Killing on the big screen at the New Beverly tonight, courtesy of Eli Roth. / Photo by hemmob via flickr. TALK Author Katha Pollitt discusses her new book On Learning to Drive: And Other Life Stories with UC Irvine Professor Jon Wiener as part of the ALOUD at the Central Library series. Pollitt is a poet and columnist for The Nation who’ll discuss her latest essays that deal with sex, death, ex-lovers, politics, motherhood,......

Arts and Crafts class at the Craft and Folk Art Museum tonight. / Photo by CarbonNYC via flickr. GET CRAFTY Make your Valentine’s Day gift tonight instead of picking through the lame leftover cards in the Ralph’s card aisle tomorrow. The Craft and Folk Art Museum hosts “A Creative Valentine” and provides materials for you to let your inner artist loose. Couples are encouraged to attend to get a jump start on the Valentine’s......

ART TALK With just about a month left in the exhibit, artists Gary Baseman, Tim Biskup, and Simone Legno will be gathering for a discussion about the work of Takashi Murakami at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. The event, called Pervasive Persuasion, is a panel-style talk moderated by Eric Nakamura, publisher and co-editor of Giant Robot, and will include thoughts on "how and why artists in Los Angeles are blurring the lines of media to......

• Tonight at UCLA Live, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet will be speaking at 8 PM. Tickets range from $25-35, or $15 for UCLA students. • At 7 PM, the Hammer Museum, author Marilynne Robinson will be reading. Her novel Gilead was one of the top 10 books of 2004 according to the New York Times. • MOCA Pacific Design Center hosts Royal Art Lodge artist Jonathan Pylypchuk for a free art talk at......

Tonight at the Troubadour, see San Francisco's Communique with Idiot Pilot, Loma Lynda, Kiev and Gosling. Doors open at 7:00 PM and tickets are $8. At MOCA Grand Avenue, the head of modern and contemporary programs at the Getty Research Institute, Andrew Perchuk, will be giving a free art talk at 6:30 PM. Also in art, tonight is the opening of "Ambiguous Ambassador," Tseng Kwong Chi's new photography exhibit, at the Stephen Cohen Gallery.......

At MOCA at the Pacific Design Center, Frank Escher and Ravi GuneWardena, partners at Escher GuneWardena Architecture, will be giving an art talk on the Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec exhibition currently at MOCA. The talk begins at 6:30 PM. At Spaceland, see rowdy country rockers The Gourds with Von Cotten and Brokedown. Doors open at 9:00 PM. Tonight is the second and final Cheap Trick show at the Canyon Club. Doors open at 6:00......