TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood

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If you find yourself at Hollywood and Highland let me encourage you to make time to stop by the TCL Chinese Theatre. For years I stayed on the outside of the theatre due to lack of time to go inside but a few years ago I went inside for the first time and loved it. For those of you who have not been to the theatre on the outside they have cement blocks with hand and foot prints from stars dating back to the very early days in Hollywood hand and foot prints of stars like Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe to George Clooney and the cast of Harry Potter. You will find that everyday visitors stop by and take pictures placing their hands and feet inside the prints of their favorite stars. Shirley Temple and I have the same hand size but that is the only hand print that mine comes close to fitting. At least a few times a year the theatre will host an event to honor different celebrities by having a ceremony and adding their hand and foot prints to the collection.

On occasion the theatre will hold contests through instagram and twitter where they will give out vip seats to the ceremonies. I was lucky enough to get selected through an instagram contest to be a vip for Gena Rowlands ceremony but due to some technological issues I did not find out I had won till it was too late. So if you enter be sure to check your instagram or twitter account often so you do not miss out on any cool opportunities. The theatre is home to several big movie premieres throughout the year so if you are near by you can show up and try to see some stars walk the red carpet. The theatre also plays hosts to different film festivals on occasion so keep an eye out on their twitter account for any information on that. I have yet to be able to make it down to the theatre for a red carpet event so I unfortunately cannot say what that experience is like but it is on my to do list. If you do decide to see a movie here please note that only one movie will be played in the huge impressive theatre, there are some smaller theatres to the side of the main theatre.
Two and a half years ago the theatre was celebrating an anniversary and held special screenings of old movies for 25 cents. My friend and I went there to see The Godfather which was an incredible place to see that movie for the first time. The screen is the second largest in the world and is quite impressive. There are always some props and costumes from various movies in the lobby which is nice to see as well. This place will truly give you a Hollywood experience.
Last spring my mom and I decided to take the vip tour of the theatre. At the time the tour was $13.50 and I will say that you do not see anything on the tour that you would not see if you bought a ticket to a movie. However, you get to hear a lot of cool stories about the theatre and Sid Grauman the man who created it all. If you are a huge movie fan the tour is worth the money to hear about the stories. I encourage you to park underneath the Loews Hotel and the Dolby Theatre. You can get the ticket validated at the theatre or any of the shops in the area. You will pay around $2-$22 for parkingdepending on how long you stay. Also while you are in the area you may want to take a tour of the Dolby Theatre, home to the Oscars. Oh and if you get hungry I highly recommend 25 degrees, a burger place at the Roosevelt Hotel across the street.