TCMFF Sidetrips, No. 1 – Ameoba Music

Updates to this post in Red text.

Have a little extra time to kill in Hollywood at the TCM Classic Film Festival (TCMFF), this series will cover a handful of my favorite destinations. 

Destination
Amoeba Music
6400 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90028
Mon–Sat 10:30 am–11 pm, Sun 11 am–10 pm
(323) 245-6400

Getting there from the Festival

Located on Sunset Blvd., roughly two blocks south of Hollywood Blvd. and about 12 blocks east. Blocks are a little weird in Hollywood; your mileage may vary. Amoeba Music takes up the entire block on the south side of Sunset Blvd., between N. Cahuenga Blvd. and Ivar Ave.

Walking (about 15 to 20 minute walk from The Roosevelt)

Directions: Take one of the larger north–south streets south to Sunset Blvd. (suggest taking either North Orange Dr. or Highland Ave.). Go east on Sunset Blvd. to North Cahuenga Blvd.

Tip: If you like looking at sidewalk stars, take Hollywood Blvd. east to North Cahuenga Blvd., then south to Sunset Blvd., and you're there. After initially posting this, I stumbled on a site that covers a lot of Hollywood movie locations (links below). Going down this street, the 1600 block of North Cahuenga between Hollywood Blvd. and Selma Ave. is one of the streets Buster Keaton went down in The Cameraman:

Buster Keaton at 1612 North Cahuenga Blvd. (details below)

Metro/walking (in case you're too tired to walk)

Directions: Take the L.A. Metro from Hollywood/Highland station to Hollywood/Vine station (first stop going toward Union Station). From Hollywood/Vine station, take Hollywood Blvd. one block west to Ivar Ave. Take Ivar Ave. two blocks south to Sunset.

For me, no trip to Hollywood is complete without a trip to Amoeba Records. According to their web site, this is the world's largest independent music store. I'm inclined to believe it. This is what a really good music store used to be like back in the day, back when they had music stores. Looking for that rare out of print CD, they might have it at a decent price. How about an entire room devoted to Jazz, Blues, and Classical.

Movies more your thing? Upstairs is a loft dedicated to DVDs and Blu-Rays. Compared to the ground floor, it may seem small, but it's very well organized, and the selection of older movies is great. If you're used to video stores that are broken into Drama, Action, Comedy, Family, and so on, you'll be happy to find genres a little more geared to a classic film fan's tastes with separate sections for genres, such as Film Noir, Silent, and Pre-Code and sections devoted to directors like Alfred Hitchcock and Billy Wilder.

On top of all of this, if you already have too much stuff in your bag, and you don't want to carry it back, they will ship from the store for you.

Also in the area

At 1851 N. Ivar Ave. (two blocks north of Hollywood Blvd. and one block east of the Hollywood/Vine Metro Station) is the Alto-Nido Apartments. This is the location of William Holden's apartment building in Sunset Blvd.

Joe Gillis' apartment building from Sunset Blvd.

Thanks to Robby Cress at Dear Old Hollywood. Posts on Buster Keaton and Sunset Blvd. locations are:

• Buster Keaton Cameraman locations
• Sunset Boulevard – Film Locations