Weekend Buzz: Events for June 15-16, 2019

This is Father’s Day weekend, and local organizations are definitely offering some interesting options for spending time with your dad.

First, starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday, you could take your dad over to the John C. Fremont branch library, 6121 Melrose Ave., for a free French conversation class with teacher Samba Magazza, who “teaches French conversation in a gentle, supportive setting that coaxes students to retrieve and improve their high school or college French.”  If you can’t afford to take your dad to Paris for the weekend, this might be the next best thing.

Also starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday, you, your dad and the entire family can learn more about Junteenth at the California African American Museum, in Exposition Park.  The holiday celebrates the “the anniversary of June 19, 1865, when Union General Gordon Granger declared that Texas’s enslaved people were free.”  Bring a picnic blanket and enjoy DJ sets by Francesca Harding, as well as other family-focused and family-friendly activities such as making family quilt squares, family trees, wearable art, and ancestor masks…and participating in a drum circle workshop.

This also a big weekend at the Petersen Museum, which is celebrating both Father’s Day and its own 25th Anniversary.  First, in honor of Father’s Day, there will be a big “Hoods Up” event – free all weekend with general admission – in which the hoods will be popped and you can see the engines of many of your favorite vehicles.  They include a 1953 Nash Healy, a 1929 Ruxton Model C, a 1967 Ford GT40 MK III, a 1963 Studebaker Avanti R-2, a 1939 Bugatti Type 57C, a 1954 Plymouth Explorer, a 1932 Ford Ray Brown, a 1998 Reynard Indy car, and a 1964 Mercury Marauder.

And then, starting at 6 p.m. on Saturday, there will be a big Petersen Museum Block Party – free for all – to celebrate the big 25th anniversary.  The event will showcase “some of the Petersen’s most iconic gems,” usually only seen in the Vault, as well as “the heart thumping tunes” of DJ Anthony Valadez, educational activities and crafts for the kids, and – at 8 p.m. – a special look at the history and future of the museum via a never-before-seen anniversary video projection.  In addition, there will be rare vehicles, bounce houses, and sweet treats available.

Finally on Saturday, and just a bit later, starting at 9 p.m. (gates open at 7:15), the annual (and hugely popular) Cinespia film series begins at the Hollywood Forever cemetery, 6000 Santa Monica Blvd., with a screening of Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke.  In this animated classic, Miyazaki “brings to life dazzling mythology in exquisitely-rendered 14th century Japan. On a search for a magical cure for his ailment, Prince Ashitaka joins an epic battle between humans and animal gods led by heroic Princess Mononoke, a heroic woman raised by wolves.”  You can pack a picnic and enjoy DJ sets, a fantasy photobooth, and beer and wine sales, in addition to the film itself.

Moving into Sunday, LACMA will host a “Calligraphy Demonstration: Artist Jung Do-Jun and the Large Brush,” in conjunction with the current exhibit “Beyond the Line: the Art of Korean Writing.” According to the museum, “Contemporary Korean calligrapher Jung Do-Jun is renowned in South Korea for his diversity of styles and format. He comes from a family lineage of skilled and talented calligraphers. The boldness of his styles is bolstered by his knowledge of the Chinese classics, and as a result he is as adept with hanja (Chinese characters) as he is with the native script of Hangeul.”  The event starts at 10 a.m. and is free and open to the public.

And finally, for those who’d like to end Father’s Day with a bang, the American Cinematheque, at the Egyptian Theater, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., will host a screening of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, starring Jack Nicholson, starting at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday.  In the film, Nicholson “takes a job as winter caretaker at an enormous mountain hotel, accompanied by wife Shelley Duvall and son Danny Lloyd, and the hotel’s horrific past quickly overtakes him.”  The event will include a live introduction by the film’s director’s assistant Leon Vitali. All audience members will also have a chance to enter to win a pair of tickets to the I Like Scary Movies experience.

Have a great weekend!