---

SNEAK PREVIEW: Henry Poole is Here

Director Mark Pellington will be at the Aero Theatre Thursday, August 14^th screening his new feature film, Henry Poole is Here, starring Luke Wilson. The story revolves around a lost and depressed man whose stucco dwelling reveals the face of Jesus, making his home a kind of pilgrimage for local townies. Of course there is a love story mixed in and a great cast of characters, and I just think it might be worth your time. To see what you are getting into watch the trailer here.

The Aero Theater is located at 1328 Montana Ave. Los Angeles, 90403. For more info, click here.

---

SWEAT: Highways Summer Dance Festival

Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica is featuring various choreographers and dancers this August in its new Summer Dance Festival, “Sweat”. This Saturday and Sunday you can see “Spill, Splash, and Splendor,” a piece created by up and coming Southern Californian dancers. Don’t expect a typical dance performance (i.e. linear performances with dull music … sorry, it’s true).Instead, expect the unexpected (that’s right, I said it, and I don’t care if it’s a cliché).

Space located at 1651 18^th St. Santa Monica, 90404. For more info, click here.

---

CLEAN: Venice Beach with Heal the Bay

This Saturday you can join Heal the Bay and its monthly beach clean-up and help keep our county spic and span… or at least spic. It might take a while to get it span too.

Saturday, Aug. 16^th from 10 a.m. to 12 noon at Venice Beach and Washington Blvd., lifeguard tower “Bucaneer.” For more info, click here.

.

.

---

LISTEN: Wagner meets Nasa at the Hollywood Bowl

The Hollywood Bowl gives you a night of Wagner and Wagnerian influenced music with a shot of outer space (whoa, man). The night features Wagner’s Night of the Valkyries with featured young/ up and coming percussionist Colin Currie, and Holst’s The Planets, which will be performed alongside images from Nasa’s JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, for those of you who don’t have a sister-in-law who works there and don’t know what the letters stand for.) Enjoy the music and enjoy the stars and planets at this event; I think it’s going to be a doozy! For more info, click here.

.

---

WATCH: Best of Video Art at Echo Curio

The Druid Film Festival is coming to Los Angeles and stopping by Echo Park’s eclectic art gallery, Echo Curio, this Sunday. They’ll be playing a collection of video art discovered by William Burgess, the curator of the show. If you’ve ever been forced to sit through much video art, you know it is usually painful and mostly pretentious. But this show, running at two hours long, has been selected by Mr. Burgess, not made by him, and somehow I think that makes all the difference. If you go and end up having to sit through a 40 minute video of a plant and a woman slowly saying the ABCs then call me and I’ll give you your money back.

Free Event. This Sunday August 17^th @ 9p.m. Located at 1519 Sunset Blvd. 90026.

---

ATTEND: Downtown Film Festival

Downtown has been beautified and transformed. Isn’t it about time you checked it out? The Downtown Film Festival is in its inaugural debut. The festival opened on August 13th and runs through the 17th. Check out one of their shorts, narratives or docs at L.A.’s historic Orpheum Theatre, Little Tokyo, the Arts District, Chinatown and more. On Sunday, August 17th, Sustainable LA presents the festival’s Environmental Program - think eco street fair, eco-documentary films, organic wine and beer and a bicycle rodeo. Learn more about the film festival here and about the Environmental Program specifically here.

Categories:  Downtown, East Side, Hollywood, Non-Profit Org., Thursday--Weekend Guide, Venice