Don't try this at home -- or at the Civic Center Metro Station. / Photo by puck90 via LAist's flickr pool. TRANSIT TALK Metro is studying alternatives for connecting the Gold, Blue and Expo lines through downtown Los Angeles. This study will examine linking the future Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension (near the Little Tokyo/Arts District Station) and the 7th Street/Metro Center Station. Tonight Metro will update the public on the project and allow......

FREE DAYS @ LACMA Don't forget that today, tomorrow, and Monday admission to LACMA is free. There will be lots of extra entertainment on the grounds, and access to all the galleries, except the new Broad Contemporary, which has already sold out (of course!). But that means less people crowding the European paintings you love so much. Tickets need to be reserved in advanced online or by calling the box office. Sat, Sun, & Mon......

Love is in the air tonight. / Photo by lush.i.ous via flickr. Ahhh luuuurve is in the air. Need some last-minute ideas for the Hallmark-inspired holiday? Yes, tonight’s Valentine’s Day and here are a few different ideas that will beat flowers and candy any day. ART To coincide with the opening of the Broad Contemporary Art Museum (BCAM) at LACMA this weekend, “Women in the City” selected to exhibit four prominent contemporary artists (Cindy......

You still have time to take part in the Lunar New Year festivities in Chinatown today! CELEBRATE THE YEAR OF THE RAT The annual Lunar New Year Festival continues today in Chinatown. Catch pan- Asian entertainers including Chinese acrobats, as well as Thai dancers and Taiko drummers. Food, games, children’s activities, and more will also be on tap during the free festival. Until 5 p.m. // Chinatown // Free FUNDRAISER BASH! OPEN BAR! The......

Last year's revelers packed the house for Carnaval in Long Beach | Photo courtesy Aries Productions FESTIVAL Okay, so Long Beach doesn't pack the same exotic pull as, oh, say, Rio, but they're going to put on a Carnaval and pull out all the stops. Get out your Carnaval costumes and get ready to samba the night away! This year’s theme is “Preservation of the Planet” featuring green and recycled decorations. At the heart......

DINE dineLA Restaurant Week starts today. The event "unites restaurants from the traditional to the trendy to promote the extraordinary diversity and culinary expertise found throughout LA’s restaurant scene. Restaurants in two dining categories will serve a selection of three-course menus at special prices." Nab a reservation for tonight, and eat up this amazing event! (Previously on LAist: Restaurant Week Coming to LA this Month; dineLA Restaurant Week's Big Kickoff) January 27th-February 8th, lunch &......

Get your green drink on tonight. WORDS Author and USC professor Gina Nahai and actress Bahar Soomekh (Crash) read from Nahai’s latest book Caspian Rain – about a family falling apart just before the Islamic revolution in Iran. Immediately following, there’s a discussion of the changing lives of women of the Middle East, and relationships between Iran’s Jewish and Muslim communities, as well as how these communities interact in Los Angeles, “home to the largest......

COMIC BOOK ART The gallery named for the year that brought us Hypercolor T-Shirts, Yo! MTV Raps, and Salt N Pepa's single "Push It" (that's 1988 for those who didn't immediately connect) is currently featuring "Under the Influence: A Tribute to Stan Lee" in a show that runs until February 1. Preview some of the artwork online and then activate your Spidey webs and crawl over to Melrose Ave. 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. //......

Tonight’s the next installment of the LA Phil’s Concrete Frequency series, but here are other options we've dug up for your going-out pleasure: DANCE Hollywood Ballet is LA's own modern ballet ensemble. Tonight's show includes premieres of "RQ 21," set to sections of Mozart’s Requiem; "Ghost Frog," set to music by Parisian jazz guitar virtuoso Pascal Vaucel; lyrical/Middle Eastern fusion dance set to the ballet music from Verdi‘s Aid. Dancers from the troupe’s pre-professional group,......

Sure, you could always stay in and watch reruns of [insert name of your favorite show here], but why bother when you have these things happening tonight to get you through hump day. WORDS The West LA Chapter of the Sierra Club hosts a lecture by UCLA Professor David Haake who’ll focus on the question, “Do green choices make financial sense?” The evening will also offer steps on how you can reduce your carbon......

It’s pretty quiet today in LA. So take another Alka Seltzer and rest up for work tomorrow. FILM Spend New Year’s Day in a dark theatre with a double feature of the Marx Brothers. In the 1933 satire Duck Soup, Groucho plays a newly-appointed prime minister who declares war on a neighboring country for no particular reason. It also marked Zeppo’s last film. Following is1932’s Horse Feathers. Groucho stars as the new president of......

If you're not mall-ward bound, frantically baking fruitcake, cleaning house for arriving relatives, or headed to LAX, there are still plenty of things to do tonight in LA. FILM "Yippee Ki-yay, mother..." You get the idea. The Aero Theatre is showing a badass Christmastime double feature tonight. On the bill is the original Die Hard and 2003's Bad Santa, starring Billy Bob Thornton. Ah, the familiar holiday cinema classics. 7:30 p.m. // Aero Theatre......

You can't escape the holidays this weekend. No matter how hard you try. So wanna play? Go with the flow? Check these events out: SING-ALONG: The Music Center’s annual Holiday Sing-Along happens tonight. Don't know the words? Songsheets will be provided. The singing takes place outside, so bundle up – or spike your personal egg nog stash. 6:30 pm // Music Center Plaza // 135 N. Grand Ave. // Free. FILM: To get Westsiders......

What's better than spending your Friday night among free donuts and over 85 pieces of art from The Simpsons? Yeah, that's right, nothing. Starting at 6 p.m. tomorrow night, Every Picture Tells A Story on Montana Ave. will have an art opening showing off and selling 40 original production drawings from The Simpons Movie, over 25 original production cells from TV show and limited edition prints and treatments from film. Many of the prints are......

It's a sparklie!! The Aero Theatre in Santa Monica is host today to the 25th Anniversary (yes, really) of this 1982 masterpiece about a sick mouse, a sinking house, Dom Deluise as a crow in a blouse, and magic rats. I'd write more about it but I'm busy gathering my amulet. The Secret Of NIMH -- 25th Anniversary! @ The Aero Theatre Sunday July 29 1328 Montana Avenue Santa Monica 3pm......

Monday, February 5 Creative Screenwriting Magazine is sponsoring a free screening of Children of Men followed by a Q&A with writer/director Alfonso Cuaron and co-writer Tim Sexton. WHEN: Mon., Feb. 5 at 7:30 PM. WHERE: DGA Theater, 7920 Sunset Blvd. (betw. Crescent Heights & Fairfax) RSVP: Go to the Creative Screenwriting website and sign up to receive information about future events. You should then receive an email with further instructions about how to sign up......

FRIDAY • Dead Meadow, Silversun Pickups and The Clean Prophets are at the Troubadour tonight at 8 PM. Tickets are $10 advance, $12 day of. • Spaceland features The 88, Derby and Rocco Deluca, plus a late night happy hour, with drink specials and no cover after 12:15 AM. • The Echo has the Los Abandoned Winter Formal, also featuring Gitch and DJ Santi, tonight at 8 PM. Tickets are $8. • Baritone Mattias......

WEDNESDAY • The Aero Theatre features a screening of the third Golden Globe-nominated Foreign Language film, Joyeux Noel at 7:30 PM. Discussion to follow with director. • Taxi Driver is on the big screen once again tonight at the Arclight at 8 PM. • The Actors' Gang's roving performance of The Exonerated comes to REDCAT for shows tonight through Sunday. Tickets are $28-32 (non-members).......

THURSDAY • The Aero Theatre features a discussion with director Tobe Hooper following a screening of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre at 7:30 PM. • The Hammer Museum features a performance by bluesman Bobby Warren tonight at 7 PM. • Dubistry performs at Zen Sushi tonight as part of their weekly residency, along with Drastics and Kid Django. DJ Rude 'D' hits the stage at 8 PM to start things off. Zen Sushi is......

As members of the excellent American Cinematheque, we couldn't help but notice that the film-screening nonprofit recently launched a second venue: the newly-restored Aero Theatre in Santa Monica. The Max Palevsky Aero Theatre, to be exact. We keep seeing the name, in the Cinematheque e-mails, on the wall at LACMA, on the cover of this book, even in the credits of a handful of films. Once shrouded in mystery, now Google explains all: Max......

We are all about movies that people either love or hate. Todd Solondz's Palindromes appears to be one of those flicks. Film Threat falls on the side of love for this disturbing tale of a 13 year old desperate to have a child. The 13 year old is played by 6 different people of varying ages, ethnicities, and genders in an attempt to force the audience to consider their own assumptions and prejudices about......

Fresh off of impressing folks with their energetic set at SXSW, Art-pop band Maximo Park is at Cinespace tonight at 10pm. Cinespace's Tuesday rock nights are hosted by DJs Steve Aoki and Frankie Chan and they bring the true hard rock dance party if there is such a thing. Rumor also has it that this is the after party for Bloc Party's Troubadour show tonight as well as to celebrate the release of their......

• Spend a night out enjoying some Western Swing with Big Sandy and His Fly Rite Boys at Memories in Whittier. Dancing lessons begin at 7:30 PM and the band kicks off at 9 PM. Admission is $10 to see the band, or $13 if you want dancing lessons. • Here's a name you probably haven't heard in a while: show up at the Viper Room tonight to see Veruca Salt performing with Shiny......

• Tonight at The Echo, New York noisemakers Panthers (featuring former members of Unrest, Orchid and The Red Scare) will be at the helm, plus special guests Lion Fever and Parchment Farm. Doors open at 7:30 PM and tickets are $8. • The Knitting Factory has Yeti-masters High on Fire with Planes Mistaken for Stars and Kylessa performing tonight at 8:00 PM. Tickets are $12. • At the El Rey, 8 PM brings Luna......

• Tonight the Fahey/Klein Gallery presents the opening reception for "Unbounded Youth," an exhibit of photographs by David Drebin, Mona Kuhn and Nathaniel Welch. The reception is from 7 – 9 PM, and the show runs through March 12th. • At Tower on Sunset, meet film legend Ray Harryhausen at 5 PM, when he makes an in-store appearance. For more information, call (310) 657-3344. • Tonight the Aero Theatre screens the epic and beautiful Lawrence......

• Today is the beginning of "Like A Waking Dream: An In-Person Tribute to Director Guy Maddin" at the Aero Theatre. See our post about the event for more information. • Tonight at Spaceland, see San Diego instrumentalists Tristeza with Arabella Harrison and Division Day. Doors open at 9 PM. • Menwhile, the Viper Room hosts Qbert with DJ Swamp. Doors open at 8 PM. • LACMA hosts a 6 PM reception celebrating the......

• At the Egyptian Theatre, tonight is the John C. Reilly Tribute, starting at 7:15 PM, and featuring screenings of Hard Eight and Magnolia. There will be a discussion with the actor between films. • At the Aero Theatre, tonight is the final night of screenings for Golden Globe-nominated foreign language films. Tonight features Yimou Zhang's " target="_blank">House of Flying Daggers and Walter Salles' The Motorcycle Diaries. The films begin at 7:30 PM, and......

• Tonight at The Echo, " target="_blank">The Section Quartet will be performing at 8:00 PM. Cover is $7 at the door. [18+] • Show up at Amoeba Music around 7:00 PM for a free in-store performance by Ulysses (Rober Schneider of The Apples in Stereo). • Also in music, The Fold at Tangier hosts Devics acoustic, accompanied by Bedroom Walls, Lamps and Emma Zunz starting at 8:00 PM. Admission is $10. • At the......

Westside cinema enthusiasts, fret over traffic no more. The once-threatened Aero Theatre on swank Montana Avenue is now open after a lengthy (alas, the rule rather than the exception) rehabilitation. Better yet, the theater, which was built in 1940 by Douglas Aircraft Company, is now operated by the American Cinematheque. This non-profit entity will use 75% of programming from its Hollywood base at the Egyptian Theatre to illuminate the screen in the Westside outpost.......