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14 Things to Do in Los Angeles This Weekend
LAist gets a lot of event announcements, and we comb through them all to bring you a curated list of what’s happening in LA this weekend. There are a number of film, music and art openings that piqued our interest, including Zongo Junction, Chicano Batman and others playing at the Bootleg and art by Dan Goodsell at Gallery1988. Read on for all the details.
FRIDAY, JAN. 3
FILM: Cinefamily screens David Lynch’s 1986 classic Blue Velvet at 11:59 pm. (Doors at 11:30 pm.) The film stars young Kyle MacLachlan who discovers human ear that leads him on a “dangerous journey into the sinister underworld that exists in his All-American hometown.” The stellar cast includes Laura Dern, Dean Stockwell, Isabella Rossellini and Dennis Hopper. Tickets: $12/free for members.
FILM: The UCLA Film & Television Archive kicks off the series Columbia in the 1930s: Recent Restorations with a double feature at 7:30 pm of the thriller Let Us Live (1939) with Henry Fonda and Maureen O’Sullivan. It’s followed by the drama East of Fifth Avenue (1933). At the Billy Wilder Theater. General admission tickets: $8-$10.
MUSIC: American Idol alum James Durbin plays an acoustic show at The Viper Room in advance of his upcoming sophomore album release later this spring. Also on the bill are Kelley James and Bartholomew. Doors at 8:30 pm. Tickets: $15. Ages 21+.
MUSIC: The 3rd Annual Satellite Nights—the Satellite's free music series that celebrates the New Year and the LA music scene—continues through Jan. 9. Friday’s lineup features Evan Voytas and Dark Furs; Saturday’s bands are Miracle Days (EP release party), Air Life, Sympathetic Frequencies and James Alan; and Joel Jerome and Babies on Acid, Slow White, Levitation Room play on Sunday.
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FILM: The American Cinematheque’s Aero Theatre screens Nicholas Ray’s iconic 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause at 7:30 pm. The film launched the careers of its young stars—James Dean and Natalie Wood. Tickets: $7 for American Cinematheque members / $11 for non-members.
MUSIC: Agreat lineup of bands tonight at the Bootleg Theater with the Afrobeat sounds of Zongo Junction. Also playing: Brass Magic, Chicano Batman, Kid Sheikh and DJ Sean-O. Doors at 8 pm and show at 9 pm. Tickets: $12-$15. The show is 21+.
GAMES: On Friday and Saturday at Hollywood & Highland, the National Geographic Channel hosts the Brain Games Illusions Gallery to celebrate the new season of its TV series Brain Games on Jan. 13. Visitors have the chance to participate in reality-bending games by taking part in four interactive illusions from 11 am-7 pm.
La Luz de Jesus opens 'Here & There' by Paige Jiyoung Moon on Friday. (Image: Courtesy of the artist and La Luz de Jesus)
ART: La Luz de Jesus Gallery holds an artists’ reception from 8-11 pm for four new shows. Moments by Ling Ly, Playskool Apokalips by D.W. Marino, Here and There by Paige Jiyoung Moon and Terra Cognito by Joanne Seohyun Nam. The paintings, sculptures and drawings will be on view through Feb. 2.
SATURDAY, JAN. 4
COMEDY: At 8 pm, iO West presents The Lampshades—a fake lounge act starring iO alums Kate Flannery of The Office and Scot Robinson. Tickets: $10.
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ART: Gallery1988 (East) opens the show Shaky Bacon Strikes Back: Art by Dan Goodsellwith a reception from 7-10 pm. The show includes hundreds of new works from watercolor paintings and stenciled spray paint pieces. The show is cash and carry, meaning you take the piece home with you after you buy it. To replenish the stock to last through the show’s run, which ends on Jan. 25, Goodsell will be live-painting in the gallery on Sundays and Thursdays.
ART: JNA Gallery at the Bergamot Station Arts Complex holds an opening reception from 6-9 pm for its Winter Show with works by featured artists Gildas Coudrais, Don Morris and Dong-young Kim, among others. The show runs through Feb. 2.
Steve Turner Contemporary opens an exhibition by Brendan Lynch & Alex Ito. (Unnamed image, courtesy of the gallery)
ART: Steve Turner Contemporary presents Single Image, an exhibition featuring works by New York-based artists Brendan Lynch and Alex Ito. The pieces on view stem from a “pact between the two artists whereby each agreed to make work inspired by a found photographic image that depicts a white sheet billowing in the wind.” Opening reception from 6-8 pm.
SUNDAY, JAN. 5
FILM: Los Angeles Filmforum presents the 51st Ann Arbor Film Festival Traveling Tour, 16mm show, at 7:30 pm. The program of new experimental works from around the world includes recent experimental narrative, documentary and animated films. At the Egyptian's Spielberg Theatre. Tickets: $10 general, $6 students/seniors; free for Filmforum members. In Person: Ann Arbor Film Festival Program Director David Dinnell and filmmaker Mark Toscano.
VARIETY: Captured Aural Phantasy Theater presents the New Year’s Hangover Show at El Cid to put a perfect cap to the holiday season. The evening is a “best of” show that incorporates some of the troupe’s popular comic book sketches as well as comedy skits, musical bits and some classics they haven’t performed in years. Doors at 7:30 pm. The show starts at 8:30 pm. Tickets: $10.
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