Los Angeles residents looking to fill their weeknight schedules have a wide array of cultural choices across the region, as Time Out Los Angeles reported in its latest roundup of local happenings.
Film enthusiasts have multiple major series to track this week. The Hammer Museum, in partnership with New York’s Museum of Modern Art, is presenting the MoMA Contenders series. The annual lineup highlights 10 innovative feature films from the past year that MoMA’s Department of Film considers bound for broader recognition. Screenings this week include I Want Your Sex and Obsession, with most presentations accompanied by post-screening discussions featuring project creators. Over at the Academy Museum, a new genre-focused exhibition explores the cultural impact and production techniques of horror cinema. The show splits into six categories—gothic, psychological, science, slasher, religion, and ghosts—using set recreations and artifacts to detail classic and modern films ranging from the original Frankenstein to The Shining and Get Out.
On the music and theater front, the Hollywood Bowl hosts a double-headliner performance featuring Jimmy Eat World alongside indie pop band the Format, with both groups revisiting their respective 2000s albums, Bleed American and Dog Problems. Downtown at the Pantages Theatre, a fresh production of Pete Townshend’s 1969 rock opera The Who’s Tommy runs through November 15. For daytime classical soundscapes, the Pasadena Conservatory of Music is supplying soloists and duos on violin, cello, and guitar to perform inside the Huntington’s rose garden on Monday afternoons, with music included in the $29 general admission ticket.
For visual arts and local heritage, several venues are displaying major works. The Skirball Cultural Center is featuring a new exhibition by Chicana artist Judy Baca and the Social and Public Art Resource Center. The show displays newly finished sections of The Great Wall of Los Angeles—a half-mile mural project along the Tujunga Wash begun in the 1970s—focusing on 1960s history and the Civil Rights Movement before the panels are permanently added to the site. In Westlake, an art pop-up has taken over the former St. Vincent Medical Center, where 70 artists transformed 80 individual hospital rooms into immersive installations. The exhibit includes a late-night component as well as an optional lower-level walk past old laboratories and medical equipment.
Community traditions and food markets also fill the weekly calendar. Self Help Graphics & Art is holding its annual Day of the Dead celebration, marking over half a century of the tradition. While its main building undergoes renovations until 2027, the event launches with a 1:45 p.m. procession led by Danza Azteca Chicomecoatl from Mariachi Plaza to a nearby outdoor block party featuring altars, vendors, and musical sets by Los Lobos, La Santa Cecilia, and Chulita Vinyl Club LA. Additional family workshops were scheduled at the East L.A. County Library.
Food lovers can head to ROW DTLA on Sunday, where the weekly outdoor market features a fresh lineup of vendors including Black Almond BBQ, Casa de Lola, Kreung LA, Lindfors Farms, and Sweet Lady Jane, alongside a Día de Muertos celebration. Meanwhile, the Rose Bowl continues to host its massive outdoor flea market surrounding the 90,000-seat stadium, and Silver Lake’s Red Lion Tavern is extending its annual Oktoberfest festivities into mid-November with traditional platters, multi-liter beer boots, and stein-holding contests. For evening entertainment, Zero Lounge in Hollywood offers a free Wednesday night comedy show hosted by Curtis Cook, Brandie Posey, Rick Wood, and John Michael Bond during its nightly happy hour.
Additionally, the Skirball and Warner Bros. Archives have mounted an immersive exhibition exploring Ryan Coogler’s film Sinners. Centered on the film's Club Juke set, the showcase displays original screen costumes for Michael B. Jordan’s characters, prop signage, and instrument artifacts to trace musical history from the Mississippi Delta to California.
