Sunday, Feb. 15, 2009

LA all dressed up for Oscars action

Enjoying Oscars season in Los Angeles, especially during a recession, doesn't require a designer ballgown, diamond-encrusted necklaces or a shiny, gilded statuette.

The Academy Awards, the entertainment industry's annual, ultimate ode to the movies, takes place Feb. 22 at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre. While celebrities spend thousands to prep for the lavish ceremony, travelers to the city can get a taste of the Oscars and movie history, plus glimpse celebs, without the big bucks or bling.

Hollywood

The Kodak Theatre sits in the middle of the expansive Hollywood & Highland Center, a sprawling entertainment complex at 6801 Hollywood Blvd. that includes clothing stores, a bowling alley, the towering Renaissance Hollywood Hotel and movie theaters adjacent to the famed Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

Revelers can observe Oscar preparations at Hollywood & Highland until the center closes the night before the awards show.

For free thrills, stroll down the nearby Hollywood Walk of Fame, stretching down Hollywood Boulevard. Glittering stars on the sidewalk display the names of thousands of celebrities. Grauman's Chinese Theatre's forecourt showcases cement-steeped celebrity handprints and autographs. Impersonators dressed up as Superman, Marilyn Monroe and others entertain on the street.

Movie-lovin' fashionistas should go to the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising's 17th annual "Art of Motion Picture Costume Design" exhibit, 919 S. Grand Ave., where roughly 125 costumes from more than 20 films released in 2008 are on display.

The free exhibit includes a grip of current best-costume-design Oscar nominees: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "The Duchess," "Australia" and "Milk."

Studios and sets

Official tours of movie and TV studios throughout L.A. plop you into the thick of the biz. Among them:

Paramount Studios lot, 5555 Melrose Ave., where "Nip/Tuck" and "Dr. Phil" are filmed; $35 per person, www.paramount studios.com.

NBC Studios, 3000 W. Alameda Ave., travels through sets for "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and "Days of Our Lives"; $8.50 for adults and $5 for kids. Separate tickets to attend "The Tonight Show" are usually in high demand. www.nbc.com/Footer/Tickets.

Universal Studios Hollywood has the most comprehensive behind-the-scenes tour, plus a theme park featuring zesty, hair-flattening rides based on "The Simpsons," "The Mummy" franchise and other TV shows and movies. Current online-only packages include two days of admission for the price of one: $67.99 general entrance and $57.99 for those under 48 inches. www.universalstudioshollywood.com.

Trams have been taking tourists through Universal's famed backlot since 1964. The current 45-minute tour showcases working and old sets, fiery and waterlogged attractions re-creating scenes from Universal movies, and snappy video narration by Whoopi Goldberg.

The Universal Experience, a recent addition to the theme park, houses dozens of movie artifacts, from the silky dresses in "Atonement" to Gregory Peck's glasses in "To Kill a Mockingbird," the 1962 film that nabbed him a best-actor Oscar.

The exhibit displays the gleaming best-picture Oscar statuette for 1973's "The Sting."

Greystone Mansion and park is one prime film location tucked away in Beverly Hills, on 905 Loma Vista Drive. www.greystonemansion.org.

TV shows such as "Gilmore Girls" and dozens of movies, including "The Witches of Eastwick," "X-Men" and "The Big Lebowski," have filmed there. A-list stars have also been known to tour the grounds on their off days.

The massive 80-year-old mansion is perched on 18 hilltop acres of spiraling staircases, waterfalls, ponds, fountains, cypress trees and grassy lanes that tourists can roam for zilch moolah.

Dead celebs

Those not opposed to traversing cemeteries (attention, fans of the TV show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") will be sweetly rewarded by a free treasure trove of dead-and-gone movie icons throughout the city.

The Hollywood Forever Cemetery, 6000 Santa Monica Blvd., is a 62-acre urban expanse of grass, trees and tombstones flanked to the south by Paramount Studios. www.hollywoodforever.com. Classic film stars including Rudolph Valentino and Oscar-winning director Cecil B. DeMille are buried there. Memorial markers for blond bombshell Jayne Mansfield and punk rocker Johnny Ramone attract fans from all over the world.

Glendale-based Forest Lawn, 1712 S. Glendale Ave., is another destination, stretching over more than 300 acres of grass-covered hills north of downtown L.A. Here you'll find grave sites for the likes of Clark Cable, Humphrey Bogart, Nat King Cole, Carole Lombard and Walt Disney. www.forestlawn.com.