2017 Oscar Best Picture nominee (not winner!) La La Land captures the sweetest version of Los Angeles with its cotton candy sunsets, iconic architecture, neon signs, quiet streets, and towering palm trees.
"You can’t have a better tourism brochure than this movie," Mayor Eric Garcetti told The Wrap at the musical's Los Angeles premiere. "It highlights 60 locations. It shows that L.A. is not just about the stars. It’s about the romance." Garcetti loves the film so much, he declared April 25 "La La Land Day" in honor of the film.
With help from Fandango, we've identified more than a dozen of the locations that appeared in the movie. Enjoy!
105/110 freeway interchange
Los Angeles, CA 90061
No one has ever handled LA's notorious traffic jams as gracefully as the characters in La La Land's opening musical number, which was shot over two hot days on the 105/110 freeway overpass.
Warner Bros. Studios
Burbank, CA 91522
Mia's pink apartment
Long Beach, CA 90802
Mia’s pink stucco apartment is a lovely example of the Spanish Colonial Revival architecture that helps define the look of LA, Long Beach included. Called Rose Towers, the 20-unit complex, built in 1928, was carefully restored 10 years ago. In writing about that preservation effort, the Los Angeles Times noted the building’s Moorish decorative motifs were “evident in graceful arches, multicolored tiles, wrought iron balconies and carved wooden doors.”
Mt. Hollywood Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90027
On a paved street hugging a hillside in Griffith Park, Mia and Sebastian tapdance to the movie composer's original song, “A Lovely Night.” The location overlooking the Valley is called Cathy’s Corner, and, if what's seen on-screen looks unfamiliar to the local eye, that's because the producers brought in the street lamps and park bench.
Smoke House Restaurant
Burbank, CA 91505
"You Are the Star" Mural
Los Angeles, CA 90028
This Hollywood Walk of Fame mural, depicting such famous actors as Richard Pryor, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, and James Dean, sitting in a theater, serves as the exterior of the fictional restaurant from which Sebastian is fired.
Jar Restaurant
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Rialto Theatre
South Pasadena, CA 91030
Built in 1925 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the single-screen theater where Mia and Sebastian catch Rebel Without a Cause has been closed since 2007. In its heyday, in addition to flicks, it also staged vaudeville acts. It's a romantic setting for a first date, even if Mia and Sebastian's doesn't play out quite as planned. The National Park Service website describes it this way: "The interior ... is a lavish example of flamboyant eclecticism. Multiple rows of crown molding surround the first level of seating, and below the massive balcony, also finished with extensive molding, hang chandeliers mounted in Moroccan-influenced ceiling fixtures."
Griffith Observatory
Los Angeles, CA 90027
The observatory is "a monument the same way that the Arc de Triomphe or Big Ben are monuments, but those rise out of a clustered urban environment. Griffith sits atop a hill as if it’s in its own world. That speaks to the sprawl and the spirit of Los Angeles. It’s totally, authentically, ironically its own thing," director Damien Chazelle told Entertainment Weekly. It's an architectural stunner made all the more majestic by a beautiful couple floating through the air inside its planetarium.
Grand Central Market
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Grand Central Market, Downtown LA's gentrifying open-air market, featuring Chinese and Mexican food and hipster coffee and wine bars and pricy cheese and meats, is one of city's trendiest food destinations right now. It shows up only briefly in a montage of Mia and Sebastian's first dates.
Colorado Street Bridge
Pasadena, CA 91105
Their summer romance also brings Mia and Sebastian to this stunning concrete bridge. Spanning nearly 1,500 feet over the Arroyo Seco and built in 1913, it made its first movie appearance eight years later in the silent hit The Kid.
Watts Towers of Simon Rodia State Historic Park
Los Angeles, CA 90002
As they continue to explore LA, Mia and Sebastian visit this famous folk art monument made from scrap metal and concrete and bedecked with drawings and tile and glass.
Angels Flight Railway
Los Angeles, CA 90013
From 1901 to 1969, Angels Flight, a short railway, ferried passengers up and down Bunker Hill, which, at the turn of the 20th century, was one LA’s most fashionable neighborhoods. Service resumed in 1996 after it was rebuilt and relocated, but was suspended again in 2013 for safety reasons.La La Land got it up and running again for a shoot, though Downtown News has reported that the state public utilities commission said that should never have happened.
El Rey Theatre
Los Angeles, CA 90036
A John Legend performance was filmed inside the Art Deco music venue on the Miracle Mile.
The Lighthouse Café
Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
Château Marmont
West Hollywood, CA 90046
Booking a ($435) room at The Chateau is proof you've made it in tinseltown. Congrats, Mia!
Blind Donkey
Long Beach, CA 90802
Comments
We are thrilled to see the Rialto Theatre as a location in LA LA Land! The Rialto has a long history of being in movies, and a 91 year history of entertaining South Pasadena and surrounding communities. True, it is closed right now, waiting for the next tenant to bring it to life. Friends of the Rialto is a non-profit organization working right now to raise enough funds to restore and reopen the Rialto Theatre. We are producing a live Holiday Spectacular for all ages called "The 12 Acts of Christmas!" on the historic Rialto stage on Saturday Dec 17th at 7:30pm. Come see the Rialto for yourself and support our efforts! For more info and tickets: www.FriendsoftheRialto.org
By Friends of the Rialto on 12.09.16 6:39pm
Nothing breathtaking but the Retro Dairy Mart also made an appearance! https://www.yelp.com/biz/retro-dairy-mart-burbank
By LovesToNomNom on 12.12.16 11:51am
where was the pier when Sebastian dances with the black woman & then the couple dance?
By PeterNSociology on 12.12.16 1:47pm
Hermosa Beach, I believe.
By Ready2Go on 12.12.16 5:28pm
Fabulous map! I feel ridiculously proud to have identified about half of these on first viewing, but it’s nice to fill in the rest (including the Retro Dairy Mart).
By Editrix on 12.14.16 1:59pm