The world seems to be slowly coming back to life this weekend, after lots of holiday downtime. Not a lot of big events this weekend, but here are a few that caught our interest:
On Saturday, there are two classic film screenings of note. First a triple feature, at the American Cinematheque’s Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, of the first three Indiana Jones movies. Starting at 5 p.m., see your favorite fictional archeologist/adventurer in “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” (Just in case you haven’t seen enough of Harrison Ford in “Star Wars”lately. How does one actor land two such iconic roles, anyway?)
Later, at midnight both Saturday and Sunday, Cinefamily is showing- Orson Wells’ little-seen “Chimes at Midnight.” According to Cinefamily’s website, “Chimes” is “Criminally underseen, but revered within the collector and underground film communities,” as well as “one of the filmmaker’s great excavations of an unsung Shakespeare foil, the bumbling knight Sir John Falstaff (a side character who appears in Henry IV and The Merry Wives of Windsor).” It also includes one battle sequence that, in the words of critic Pauline Kael, “is unlike anything [Wells] has ever done, indeed unlike any battle ever done on the screen before. It ranks with the best of Griffith, John Ford, Eisenstein, Kurosawa—that is, with the best ever done.”
On Sunday, the legendary Second City comedy troop hosts its annual open house, with free workshops and comedy shows from noon to 11 p.m. (all shows before 7 p.m. will be family-friendly). For more information, see http://www.welikela.com/second-city-open-house-january-2016/
Later, it’s time to start running off the holiday calories, with New Year’s Race Los Angeles, which includes a Half Marathon, 5K, 10K and kids’ race. According to the LAist blog, “The race takes 5,000 runners through DTLA and into Dodger Stadium capitalizing on the hills of Elysian Park for nightime views.” Entry fees: $50-$200 for adults. Both the start and finish lines are at the same location at Grand Park, with a stocked beer garden, food vendors, Kid’s Celebration Zone, and VIP area, both before and after the race. Start times are between 4 and 8 p.m. for the various races.
If you’d prefer to enjoy your holiday torpor just a bit longer, and another film is more your style, the American Cinematheque completes its holiday weekend with a tribute to the recently departed automotive designer George Barris. At 5 p.m., at the Egyptian theater, the Cinematheque will screen the ultra-campy 1960s films Batman and Munster, Go Home! , featuring the Barris-designed Munster Koach and 1966 Batmobile. Tickets are $11.
