This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Here's the short list of what's happening today in L.A.: The Catalina Film Festival kicks off with a night dedicated to Sharon Stone, New Belgian Cinema (with Belgian beer) at the Aero, Aisha Tyler reads from her new confessional book at Book Soup and an exhibit dedicated to painter Elizabeth McCord, who helped shape the "hard-edged" 1950s art movement in California. Read on for all the details.
FILM
The 2013 Catalina Film Festival opens tonight and runs through Sunday. It's five days of films, parties, and celebrities, including tonight's Stanley Kramer "Social Artist" Award recipient, Sharon Stone. New this year: the fest's first-ever film market. Pass for tonight only is $50, plus ticket fee. (Plus ferry to the island.) Festival passes run from $150 to $350.
FILM
Tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Aero in Santa Monica, the new Belgian film "Au Nom Du Fils (In The Name Of the Son"), an "action-packed ultra-dark comedy" about a once-devout mother (Astrid Whetnall) who goes on a violent crusade against the church. A discussion with Whetnall and producer Lionel Jadot will follow, along with a Belgian beer reception. In French with English subtitles.
BOOKS
Tonight at Book Soup at 7 p.m., The Talk's Aisha Tyler discusses and signs her book Self-Inflicted Wounds: Heartwarming Tales of Epic Humiliation. In her book, the former Talk Soup host recounts a series of epic mistakes and hilarious stories of crushing personal humiliation.
ARTS LECTURE
Take in a lecture about Latino arts and culture with tapas, and cocktails at the Autry as part of the La Cena Salon Series: The Urban Landscape.The program will feature punk musician and feminist Alicia "Alice Bag" Armendariz; UCLA professor of Chicana/o studies Eric Avila; playwright and author Josefina Lopez; director and actor Richard Montoya; and artist John Valadez, whose work is included in the Autry's 25th anniversary exhibition, Art of the West. They'll talk about the urban landscape and Los Angeles as a studio, stage, and home to many of the original galleries, collectives, and murals of el movimiento chicano. 6 - 9 p.m. $40 for members / $50 non-members. Limited seating, reservations required. Call 323.667.2000, ext. 380, or visit TheAutry.org
*ART
See Line Gallery presents "Elizabeth McCord Paintings," an exhibition of rarely seen and newly discovered paintings from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s by the groundbreaking California modernist artist who died in 2008. McCord moved from Chicago to Los Angeles in 1945. Her paintings, "colorful biomorphic and architectural abstractions" helped to shape California's hard-edge movement of the 1950s. The opening reception will be held tonight from 6 to 8:30 p.m.
*Pencil pick of the day
Want more events? Follow Christine Ziemba on Twitter (@christineziemba).
