She loved it.

After questionable foodage, we drove into downtown proper and found the location of the drive-in. The movie is projected on a wall in a downtown Los Angeles parking lot. We arrived a little bit early and grabbed a great space. Until it’s show time, this is the projected image that welcomes movie-goers:

There is a food cart provided by The Frankenstand which features plant-based gourmet franks. Honestly, I wish I had I done a little more research about the food at the drive-in as I would have skipped over the nasty noodle place and eaten veggie franks. Next time!

Food!

Many people camped out in front, bringing pillows, blankets, and chairs with them. It was a little too chilly for my thin, anemic blood, so Loren and I stayed in the cozy comforts of her car. We promise to come out and socialize when the weather gets a little warmer.

Front row seats!

Promptly at 8:00pm, the radio station we were instructed to tune into sprang to life and the projections began. There was a fantastic old fashioned pre-show which included cartoons of the politically incorrect nature, vintage B-movie trailers like the infamous Sly Stallone porn Italian Stallion and my personal favorite, the heavy metal snack bar food group giving us our theater viewing warnings:

The pretzel and the ice cream rock out


As the gumdrop lead singer warns us not to crinkle our wrappers too loudly!

At last, it was time for our feature presentation of Return to Oz, one of my personal favorites. I managed to keep my inner child geek locked away and not recite lines, thankfully.

One of Disney’s finest, if I do say so myself.

The whole evening was very exciting, and as I lack the recollection of previous drive-in movie attendances made before the age of six, I consider last night to be a real treat that I would love to repeat in the future. Plus, how can you beat the price of FREE? Notes for next time: eat dinner there and bring a bag of freshly air-popped popcorn on my own!
Until next time, a big thank you to everyone who puts on the Guerrilla drive-in!