This weekend between the two big holiday weeks (Hanukkah/Christmas and New Year’s) is once again fairly quiet, events-wise…but there are still plenty of good vintage movies to enjoy, as well as a chance to catch up with some other big holiday-season attractions you might have missed in the hectic days leading up to the holidays.
First, if you’re wondering how to work off some of that over-indulgent holiday eating, join author Bob Inman (“Finding Los Angeles by Foot” and “An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles”) on a 7 1/2 mile urban walk through Cheviot Hills, Century City and nearby areas, starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday. The walk will start at the Westwood/Rancho Park Metro E (Expo) Line station (2600 Westwood Blvd., where Westwood Blvd. crosses the tracks), and from there will explore “an area where lovely and prestigious residential districts co-exist cheek by jowl with an intensely commercial zone of office towers and studios.” Along the way, Inman will provide information on buildings by architects Eric Owen Moss, Welton Becket, Johnson Fain, Minoru Yamasaki, Craig Ellwood, Raphael Soriano and more, and walkers will also get to “enjoy a few public stairways and footbridges.” Also note that “the walk is generally flat, but the residential part of our route has hills and dales.” It’s also free, but rain will cancel. See the link above for more information.
Speaking of rain, whether it’s raining or sunny on Saturday (and Sunday), you can enjoy a big screen viewing of “one of the greatest movie masterpieces ever to shine on screen,” and one of Hollywood’s most beloved movies ever, “Singin’ in the Rain,” starting at 2 p.m. both days at the New Beverly Cinema, 7165 Beverly Blvd. See it again, or for the first time (really, you must if you haven’t!), and bring the whole family – even the kids won’t be able to resist Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell and Cyd Charisse in some of the most winning musical numbers ever filmed.
Later, the New Bev serves up another great Hollywood story, Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” starting at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday (and again at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday).  The story focuses on 1969 Los Angeles, “where everything is changing, as TV star Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his longtime stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) make their way around an industry they hardly recognize anymore” in the days leading up to the notorious Charles Manson murders.
Meanwhile, over at the Egyptian Theater, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., the American Cinematheque will screen 2017’s Phantom Thread at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. In the film, director Paul Thomas Anderson tells the story of “renowned dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his sister Cyril (Lesley Manville) [who] are at the center of British fashion in the 1950s, dressing royalty, movie stars, heiresses, socialites, debutantes and dames with the distinct style of the House of Woodcock.” The movie was nominated for six Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Score and Best Costume Design.
And finally on Saturday, for those who’d prefer some energizing live music, head over to the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center, 4718 W. Washington Blvd., for an encore performance of the Ebony Repertory Theatre’s special “The Sounds of the Holidays” concert, starting at 8 p.m. and featuring holiday classic music honoring Luther Vandross, Whitney Houston and more, performed by Terry Steele and Friends. See the event link above for tickets.
On Sunday this week, the film fun continues back at the Egyptian Theatre, which is offering a rare opportunity to see 1962’s 70mm David Lean masterpiece “Lawrence of Arabia” on the (very) big screen. (And if there was ever a movie made for viewing in 70mm wide screen, it’s this one.) The show starts at 7:30 p.m., and is “based on the daring campaigns of real-life British military figure T.E. Lawrence during WWI.” The cast includes Peter O’Toole, Omar Sharif, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins, Claude Rains and Alec Guinness.
And finally this weekend, the lack of big events unique to this week means you also have one last chance to catch up with some of the other big holiday attractions that have been available around the city for the last month or so. If you haven’t already experienced one or more of these, you can still enjoy the L.A. Zoo Lights, Bai Holiday Ice Rink at Pershing Square, Descanso Gardens Enchanted Forest of Light, Los Angeles Arboretum and Botanic Garden’s Moonlight Forest Magic Lantern Art Festival, and/or the Griffith Park Holiday Light Festival Train Ride.
Have a great last weekend of 2019!
