Weekend Planner: 24 Things To Do In Los Angeles

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, including these 24 events. Check out our October Guide for details on additional events, and we'll be back on Monday to help you plan the week ahead.

FRIDAY, OCT. 10

LIT: Ebanos Crossing in DTLA hosts a release party for author Mark Bailey and illustrator Edward Hemingway for their book Of All the Gin Joints. Bailey has researched Hollywood history, finding some of the silver screen’s legendary drinking stories. In addition to short biographies and history lessons of long-gone watering holes, the book also features cocktail recipes. Attendees will receive free cocktail tastes provided by High West Distillery made using the recipes in the book. 8:30 pm.

FILM: Whiplash—an intense film set in a music conservatory—focuses on a brutal relationship between a young student and his mentor. (It manages to erase anything “soft” or “light” about jazz.) The ArcLight Hollywood presents a Q&A with actor J.K. Simmons (the teacher) on Friday following the 7:45 screening. Tickets: $16.

ART NIGHT: ArtNight Pasadena takes place on Friday from 6-10 pm at various cultural institutions throughout the city. Enjoy free art, music and entertainment at places like the Armory Center, Art Center College of Design, Boston Court, Consejo Fronterizo de Arte y Cultura @ Aahoo Gallery, Jackie Robinson Community Center, Norton Simon, Pasadena City Hall, Pasadena City College, Pasadena Museum of California Art and more. Free shuttles and food trucks throughout the night, too.

FILM FEST: The Echo Park Film Center’s 14th annual Human Rights Film Festival starts Friday and runs through Sunday, screening a number of films that touch upon issues that address both global and local concerns. Discussions and workshops are being held throughout the weekend, including Pakistani filmmaker Nameera Ahmed teaching a 2-day documentary filmmaking workshop. Featured films include Balka - Women, Drugs and HIV in Ukraine and Apartheid by Victor Torres. All events are free, but donations are welcome.

FILM ODYSSEY: On Friday at 7:30 pm at the Central Library, the Library Foundation presents Lost and Found at the Movies: A Strange Thing Happened on the Way to Ithaca. The public program examines how Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, has inspired filmmakers, from George Melies to the Coen Brothers. Professor Alex Purves (UCLA Department of Classics) will be in conversation with series curator John Nein, senior programmer, Sundance Film Festival. Free, but reservations needed.

LIT: Renowned Estonian author and poet Kristiina Ehin reads from her latest book Walker on Water on Friday at 7:30 pm. The book is a collection of “surreal and feminist modern folktales,” and Silver Sepp performs music to accompany her.

VAMPIRE FILMS: In conjunction with LACMA’s current exhibition, Haunted Screens: German Cinema in the 1920s, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents a vampire double feature. F.W. Murnau’s silent Nosferatu screens at 7:30 pm and Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu the Vampyre follows at 9 pm. At LACMA’s Bing Theater. Tickets: $5 general public and $3 for Academy members, LACMA Film Club members and students with valid ID.

SATURDAY, OCT. 11

ART: Launch Gallery holds an opening reception for Kirk Pedersen’s solo show Ambiguity on Saturday from 6-9 pm. The works in this series combine Asian influences and abstract expressionism. The show remains on view through Nov. 1. RSVPs needed, so to attend the opening, email rsvp@launchla.org.

MUSIC: The music collective, The Shifty Rhythms Red Pandas, recently released a 17-track compilation album Volume Two. The tracks cover the dance spectrum with artists like Neo Fresco, Planet Rock, Hex Cougar, GOJ!RA, CHVLI, Ballast, Nold Bayrith, Quinn Kyle, GDNA, and Midnight Smack. To celebrate the release, the Shifty Rhythms are taking over Double Cross at The Lash with special guests. Visuals courtesy of Axel. Free entry with RSVP.

ART: ACME. presents Cloud World, a solo exhibition of new work by artist Aaron Morse. The new works in the show explore three different scenes: “luminous cloudscapes, turbulent seascapes, and illustrations of various, exotic animals from the land, sky, and sea.” The exhibition remains on view through Nov. 8. The opening reception is on Saturday from 6-8 pm.

FOOD HISTORY: On Saturday at 10:30 am, the Culinary Historians of Southern California present the program Where Did Hot Sauce Come From? Writer and historian Charles Perry will trace condiments’ evolution from ketchup, Worcestershire to Asian sauces. At the Central Library’s Mark Taper Auditorium. Free and open to the public. A themed-refreshment reception follows the talk (approximately at 11:30 am).

WALKING TOUR: The Art Deco Society of Los Angeles presents the 31st Annual Hollywood Forever Cemetery Walking Tour on Saturday from 10 am to noon. The 115-year-old cemetery tour highlights both the Deco-era architecture and the famous figures that have been laid to rest at the cemetery. The 2.5-hour tour is led by docents with several groups going out between 10 am and noon. Tickets: $20.

BAD FILM: At 9 pm on Saturday at NerdMelt, Horrible Movie Night screens Hider in the House with Michael McKean, Mimi Rogers and Gary Busey (who plays a deranged man camping out in a family’s attic). Shouting at the screen is allowed, and the best one-liners win prizes. Hosting HMN is John Mathot (Disney's Phineas & Ferb) and Aaron H. Baker (Epic Meal Empire, Nerdist). There will be giveaways, standup from Katie Crown and Andrew Michaan and prizes. Free popcorn. $8 in advance, $10 at the door. 21+.

BOOKS: Musician Billy Idol stops by Book Soup on Saturday at 4 pm to sign his new memoir Dancing With Myself. The book traces Idol’s upbringing in England to the height of his popularity in the punk-pop heyday of the 1980s and beyond. The event is a book signing only. No memorabilia or posed photos. Photo from the line are ok.

ART: The Gabba Gallery holds an artists reception on Saturday from 7-11 pm for Walk Your Robot, an exhibition of an “imagined future filled with friendly butler type robots who serve as your closest confidant, cocktail maker and protector.” The 2,000-square foot gallery, features works by musician, artist, actor Vance DeGeneres along with Joey Feldman, Dave Pressler, L Croskey, MD MN, Jennifer Korsen, Chris James and Darcy Yates. The show remains on view through Oct. 30.

FILM: Barnsdall Saturday Night Movie Series + Wine Tasting continues Saturday at 7:30 pm with a screening of Fast Times at Ridgemont High, outdoors under the stars. Wine and music begin at 5:30 pm with the movies starting at sundown (around 7.30 pm). Tickets: $25 for movies plus tasting (3 pours of wine or beer from Silverlake Wine) or $10 for the movie alone. Food trucks on site with snacks for sale.

FILM: The Academy at LACMA presents a double-feature screening of ¡Three Amigos! at 5 pm and An American Werewolf in London in 7:30 pm. The films are being held in conjunction with the exhibition Hollywood Costume, with special appearance by costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis and director John Landis, who worked together on both these films. Tickets: $5 general public and $3 for Academy members, LACMA Film Club members and students with valid ID.

MUSIC: Grammy Award winner Ray LaMontagne plays the Greek Theatre on Saturday in support of his latest album, Supernova. L.A.’s own The Belle Brigade opens. Doors at 7 pm. Tickets: $35-$75.

ART TALK: The Pasadena Museum of California Art is planning a major Corita Kent exhibition for mid-2015: Someday is Now: The Art of Corita Kent. In honor of the exhibition, PMCA is hosting a series of programs called We Have No Art. On Saturday at 3 pm, writer Alissa Walker moderates a panel discussion with contemporary designers Juliette Bellocq and Louise Sandhaus—along with Kent’s former student and Learning by Heart: Teachings to Free the Creative Spirit co-author Jan Steward. They’ll talk about Kent’s “influence and legacy within the Los Angeles design community.” Free with admission (adult tickets: $7).

SUNDAY, OCT. 12

AIDS WALK: The 30th annual AIDS Walk Los Angeles is taking over the streets of WeHo on Sunday featuring celebs, politicians and revelers uniting for a good cause: Raising funds for HIV/AIDS services and prevention programs. The opening ceremony begins at 9:15 pm and the Walk commences at 10 am. There is no fee to participate in the AIDS walk, though organizers ask that everyone try and raise funds for research. The AIDS Walk starts and ends at the West Hollywood Park (on San Vicente between Melrose and Santa Monica Boulevard).

LIT: Actor-writer BJ Novak presents his children's book The Book With No Pictures on Sunday at 1 pm at Skylight Books. The reading is free and open to the public. The bookstore is expecting a large crowd, they’ll be giving out numbered tickets to keep the signing line organized.

MUSIC: KCRW DJ, music supervisor and rocker Gary Calamar has a record release show for his debut release You Are What You Listen To (Atlantic Records) on Sunday at noon at The Federal Bar in NoHo. Part of Calamar’s Mimosa Music Series, the Australian multi-instrumentalist El May opens the show.

dot matrix (performance sample) from richard tuohy on Vimeo.

EXPERIMENTAL FILM: Los Angeles Filmforum presents Richard Tuohy: Hand-Crafted Cinema at the Spielberg Theatre at the Egyptian on Sunday at 7:30 pm. The Australian filmmaker will be in attendance screening his hand-made and manipulated films. “Essential to see in person, projected on a screen, his films take you close into natural objects. His latest series, working in interference patterns will captivate your mind with their psychedelic explorations.” Tickets: $10 general admission; $6 students (with ID)/seniors; free for Filmforum members.

KITSCH: Historian of SoCal kitsch Charles Phoenix is at MoCA Grand Avenue on Sunday at 7 pm to present a live slide show performance on architecture. The lecture celebrates design gems of today and yesteryear: “Charles shares spectacular space-age drive-ins, coffee shops, bowling alleys, strip malls, shopping centers, extreme homes, dingbat apartments, fast food stands, theme parks and much more all in glorious color!” Tickets: $39.

Related:

- Your Ultimate Guide to October Events

Want the 411 on additional events and happenings in LA? Follow @LAist or me (@christineziemba) on Twitter.