Things to do in Los Angeles today

The masters of alfresco rooftop movie viewing have returned for another season of screenings to LEVEL in Downtown L.A. Known for excellent film choices and a steady supply of snacks and booze, Rooftop Cinema Club is your snazzy, comfortable and less stressful alternative to other outdoor movie screenings. You don’t even need to bring your own camping chair—Rooftop Cinema Club provides you with your very own comfy lawn chair (with optional blankets for purchase to up the coziness). And instead of listening to the movie over loudspeakers, you’ll get a set of wireless headphones so you never have to miss a word. Find the full schedule on their site, or in our outdoor movie calendar.

The multisensory nature of art is explored in this exhibition, which looks at the intertwined relationship between contemporary art and living materials. With its focus on artists’ relationships to the materials they use, “Several Eternities” highlights that commonality and aims to reframe the discussion around artists and race. Twenty-two artists from North, Central and South America have employed mediums like soil, stones, avocado, cacao, achiote, cochineal and clay in their works—the organic matter making it an ambitious exhibition to mount. From the moment you walk in, you can smell the soil, feel a vibrating wall and listen to the many “sonic interventions” throughout the show. The large-scale installations and sculptures—many rooted in Indigenous worldviews—steal the show. The experience ends with a welcome moment to pause: a meditative, black-walled room, with ocean sounds and sand covering the floor.

Nature lovers, rejoice! The Natural History Museum is bringing back its annual Butterfly Pavilion, which will be open March 22 through August 23 and house up to 30 butterfly and moth species, as well as an assortment of California plants. The seasonal outdoor exhibit allows for adults and children alike to witness nature up close—we’re talking walking amid hundreds of butterflies and having them land on your arms or shoulders. You’ll need to purchase a $10 add-on ticket on top of your museum ticket in order to explore the pavilion for a half-hour.

Netflix’s stand-up specials keep us cackling at home, but the streaming service’s ambitious comedy festival is nothing to laugh at. For its second iteration, Netflix is a Joke Fest is headed back here May 4 to 10, 2026, and upping the ante: We’ve counted over 350 shows slated for venues across the city, boasting sets from Ali Wong, Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Gaffigan, John Mulaney, Taylor Tomlinson and a reunited Flight of the Conchords, plus literally hundreds of others. This year, the lineup also includes the surprise addition of music (Jelly Roll, Lizzo) and a ton of podcast tapings (The Pete Davidson Show, Giggly Squad, The Viall Files and more). The event is a bit more of a marathon than a traditional festival: There’s not an all-encompassing festival pass, but you can buy individual tickets to shows throughout its run. You’ll find shows staged at venues as big as the Hollywood Bowl and Greek Theatre (absolutely don’t drive and instead take the shuttle to both of those) and as intimate as Dynasty Typewriter and UCB, plus seemingly every major arena, theater and comedy club in between. Keep in mind that for shows at spots that are normally general admission, that means sitting in stiff, tightly packed folding chairs with limited views (the Palladium and ground floor of the Wiltern have particularly poor sightlines)—but the vast majority of venues thankfully have permanent seats. It’s TBD if outdoor event Outside Joke—which in the past was set up in a parking lot behind the...

When Mexican director Alejandro G. Iñárritu made his debut feature, Amores Perros, over a million feet of film didn’t make it to the final cut (to put that into perspective, the finished two-and-a-half-hour movie used around 18,000 feet of film). Twenty five years later, some of these unearthed reels of celluloid now zip through a ground-floor gallery at LACMA as part of a multi-channel film installation. As much a piece of sculpture as it is film or video art, Sueño Perro assembles six 35mm projectors that pierce the hazy near-dark space with raw, nonlinear snippets of the movie, fed from a mesmerizing curtain of film stock speeding along sprockets. It’s an intense experience, both sonically (during the car crash that connects the feature’s storylines) and visually (dog fighting plays a pivotal role in the film, though you’ll see here some of the behind-the-scenes tricks that kept the production cruelty-free).

It doesn’t matter if you win by an inch or a mile—or if you’re more of a fan of the street racing and respect era or heists and hackers phase of Fast & Furious: There’s plenty of familiar motorized might to behold at this Petersen Automotive Museum exhibition honoring the high-adrenaline film franchise. You’ll find roughly 20 screen-used cars and production prototypes—including ones on loan from Vin Diesel’s private collection, as well as from the late Paul Walker—on display in the second floor of the Miracle Mile museum. It’s a very Fast & Furious kind of year in L.A. between Universal Studios’ roller coaster and this 25th anniversary exhibition. While the Petersen’s exhibition is certainly encyclopedic (the selections here span the entirety of the franchise, with a particular focus on the first three films), it’s not overly academic: Brief labels will let you know the story behind the stunt car you’re staring at, but this is ultimately an opportunity to ogle American muscle cars and custom Japanese imports (as well as the franchise’s melodramatic quotes about family). Highlights on display include the 1993 Toyota Supra “Stunt #3” and 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse driven by Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) in the original film, Dominic Toretto’s (Vin Diesel) 1968 Dodge Charger R/T and 1993 Mazda RX-7, and Suki’s (Devon Aoki) very pink 2001 Honda S2000.

You may have come across Danish artist Thomas Dambo’s massive troll sculptures—which he makes from reclaimed wood and hides in nature to encourage people to get out and enjoy the outdoors—on Instagram. But you don’t need to book a trip to Denmark to see the gentle giants. The 87 acres of Palos Verdes’s South Coast Botanic Garden are currently home to 12 of the whimsical figures, and you can glimpse them all with your general admission ticket. For $33, you can take a guided walking tour of the Twelvelings (with general admission included). To see the trolls in a different light, one night a month, the gardens will host the Canopy Club—an after-hours dance party in the woods with pop-up performances, food and drinks ($34–$50).

L.A.’s star-studded lecture series returns—both virtually and in person—with a lineup of writers, artists, performers, scientists and business leaders who will graciously blow your mind. For both online and IRL events, you’ll often have the option of purchasing a signed copy of the speaker’s book, as well. Highlights from the upcoming season include Lena Dunham talking with Rita Wilson (May 20) and the return of chef José Andrés (May 26).

This show aims to give Black queer culture in California—particularly in Los Angeles—the credit it’s due as a part of the decades-long fight for LGBTQ+ rights and recognition. Through historical materials, photographs, film and vintage newspapers, the exhibition recovers a history that’s been largely excluded from the record, introducing visitors to sites, protagonists and allies who played a role in the fight for democracy and free expression. 

Artist Ralph Steadman—known for his unmistakable illustrations, cartoons and collaborations with Hunter S. Thompson—has imbued his work with political, satirical, environmental and spiritual threads throughout his six-decade-plus career. Now, on the eve of his 90th birthday, you can see 149 of Steadman’s works, including some influenced by Los Angeles, for free at the Torrance Art Museum—it’s the only Southern California stop on the show’s national tour. If you’re feeling inspired, you can embark on your own off-the-page adventure, thanks to the exhibition’s accompanying interactive Gonzo Art Trail (find details here).