The Brief

Watch the best cat videos on the big screen. See sketch comedians interpret one-star reviews off the internet. Catch the Aqualillies in action at their summer show.

Events

Through Thursday, Aug. 10  

CatVideoFest 2023  
Vidiots
4884 Eagle Rock Blvd., Eagle Rock

Watch a compilation of the newest and best cat videos selected from submissions from animations, music videos and the internet. The public viewing experience is only available in theaters and simultaneously raises money for cats in need, shelters and local cat organizations (Tail Town Cat Cafe and Kitten Rescue of Los Angeles).

COST: $9 - $12; MORE INFO

Monday, Aug. 7; 6 p.m.

Spank: One Star
Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre
5919 Franklin Ave., Franklin Village
Catch a night of experimental sketch comedy as solo artists and teams reenact real one-star customer reviews found online. Performers include Freddy Boyd, Sam Cass, Madeline Cook, Maria Gnoza, Jacob Kennelly and Monique Parks, and writers are TJ Jackson, Ryan Luong, Alex Parkinson, Rachel Westra and Kate Zasowski. Ages 15+.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

Jinkx Monsoon attends the Producer Entertainment Group telethon of "Drag Isn't Dangerous" in May 2023. They return to L.A. for two shows this week.

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Araya Doheny

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Getty Images

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Monday, Aug. 7 - Tuesday, Aug. 8 

Jinkx Monsoon: Everything at Stake
Orpheum Theatre
842 S. Broadway, downtown L.A.
Jinkx Monsoon, winner of the fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race and winner of season 7 of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. Expect a night of stories, music, camp and comedy.
COST: Tickets start at $51; MORE INFO

Monday, Aug. 7; 8 p.m.  

Adam Pally & Edi Patterson
Largo at the Coronet
366 N. La Cienega Blvd., Beverly Grove
Adam Pally and Edi Patterson perform a night of two-person live improvised comedy. Pally writes on his Insta: “...It will not be funny when you recount it to your friends, trust us, you gotta be there.”
COST: $35; MORE INFO

Monday, Aug. 7; 7 p.m.

Stories @ The Playhouse: In The Blink Of An Eye 
Sierra Madre Playhouse
87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre
Listen to a night of true personal stories at the playhouse’s ongoing series. With the theme In the Blink of an Eye, seven people take a deep dive into their lives and share critical moments that changed their lives. Facemasks are recommended at this event.
COST: $18 - $20; MORE INFO

Monday, Aug. 7; 11 a.m. - 12 p.m.

PRIME Studio Tour
619 S. Central Ave., downtown L.A.
Take part in a studio tour of graffiti and hip-hop architectural artist Prime’s working space. Jointly presented by Helms Bakery District, SoCalNOMA, and the A+D Museum, as part of the Close to the Edge: The Birth of Hip-Hop Architecture exhibition held at the Helms Bakery. Artist Jose "Prime" Reza discusses his life, work and process.
COST: $35; MORE INFO

Monday, Aug. 7; 7:30 p.m.

CRIME 1978 / Invasion of the Body Snatchers + Short Films
Hammer Museum
10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood
The UCLA Film & Television Archive screening series San Francisco Plays Itself: Scenes from the Bay presents a night of short films: In the Red (1979), San Francisco’s First And Only Rock’n’roll Movie: Crime 1978 (2018), Fine French Phrases and Other Fables (1976), plus the feature Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) starring Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum and Leonard Nimoy.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

The Aqualillies perform at The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on Aug. 8.

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Courtesy of the Aqualillies

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Tuesday, Aug. 8; 7:30 p.m.  

Aqualillies Summer Watershow 
The Hollywood Roosevelt
7000 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood
The synchronized swimming/dance company The Aqualillies honor the late silver-screen star Esther Williams each year on her birthday. Watch a live performance while sipping on cocktails and drinks for purchase. A portion of bar proceeds will support the USA Artistic Swimming National Team as they compete for a position in the 2024 Olympic Games.
COST: FREE - $25; MORE INFO

Thursday, Aug. 10 - Sunday, Aug. 13   

Printed Matter’s LA Book Fair 2023
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA
152 N. Central Ave., downtown L.A.
The book fair returns to L.A. for the first time since 2019. Bringing together an international array of artists’ book publishers and creators. Featuring artists and collectives, small presses, institutions, galleries, antiquarian booksellers, distributors, conversations, workshops, artist-led performances and programs. Most Fair days are ticketed, with limited tickets available at the door. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
COST: FREE - $25 (opening night party); MORE INFO 

Thursday, Aug. 10; 7:30 p.m.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Century Park 
2049 Century Park East, Century City
The outdoor summer movie series The Screen at Century Park continues this week with the animated feature, The Super Mario Bros. The family friendly festivities begin around 7:30 p.m., depending on the sunset. Bring blankets and a picnic, but snacks will also be available for purchase onsite. RSVPs are required.
COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO 

The HollyShorts Film Festival screenings take place from Aug.10-20 at the TCL Chinese Theatres.

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Courtesy of the HollyShorts Film Festival

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Thursday, Aug. 10 - Sunday, Aug. 20  

HollyShorts Film Festival 
TCL Chinese Theatres
6925 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood
The Oscar-qualifying film festival returns to Hollywood for its 19th edition, screening more than 400 films (from 6,000 entries) during the run. The films may be short in nature but tall on talent — including Ricky Gervais, Tom Holland, Bella Thorne, Cate Blanchett, Alfonso Cuarón, Lauren Keke Palmer and Tom Hanks. HollyShorts also features workshops and panel discussions.
COST: Tickets: $20, Day passes start at $60; MORE INFO

Viewing Pick

Strange Planet
The adult animated series Strange Planet is based on the bestselling graphic novel and webcomic from Nathan W. Pyle. In this sci-fi series, blue beings try to understand and explore the absurdity of the human condition. Joining Pyle as co-creator and executive producer is Dan Harmon (Rick and Morty, Community), so you know the comedy will be sublime. The first three episodes will be available on Apple TV+ on Wednesday, Aug. 9 with new episodes debuting every Wednesday through the season finale on Sept. 27.

Camphor holds a Steak Frites Night on Aug. 9 from 5 to 9 p.m.

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Tiffanie

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Courtesy of Camphor

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Dine and drink deals

Here are a few dine and drink options to indulge in this week.

• Head to Long Beach on Wednesday, Aug. 9 at 5:30 p.m. for a Taste of Downtown: Waterfront. The event features live music, DJs, bite-size food samples, beer, wine, and cocktails from the neighborhood’s bars and eateries. Located between Shoreline Village & Pine Ave., admission is free, but taste tickets can be purchased at the event or online.  
• The Michelin-starred Camphor in downtown L.A. holds a Steak Frites Night (pictured) on Wednesday, Aug. 9. From 5 to 9 p.m., the restaurant serves up the classic bistro dinner that includes an 8 oz. steak, fries and salad at $65 per person (beverages and dessert not included). 
• Natural wine lovers can enjoy five-wine flights for only $15 every Wednesday from 6 to 9 p.m. at DTLA’s Good Clean Fun. All bottles featured in the flight are specially priced if you want to enjoy them at home. In addition, happy hour runs from 3 to 6 p.m. every day and every Monday. Deals include $9 wines, $10 select cocktails and $5 lagers and pilsners.
• The Mount Gay Mobile Rum Shop sets up at Belles Beach House in Venice Beach on Thursday, Aug. 10 from 3 to 8 p.m., where those 21+ can enjoy a Mount Gay cocktail along with tasting snacks. 
• Rossblu in downtown L.A. continues its Tour of Italy Dinner series on Wednesday, Aug. 9 at 6:30 p.m. with an exploration of the Piemonte region in a four-course prix fixe dinner. Held al fresco, the meal will be served family-style with a regional wine pairing. Single dinner experiences are $95 per person (taxes & service charge not included). The next dinner explores Tuscany on Aug. 23. Reservations and info.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Kaan Ayhan scored on the final kick of the match, and Turkey beat the United States 3-2 Thursday night for its only win of the World Cup.

Auston Trusty scored in the third minute and Sebastian Berhalter got a tying goal early in the second half for the Americans, who had already won Group D with victories over Paraguay and Australia. Coach Mauricio Pochettino’s team will meet Bosnia-Herzegovina in the Round of 32 on Wednesday.

Pochettino fielded nine new starters for this low-stakes game, but Christian Pulisic entered in the 58th minute. He hadn’t played since the first half of the Americans’ opener due to a calf injury.

Arda Güler and Orkun Kökçü scored in the first half of a resilient performance by Turkey, which had already been eliminated after losing its first two matches despite largely dominating both statistically.

Turkey improbably won in the eighth minute of stoppage time when Can Uzun got the ball in space on the back post and pushed it past sprawling goalkeeper Matt Turner to Ayhan, who slid to knock it home.

The game’s meaninglessness didn’t matter to the raucous sellout crowd that packed SoFi Stadium. The American team’s fan base has been energized by its strong start to this home World Cup -- and this Los Angeles-area crowd was still chanting and standing when Berhalter airmailed a long corner to Trusty, who made the stadium shake when he banged it home inside the back post.

Trusty’s goal was the Americans’ seventh of the tournament, tying their scoring record for any World Cup before knockout play even begins. It was also the 173rd goal of this tournament, breaking the record for the most combined goals scored in a World Cup set in Qatar four years ago — and doing it in four fewer matches.

Turkey evened it in the 10th minute with an excellent two-man game from Baris Alper Yilmaz and Güler, the 21-year-old Real Madrid rising star.

Berhalter tied it in the 49th minute by running on to a loose ball about 20 yards from the net for a vicious strike.

Pulisic replaced Tim Weah in the 58th minute for his first game action since the first half of their 4-1 victory over Paraguay nearly two weeks ago.

Pulisic said this week that he is ready to play again after coming out at halftime with a calf injury in the Americans’ home World Cup opener. The AC Milan midfielder entered the 2-2 game to an enormous roar, and he created a scoring opportunity just a couple of minutes later with a dynamic run down the left side.

Pulisic nearly scored again in the 63rd minute, but his quick shot off a nice pass from Berhalter was knocked off the goalpost by Turkey goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir, and Brenden Aaronson botched the resulting sitter.

The traditional way of voting in Huntington Beach could be upended after a judge’s ruling this week in a case accusing the city of diluting the electoral power of its Latino residents.

What happened?

The judge ordered Surf City to adopt ranked-choice voting for the November general election. Ranked-choice voting is where voters rank all candidates in order of preference, so if your first choice is eliminated, your vote transfers to your second-choice candidate.

It’s also the type of voting that helped Zohran Mamdani seize victory in the New York City mayoral race.

Why it matters

The ruling comes in a legal challenge to the city’s at-large elections, arguing Latino voters are unfairly disadvantaged and unable to elect a candidate of their choice. Orange County Superior Court Judge Craig Griffin agreed with the plaintiffs’ argument that “racially polarized voting has regularly occurred in Huntington Beach elections.”

The backstory

The case was brought to court more than two years ago by the nonprofit group Southwest Voter Registration Education Project and Victor Valladares, a Huntington Beach resident and local Democratic activist.

They argued that the city’s predominantly Latino neighborhood of Oak View had suffered decades of neglect, in part because residents there lacked the voting power to get representation in city government.

The bigger picture

Dozens of cities across Orange County and elsewhere in California have faced similar challenges to at-large elections over the past decade. Most have settled out of court by adopting district elections, whereby voters elect a candidate to represent their area, rather than citywide.

The change has coincided with an increase in Latino city council members in some Orange County cities.

Why ranked-choice voting?

Judge Griffin wrote that ordering the city to adopt ranked-choice voting was a “less drastic remedy” to bolster Latinos’ voting power than district elections. Currently in Huntington Beach, all residents vote citywide for city council seats, and the top vote-getters win.

With district elections, only people within a particular district can vote for a particular seat, which advocates say helps ensure districts see themselves represented in their local government bodies.

Among the advantages of a ranked-choice system, advocates say, is that it gives voters more freedom to vote for their favorite candidate, even if they think that person won’t ultimately win.

What does the ruling say, exactly?

The ruling orders Huntington Beach to implement ranked-choice voting for the November 2026 general election, if the Orange County Registrar of Voters can support the quick switch. The ruling also calls for the city to elect all seven councilmembers at once, rather than staggering the elections, as it currently does per the city’s charter.

Judge Griffin had delayed his ruling earlier this year to consider the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which ruled that race cannot play a role in the drawing of voting districts. Griffin ultimately determined that “nothing in Callais alters this Court’s decision” in the Huntington Beach case.

What’s next?

Both sides have two weeks to raise objections to the tentative ruling. Kevin Shenkman, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, said he would not be surprised if the city appeals. City Attorney Mike Vigliotta told LAist in an email that his office is “reviewing the decision with outside counsel that litigated the case and determining next steps.”

We reached out to the Orange County Registrar of Voters for comment, and did not hear back before publication. If and when that changes, we will update this story.

How to attend Huntington Beach City Council meetings

• Huntington Beach holds City Council meetings on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 2000 Main St.
• You can also watch City Council meetings remotely on HBTV via Channel 3 or online, or via the city’s website. (You can also find videos of previous council meetings there.)
• The public comment period happens toward the beginning of meetings.
• The city generally posts agendas for City Council meetings on the previous Friday. You can find the agenda on the city’s calendar or sign up there to have agendas sent to your inbox.

LAist staff writer Sammy Marvin also contributed to this report.

A judge has ruled that a Metro bus project in a congested area of Los Angeles can go forward, for now, without incorporating bike lanes that street safety advocates argue are required by city law.

The $400 million project will add dedicated bus lanes along a more than 12-mile-long stretch of Vermont Avenue between 120th Street and Sunset Boulevard. The stretch of road has among the highest rates of pedestrian deaths and injuries in the city.

The ruling from June 15 is a preliminary decision on an injunction request that’s part of a lawsuit brought by Joe Linton, who argues that L.A.’s role in the design and permitting process of the project triggers Measure HLA street safety improvements. The L.A. City Attorney and Metro have rejected that interpretation of the law.

Linton filed the lawsuit in April 2025. He is the editor of the transportation publication Streetsblog LA. Linton is filing the suit as a resident of L.A., not in his capacity as an editor for Streetsblog.

What is Measure HLA?

In 2015, the L.A. City Council adopted Mobility Plan 2035, which identified networks of streets to improve with protected bike lanes, pedestrian signal improvements, bus lanes and other enhancements.

Seven years later, frustrated with a lack of progress on the plan, the local nonprofit Streets for All began campaigning for Measure HLA. The ballot measure, which was passed by voters in 2024, legally requires the city to implement Mobility Plan upgrades when it repaves at least one-eighth of a mile of a street located in one of the networks.

What are the key issues at stake in the lawsuit? 

There’s been a longstanding disagreement over whether Measure HLA applies to Metro’s work in city projects. Metro and the city of L.A. say the ordinance only applies to projects the city leads. Streets for All and Linton say the question of who leads a project is a technicality and that the city is obligated to follow Measure HLA because it’s responsible for approving certain elements of the project’s designs and permits.

The Mobility Plan calls for bike lanes along the same stretch of Vermont Avenue that Metro is working on.

Linton’s lawsuit says the city didn’t implement the bike lanes in accordance with Measure HLA when it resurfaced Vermont Avenue service roads in the past and that it should implement the improvements as part of the Vermont Transit Corridor project.

What are the details of the injunction? 

As the lawsuit plays out in court, Linton requested an injunction that sought to prevent the city from approving final design plans for the project without the bike lanes that Measure HLA calls for.

L.A. County Superior Court Judge Kristin Escalante denied the request on June 15. Escalante wrote in her decision that the city neither initiated the project nor selected Vermont Avenue for resurfacing and won’t be constructing the project itself.

“Metro’s coordination with the city does not transform the project into one made by or undertaken by the city,” Escalante wrote in her decision.

In April and June, Escalante denied Linton’s requests for pre-trial judgement on two other issues in his lawsuit, including deciding if resurfacing work on Vermont Avenue service roads triggered HLA-mandated upgrades and determining whether the city’s HLA ordinance represents an “impermissible amendment” of the ordinance.

What happens next?

The ruling is a preliminary decision. Linton said his legal team is preparing for the case to go to trial.

 “We didn’t lose at the end of the day,” Linton told LAist. “It’s a setback, but it’s a skirmish and not the outcome of the battle.”

Metro said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.

LAist reached out to the L.A. City Attorney and did not hear back.

Are other legal battles taking place? 

Yes, there are two additional ongoing lawsuits that are related.

Linton filed a second lawsuit saying L.A. is using loopholes, like “large asphalt repairs,” to skirt Measure HLA requirements.

Separate from Measure HLA, Metro is working on another bus rapid transit project to connect North Hollywood and Pasadena with construction set to begin this summer. Metro filed a lawsuit in May saying Burbank is, without authority, refusing to grant the transit agency construction permits. On June 18, Metro filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to get the necessary permits so it can begin construction in July and ensure the bus project is ready for the 2028 Olympics.