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.

Masterpiece isn't a word to be casually tossed around, but it’s hard not to ascribe it to musician turned artist Christian Marclay’s 24-hour video, in which thousands of short film clips are strung together to form a seamless, big-screen collage charting the passage of each minute of the day in real time. After 15 years away, The Clock is going back on display on the first floor of the BCAM building, and to bookend the exhibit, the museum is hosting two specially ticketed 24-hour screenings on July 25 and August 22 starting at 7pm (welcome news for L.A. night owls). Otherwise, the work will be on display during regular museum hours and is included with admission.

The Griffith Observatory doesn’t host movie screenings often, but when it does, it makes them count. Last year it showed Rebel Without a Cause, which was famously filmed on location there, and this year, La La Land is the featured attraction. The filmic love letter to Los Angeles is celebrating its 10th anniversary, so where better to celebrate than the setting of Mia and Sebastian’s magical planetarium date? Choreographer Mandy Moore (not that Mandy Moore) will give a talk before the August 3 screening, while the film’s production designers, David and Sandy Reynolds-Wasco, will be on hand on August 17. The event also includes photo ops at memorable filming locations and after-hours access to the Observatory. The catch? Tickets sold out as soon as the screenings were announced. But you can still join the waitlist and be notified if more become available.

Ponyo loves Sosuke! And we love this exhibition at the Academy Museum dedicated to the wholesome Hayao Miyazaki film. Studio Ghibli donated more than 100 objects to the Academy Collection, and you’ll find everything from an animation desk to colorful art boards to dozens of frame-by-frame pencil drawings of the scene when Sosuke first finds Ponyo. Though you may recognize a couple of items from the museum’s debut Hayao Miyazaki retrospective, the vast majority of Ponyo pieces are new—and some have never been displayed in North America before. It’s also a colorful and super kid-friendly exhibition; you can watch clips of the gorgeously hand-drawn movie, recreate the wave-running scene and even make your own stop-motion animation. You’ll find it on the museum’s second floor, inside the first few galleries of the “Stories of Cinema’ space.

About a month and a half before the start of the NFL season, you can see the Chargers take the field at their training facility in El Segundo—and for free, no less. For four weeks in July and August, the team holds practices at the Bolt that are open to the public, with covered bleacher seating behind the north end zone. Admission is limited to 2,000 fans per session; tickets are available the Monday prior to each practice week (so sessions from August 9 to 16, for example, are available to book on August 3). Look out for a handful of themed days, including a family day, a celebration of women in sports and a happy hour with some Chargers legends—just note that select days are exclusive to season ticket holders.

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.

Nearly three decades in and a few personnel shake-ups later, Ben Gibbard and Co. still craft some of the finest melancholy, emotional pop songs. Catch Death Cab for Cutie in support of their latest, I Built You A Tower, during a pair of shows at the Greek.

For more than 50 years, this venue has drawn theater aficionados to its storied, open-air stage for engaging productions in a magical setting. The 299-seat amphitheater in Topanga Canyon hosts audiences of all ages for plays from a wide range of genres, from Shakespearean classics to folk tales. This season, catch William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as well as a stage version of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, Noël Coward’s Waiting in the Wings and The People of Pompeii, a new dark comedy Bernardo Cubría wrote in the aftermath of the 2025 wildfires.

The reopened Getty Villa will descend into the underworld with this exhibition, which looks at the ritual spells and religious writings ancient Egyptians employed to garner favor with Re and Osiris in the afterlife. See the Getty’s collection of rare Book of the Dead hieroglyphics-adorned and illustrated manuscripts, dating back to around 1000 BCE, which were last displayed in 2023. The show should dovetail nicely with the museum’s “Sculpted Portraits From Ancient Egypt,” which runs through January 2027.

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.