Things to do in Los Angeles today

Telling the story of Gorillaz, the animated band created by Blur’s Damon Albarn and British artist Jamie Hewlett, involves a bit of real-world history and a bunch of cartoon mythology. House of Kong manages to blend both of those into a truly transportive walkthrough that mixes an art-on-the-wall gallery show with a cartoon-come-to-life manifestation of one of this century’s most singular bands. The L.A.-by-way-of-London experience, which sets up in the Arts District’s Rolling Greens from February 26 to March 19, starts outside in front of a hulking statue of Pazuzu, a Mesopotamian demon-god and in-universe motif that’s been plastered with decades-spanning Gorillaz stickers. That’s about the only thing you can photograph until you reach the finish of this largely phone-free experience (the island model from Plastic Beach and a sizable gift shop greet you at the end). From there, you’ll be handed a pair of headphones and embark on a half-hour-plus audio-guided tour. House of Kong starts like a proper museum show; gallery lighting focuses on prints of early concept art of 2-D, Murdoc, Noodle and Russel before diving into relics that chart the rise of the band (including, ahem, a 2005 Time Out London magazine cover) and its world-building lore. From there, in the classic style of a Disneyland ride preshow, things go awry, and the following five sections (no spoilers) see guests traversing through lovingly cluttered sets just bursting with hazy homages to both the animated...

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.

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 rare 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.

Support women-owned restaurants and dine at some of L.A.’s best spots during the return of this annual food fest in honor of Women’s History Month. Regarding Her's festival will offer themed menu specials, cooking classes, convos and collabs from women restaurateurs all month long. Highlights from this year’s lineup include La Festa Della Donna, a special International Women's Day celebration at Smorgasburg (Mar 8); the Echo Park Bop, a walking food and drink tour of 10 women-owned restaurants including Quarter Sheets, Bakers Bench, Bar Flores, Tsubaki, Little Fish and Valerie Confections (Mar 22); Maydan Market Monday (Mar 23); the return of All Day Baby via a biscuit pop-up (Mar 28); and a women-powered Lincoln Avenue Parking Lot Party Benefit for Altadena (Mar 29). You’ll also find other fun one-offs on the calendar, including a cacao tasting at the Chocolate Dispensary (Mar 12) and a “Sweetcute” ice cream social at the Very Best Cookie in the Whole Wide World (Mar 21). Check the website for the full lineup.

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).

A display of over 30 mummified people and animals is back at the California Science Center; after the exhibition debuted there back in 2010, it traveled through the U.S. and Europe before returning to L.A., which is the final stop on its tour before the artifacts are returned to their lending museums. This time around, you can see a selection of specimens never before shown in Los Angeles. Mummies are, of course, most often associated with ancient Egypt, and while Egypt is represented here, you’ll also see mummified remains that were discovered in Germany, Hungary, Peru—even the University of Maryland, which in the 1990s carried out the first ancient Egyptian-style mummification performed in 2,800 years. Memorable artifacts include the two Peruvian “bundle” mummies making their West Coast debut, amulets and organ jars (just like you learned about in history class), an ancient Egyptian cat mummy and a shrunken (but still very cute) sloth head. Be warned, though, that as you make your way through the different rooms, the displays become more macabre and, dare I say, haunting, with mummified organs and babies—so make sure you (and any kids in attendance) know what you’re getting into before visiting the exhibition. The museum’s IMAX theater will be screening the complementary 40-minute Mummies 3D: Secrets of the Pharaohs, and if you buy combo tickets for both the exhibition and film, you get a small discount on both.

Made up of a Melrose Avenue workshop and two galleries—including one designed by Frank Gehry—Gemini G.E.L. has been at the forefront of fine art printmaking for 60 years now, an accomplishment it’s celebrating in this show which doubles as a love letter to L.A. On display are innovative works by artists including David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, Ed Ruscha and Robert Rauschenberg—many of which haven’t been shown in decades—which are inspired by the atmosphere and streets of Los Angeles.

Disneyland’s already the happiest place on Earth, but throw in a massive parkwide food festival—and now it’s somehow even happier. Running nearly two full months, the Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival takes over the state-themed park with eight different culinary marketplaces with themes such as garlic, local beer and wine, peppers and more.  Notable dishes for this year’s fest include ramen mac and cheese topped with furikake crumble, fish cakes, green onions and chile crunch; a chicken and waffle mole taco; chicharrón nachos; Mickey-shaped banana-hazelnut waffles; and returning favorite the Mickey-shaped Snickers macaron. To make the most of the festival, opt for the Sip and Savor Pass, which grants you four or eight tastes so you can wander the markets and try a little of nearly everything, or sample à la carte. Just be sure you don’t forget the rides in all of the culinary whirlwind—fan-favorite Soarin’ has temporarily brought back its California-themed version just for the occasion.

Whether you follow awards season like it’s your favorite sport or you haven’t yet seen any of this year’s buzzworthy films, get ready for the upcoming Academy Awards at—where else?—the Academy Museum, which will be hosting a series of nominee spotlights in its 1,000-seat David Geffen Theater (which Time Out just named as one of the best cinemas in the world). For just $10, you can catch screenings of all the nominated animated short films (Mar 7), documentary shorts (Mar 8) and live action shorts (Mar 9). For a handful of other categories—animated feature film, international feature film, best picture and makeup and hairstyling—the filmmakers themselves will be on hand at panels to share clips and behind-the-scenes stories from their films.

Don’t go in the water, but do go to the Academy Museum to see the largest exhibition ever dedicated to Steven Spielberg’s original summer blockbuster, Jaws—which is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The museum was already home to the last surviving model shark from filming, but now you can go behind the scenes and see some 200 original objects from the film across multiple galleries. Some highlights: a re-creation of the Orca fishing boat, the dorsal fin used both in Jaws and its sequels, costumes worn by the central trio and a room full of vintage film posters and merch promoting the film. There are interactive elements, too: You can have your own Chief Brody dolly-zoom moment (and see the lens used to film the famous shot), play the iconic John Williams two-note score and control a replica of the mechanical shark.