Serving Larchmont Village, Hancock Park, and the Greater Wilshire neighborhoods of Los Angeles since 2011.

Weekend Buzz: Events for February 1-2, 2020

Celebrate the Lunar New Year at the 121st annual Golden Dragon Parade on Saturday this week.

This is Super Bowl weekend, but whether or not you’re a football fan…there are a lot of other things going on, too.

Click to see full size flier

First, what’s not to like about an event that promotes eating ice cream for breakfast? Jeni’s Ice Creams, 123 N. Larchmont Blvd., will hold an “Ice Cream for Breakfast” fundraiser, from 8 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, for DoSomething.org, which supports a variety of youth-oriented causes and projects.  The ice cream company will donate 100% of its profits during those hours to the worthy organization.

Next, it’s the first Saturday of the month, so it’s time for the monthly Everwalk event, a walk for fun and fitness around Pan Pacific Park, hosted by Bonnie Stoll and legendary long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad.  Meet some new folks or bring along some old friends, and join in as many of the five one-mile laps around the park as you would like to do.  It’s a great way to get your body moving, and to keep up with those fitness-related New Year’s Resolutions.  The group meets at 9 a.m. for juice and warm-up stretches by the parking lot behind the Pan Pacific Senior Center, 141 S. Gardner St. Signups aren’t required, but since it does help them track attendance, participants are urged to register here.  It’s all free, though, and everyone is welcome.

Starting just an hour later, and running from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, join Metro representatives for a community meeting at Los Angeles Trade Technical College (2215 S. Grand Ave.) to review the new NexGen Bus Plan, which Metro has spent the last 18 months developing with lots of community input.  The goal is to completely revamp bus service for the next generation, addressing schedule frequency, improved service at all times of the day, convenience of bus stop locations, and shorter waits and faster travel, systemwide.  Come and learn more about the big changes on the horizon.

For some family fun, Lunar New Year celebrations continue this weekend, with the 121st Annual Golden Dragon Parade working its way through downtown’s Chinatown starting at 1 p.m.  (Street closures start as early as 10 a.m. though, so if you’re going to be in the area, see the event link for parade route maps and closure information.)  It’s billed as “the premier cultural event in the Southern California Asian-American community,” and includes almost two dozen floats, along with marching bands, government officials and other dignitaries, entertainers and more.  Definitely “a rich and diverse experience for Angelenos of all ages and ethnicities.”

Family members of all ages will also enjoy this week’s kiddie matinee, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” playing at 2 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday at the New Beverly Cinema, 7165 Beverly Blvd.  Directed by Chris Columbus and starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, it’s the movie that launched the popular series of Potter films.

This week’s big art opening, from 6-9 p.m. on Saturday, highlights the new “The Body, The Object, The Other” show at the Craft  Contemporary.  It’s the museum’s second clay biennial, and “examines contemporary ceramic practices that use the human figure as the starting point for material and conceptual experimentation,” through works from both emerging and established artists.  Admission is $10 for the public and free for Craft Contemporary members.

For film fans, the first of a bunch of interesting screenings from the American Cinematheque, at the Egyptian Theater, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., this weekend is “This is Not a Test,” a “low-budget standout of the ’50s and early ’60s nuclear holocaust genre.” The film “follows a group of ordinary citizens as they react to the news of the outbreak of nuclear war,” and the program starts at 7:30 p.m Saturday with the cartoon “The Daffy Doc” and an introduction by director Joe Dante.

Also starting at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, on another screen at the Egyptian, is director Akira Kurosawa’s “Ran,” an “epic and existential samurai/Noh theater rendition of Shakespeare’s “King Lear,”” which “follows a once-merciless and bloodthirsty Lord Hidetora (Tatsuya Nakadai) after he leaves his kingdom to his three sons.”

Sunday, of course, is Super Bowl Sunday, but if you’re not interested in the 49ers vs. Chiefs contest, or the high-profile TV commercials that can take up more broadcast time (and sometimes almost as much audience attention) as the actual game, you do have some options.

The first is an all-ages 10th Anniversary fundraiser brunch benefitting the CicLAvia organization, which holds popular opens streets events several times a year all around the city.  The brunch, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday at The Jefferson, 3921 W. Jefferson Blvd., will feature mimosas, juice and coffee, pastries, breakfast tacos, and more…along with games and other fun activities, and raffle prizes.  The group will also unveil its 2020 CicLAvia event schedule and share memories of its decade of events in LA.  Tickets are $85 for adults and $15 for kids 12 and under.  Funds raised will support this year’s CicLAvia events.

After that, though, some relative quiet descends on the city…but for those not watching the big game, you do have four very creatively-programmed film screenings to choose from, all courtesy of the Cinematheque, at the Egyptian Theater.  First, starting at 1 p.m. Sunday, there’s another kind of big football game in the Marx Brothers classic college comedy, “Horse Feathers.”

Second, at 4 p.m. on Sunday and riffing on the day’s secondary focus on Super Bowl commercials, there’s “Putney Swope,” the 1969 Robert Downey, Sr. film in which “the sole African-American exec at an advertising firm is unexpectedly elected its president and turns the industry on its ear through a series of outrageous, taboo-busting TV commercials (strewn throughout the film like comedic landmines).”

Third, at 7:30 p.m. Sunday and playing on Super Bowl food traditions, there’s “My Dinner with Andre,” in which “actor and playwright Wallace Shawn sits down with theater director friend André Gregory at a restaurant on New York’s Upper West Side for a wide-ranging conversation.”

And fourth, having nothing to do with the Super Bowl but everything to do with next weekend’s big to-do – the Academy Awards – there’s a screening of all of this year’s Oscar-nominated documentary shorts, also starting at 7:30 p.m. Sunday.  The films include “Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (if You’re a Girl),” “Life Overtakes Me,” “In the Absence,” “St. Louis Superman” and “Walk Run Cha-Cha.”

Finally, that mention of next week’s Academy Awards reminds us to remind you that although the big ceremony isn’t until next week at the Dolby Theater at Hollywood and Highland, preparations there are already underway, and some of the major traffic closures start as early as 3 a.m. this Sunday (a full week in advance), and will remain in force until 6 a.m. on Wednesday, February 12.  See http://www.oscars.org/closures for all the details if you’ll be driving anywhere near the area for the next two weeks.

Have a great weekend!

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Elizabeth Fuller
Elizabeth Fuller
Elizabeth Fuller was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN but has lived in LA since 1991 - with deep roots in both the Sycamore Square and West Adams Heights-Sugar Hill neighborhoods. She spent 10 years with the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council, volunteers at Wilshire Crest Elementary School, and has been writing for the Buzz since 2015.

Related Articles

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Calendar

Latest Articles

.printfriendly { padding: 0 0 60px 50px; }