Buses, subways, trains, and more! The American Cinematheque is celebrating Los Angeles public transit with a film screenings series at the Los Feliz 3 Theatre called “Watch Local: LA Public Transit,” from September 2 until September 23. You can watch movies like “Speed” (as a celebration of Keanu Reeves’s birthday on September 2), “The Italian Job,” “Reflections of Evil,” and “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.”
“There's actually a bit of a rich history of filming on location on buses, subways, etc. in Los Angeles. So it's been a fun series to put together,” says Lyric Luedke, a program assistant at American Cinematheque, who curated films for this series.
Why put the focus on public transit? “For one thing, it's back-to-school season … and more people are returning to public transit than at other times of the year,” Luedke says.
The “Watch Local” series highlights specific film locations in the LA area each month, like the 6th Street Bridge and the San Fernando Valley.
“This year, in particular, we've tried to broaden that a little bit and … get our local audience to think about where they live in a different way…things like public transit, which has its own unique social and cultural history here.” Luedke says.