Making Magic in Baldwin Hills

Joining the ranks as one of the coolest places to catch a movie in L.A. (along with such stalwart company as the New Beverly, the Nuart and the El Capitan) is the 1 1/2-year-old Magic Johnson Theatre in Baldwin Hills. To wit:

* The Pan African Film Festival, which runs through next Sunday, is calling the theater home for the second year in a row.

* “When We Were Kings,” the highly praised documentary about the historic 1974 heavyweight bout between boxers Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, did its Academy Award-qualifying run exclusively at the theater in October.

* “Ghosts,” special-effects wizard Stan Winston’s short film featuring Michael Jackson, did its one-week Academy Award-qualifying stint there in October too.

* The advance screening for Spike Lee’s “Get on the Bus” was held there, forcing press and studio types not used to traveling beyond Culver City to put a few extra miles on their Humvees and Range Rovers.