Fourth of July Weekend: THR's Complete Guide to TV, Marathons and Movies

Fourth of July weekend is a time for celebrating all that this great country has given us with friends, family and food. But if you're more of a fan of air conditioning, comfortable couches and popcorn than you are of sunburns, crowds and BBQs, you may want to spend some time curled up in front of the TV or inside a nice, cool movie theater this weekend.

PHOTOS: 26 of Summer's Most Anticipated Movies: 'Man of Steel,' 'Wolverine,' 'The Lone Ranger'

Here, The Hollywood Reporter highlights all the best offerings in film and television for your patriotic enjoyment.

TELEVISION

Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular (NBC): 8 p.m. July 4
Nick Cannon hosts with Mariah Carey, Tim McGraw, Taylor Swift, Cher, Pitbull and Selena Gomez performing.
Philly Fourth of July Jam (VH1): 8 p.m. July 4
Kevin Hart hosts. The Roots, John Mayer, Jill Scott, Demi Lovato, Ne-Yo, Grace Potter and J. Cole perform.
A Capitol Fourth (PBS): 8 p.m. July 4
Tom Bergeron hosts. Barry Manilow, Candice Glover, Scotty McCreery, Darren Criss, Jackie Evancho and Megan Hilty are among the perfomers.
The Andy Griffith Show (TV Land): 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 3-5

Duck Dynasty (A&E): 7 p.m. July 3 to 4:02 a.m. July 4

Tia & Tamera (Style Network): July 4

Aerial America (Smithsonian Channel): midnight July 4 to 6 a.m. July 5

BBQ Pitmasters (Destination America): 6 a.m. July 4 to 6 a.m. July 5

“Explosive Love” marathon (Investigation Discovery): 6 a.m. July 4 to 4 a.m. July 5
Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry: 6-8 a.m.; Scorned: Love Kills: 8 a.m.-noon; Poisoned Passions: noon-3 p.m.; Fatal Vows: 3-6 p.m.; Happily Never After: 6 p.m.-2 a.m.; Scorned: Love Kills: 2-4 a.m.
STORY: Ultimate Classic L.A. Summer Weekend: Historic Hot Spots

“Music Independence Day” (MTV, CMT and VH1): 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. July 4
The three Viacom networks will devote an entire day to music featuring established and up-and-coming artists.
NCIS (USA Network): 6 a.m. July 4 to 4 a.m. July 5

Ultimate Spider-Man (Disney XD): 7 a.m. to noon July 4

Castle (TNT): 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. July 4

Here Comes Honey Boo Boo (TLC): 2 p.m. July 4 to 2 a.m. July 5

Independence Day (A&E): 8 p.m. July 4, 5 p.m. July 6, 2 p.m. July 7

Law & Order: SVU (USA Network): 6 a.m. July 5 to 1 a.m. July 6, 9 a.m. July 6 to 2 a.m. July 7

Warehouse 13 (Syfy): 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. July 5

Swamp People (History Channel): 7 a.m. July 4 to 4:02 a.m. July 5

Star Trek: The Next Generation (BBC America): 8 a.m. July 4 to 6 a.m. July 5, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. July 5

The Twilight Zone (Syfy): 8 a.m. July 4 to 6 a.m. July 5
Episodes include “Time Enough at Last,” “It’s a Good Life,” “The Eye of the Beholder” and “To Serve Man.”
The First 48 (A&E): 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. July 4

Wicked Tuna (National Geographic Channel): 9 a.m. July 4 to 3 a.m. July 5

Beverly Hills, 90210 (SoapNet): 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. July 4
Episodes include “Beach Blanket Brandon,” “The Party Fish,” “Summer Storm,” “Misery Loves Company,” “The Twins, the Trustee and the Very Big Trip” and “Castles in the Sand.”
North America (Animal Planet): 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. July 4

National Treasure double feature (ABC Family): noon to 8 p.m. July 4

The Walking Dead (AMC): July 4-7
Season one: 1 p.m. July 4 to 3 a.m. July 5; season two: 1 p.m. July 5 to 2:48 a.m. July 6; season three: 1 p.m. July 6 to 12:30 a.m. July 7, 1 to 9 p.m. July 7.
"Marvelously Looney" marathon (The Hub): 3 to 6:30 p.m. July 4
Episodes of Tiny Toon Adventures and The Superhero Squad.
Property Wars (Discovery Channel): 5 p.m. July 4 to 3 a.m. July 5

Magic City (Starz): 9 p.m. to midnight July 5

"Jump the Shark" marathon (Cloo): 6 a.m. July 5 to 6 a.m. July 6
Episodes from Happy Days, Get Smart, Bosom Buddies, Family Ties, Laverne & Shirley, Mannix, House, The Unit, Mork & Mindy and Charlie’s Angels.
The Unit (Cloo): 6 a.m. July 6 to 6 a.m. July 7

Pirates of the Caribbean marathon (ABC Family): July 6-7

Law & Order: Criminal Intent (Cloo): 6 a.m. July 7 to 4 a.m. July 8

Border Wars (National Geographic Channel): noon to 9 p.m. July 7

Pawn Stars (History Channel): 7 p.m. July 6 to 4:02 a.m. July 7

"Rom Com Marathom" (MTV): noon to 11 p.m. July 7
Clueless, 13 Going on 30, She's the Man and four new Girl Code episodes.
STORY: Forever 74 Degrees: How Movie Theaters Keep Cool During Summer's Scorching Months

FILMS IN THEATERS

Despicable Me 2
The minions are back in this family-friendly sequel. This time, the yellow goofballs are helping their ex-villain leader Gru (Steve Carell) defeat other bad guys out there causing trouble.

The Lone Ranger
Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer portray Tonto and the Lone Ranger, respectively, in this big action-adventure pic based on the classic radio and TV program.

The Heat
Becoming a box-office success its first weekend out, The Heat warmed audiences with its laugh-out-loud physical humor and hilarious stars, Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock. They play a cop and an FBI agent, respectively, who have to team up to solve some crime and kick some butt.

White House Down
Admission to the White House-under-siege action film will be free to veterans and active members of the armed services on July 4. It stars Channing Tatum as an aspiring Secret Service agent who has to help rescue the president (Jamie Foxx) from terrorists in the White House.

The holiday weekend provides a great opportunity to catch up on some world-saving films you may not have had time for earlier this summer, including Man of Steel, World War Z and Star Trek Into Darkness.

In Theaters This Weekend: Reviews of 'White House Down,' 'The Heat' and More

Sony's summer gamble on a non-superhero film, White House Down, hits the big screen Friday, June 28.

The action-thriller stars Channing Tatum as a Secret Service agent who must protect the U.S. president, played by Jamie Foxx, from being harmed by a paramilitary group attacking Washington, D.C. Helmed by Independence Day director Roland Emmerich, the movie also stars Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Woods, Richard Jenkins and Jason Clarke.

For a more comical weekend, Paul Feig's The Heat sees Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock teaming up as an unlikely pair -- potty-mouthed detective Shannon Mullins (McCarthy) and uptight FBI agent Sarah Ashburn (Bullock) -- to catch a drug lord on the loose.

PHOTOS: Jamie Foxx and Channing Tatum: Exclusive Portraits of the 'White House Down' Stars

Read what The Hollywood Reporter's film critics have to say about all the films opening this weekend and find out how they are expected to perform at the box office.

White House Down

Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx join forces as the presidential residence comes under attack by paramilitary thugs in Roland Emmerich's latest action-thriller. Read David Rooney's review here.

The Heat

Paul Feig's comedy stars Sandra Bullock as an uptight FBI agent and Melissa McCarthy as a crass Boston street cop. Read Todd McCarthy's review here.

Byzantium

Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan play 200-year-old vampires in director Neil Jordan's female twist on the bloodsucking genre. Read David Rooney's review here.

PHOTOS: Melissa McCarthy, Sandra Bullock Turn Up 'The Heat' At New York Premiere

A Band Called Death

A better-than-fiction doc resurrects a seminal African-American rock band. Read Justin Lowe's review here.

Copperhead

Gettysburg director Ron Maxwell looks at Northern opposition to the Civil War. Read John DeFore's review here.

Redemption

Steven Knight's thriller stars Jason Statham as a former Special Forces soldier dealing with the mean streets of London. Read Frank Scheck's review here.

Laurence Anyways

Montreal auteur Xavier Dolan's stylish, gender-bending epic stars Melvil Poupaud and Suzanne Clement as a couple that can never quite live either together or apart. Read Stephen Dalton's review here.

STORY: Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx and 'White House Down's' Superhero-Free Summer Gamble

Magic Camp

Judd Ehrlich's documentary finds a slew of would-be David Copperfields in the Pennsylvania countryside as they attend Tannen's Magic Camp, held every summer. Read John DeFore's review here.

How to Make Money Selling Drugs

Matthew Cooke's directorial debut uses a tongue-in-cheek conceit to look at the War on Drugs. Read John DeFore's review here.

Detention of the Dead

Alex Craig Mann sends zombies to high school. Read John DeFore's review here.

100 Bloody Acres

Damon Herriman and Angus Sampson are backwoods brothers just trying to make a living in this off-the-wall Australian splatter-comedy. Read Megan Lehmann's review here.

Museum Hours

Engagingly offbeat docudrama draws links between Renaissance art and modern society. Read Stephen Dalton's review here.

Some Girl(s)

Adam Brody and Kristen Bell star in an adaption of the Neil LaBute play. Read John DeFore's review here.

Twitter: @sajilpl

Ultimate Pampering Summer Weekend: Spa, Aah

FRIDAY

Begin the big wind-down by immersing in the hot and cold tubs at Koreatown’s Beverly Hot Springs (308 N. Oxford Ave.). Called balneotherapy, the heat (100 degrees!) stimulates circulation, while the cold fights off inflammation. Next, indulge with a Body Scrub/Body Care Combo ($110, including admission fee) — a tough-love seaweed treatment that leaves your whole body feeling like a baby’s butt — followed by a skin conditioning massage with milk, oil, cucumber and yogurt. You can add on a hair and scalp massage ($40) and a foot massage ($40). Fans include Eva Mendes and Malin Akerman. After this, your entire being will feel like jelly, so head to the nearby The Larchmont (5750 Melrose Ave.) for kale salad, shaved white asparagus and pan-seared local halibut. Retox (just a little) with an artisanal cocktail like a gin cucumber soda.

PHOTOS: Best of Hollywood: 28 Ways to Create a Perfect Summer Weekend

SATURDAY

In the morning, invigorate your system at the body-shaping spa Iobella (507 Wilshire Blvd.) in Santa Monica for a customized workout with one of their trainers (ask for Fabiana Erica Mora), who guarantee a leaner, more toned look after a series of private sessions. Protein up at Sugarfish (212 N. Canon Drive), now open in Beverly Hills and 20 minutes away. The Trust Me/Lite lunch is a bit of palate pampering at $17 and includes edamame, several pieces of sushi and a toro handroll. Then treat your feet and hands to the luxe new nail studio across the street at the Montage Beverly Hills (225 N. Canon Drive). Your private mani ($60) and pedi ($100) can include Italian mandarin oil or Indonesian ginger. Send your little ones to the hotel’s kids spa, Paintbox, where they can have mani-pedis of their own ($40 each). Afterward, bring a group to enjoy the 90-minute spasensory experience at A Taste of Beauty by Natura Bisse at the Beverly Wilshire (9500 Wilshire Blvd.); enjoy a seven-course, specially prepared private meal by chef Gilles Arzur ($1,500 a person). You’ll feel so relaxed, you’ll want to get a room (a Beverly Suite starts at $1,050 a night).

SUNDAY

Rev up by grabbing a C Splash (carrot, pineapple, orange, grapefruit, lime and ginger) at Liquid Juice Bar (8180 Melrose Ave.), then submit to a serious jade-stone massage at the day spa Le Petite Retreat (311 N. Larchmont Blvd.). It combines Swedish and deep-tissue massage with hot and cold stones and reflexology ($135 for 60 minutes, $175 for 90). Reward yourself for good choices with “dessert”: a chocolate oxygen facial, starting at $150, at Le Jolie Medi Spa (13041 Ventura Blvd.). Then, of course, you'll want food: How about a tofu scramble or granola with fresh cashew milk at the organic SunCafe (3711 Cahuenga Blvd.) in Studio City?

Finish your beautification with “the most relaxing, delicious body treatment in all of L.A.,” says Ole Henriksen of his African Red Tea Spa Ritual at Ole Henriksen Face/Body Spa (8622A W. Sunset Blvd.), which includes an African red tea sugar scrub (from $195; do a nonscrub if you had Friday’s combo). Charlize Theron, Halle Berry and Blake Lively are fans of the West Hollywood spa. If you can still walk to your car (and you skipped the chocolate facial earlier), drive to Ronit Falevitch Skin Care (414 N. Camden Drive) in Beverly Hills for the Signature Facial ($300), which includes microdermabrasion, a peel and a collagen infusion. You’ll be refreshed — and gorgeous — by Monday.

See more perfect summer weekends below:

Shopping With Jewelry Designer Jennifer Meyer

Music With Breakout Star Skylar Grey

Art With Director Phil Lord

Food: From Seafood Craze to Farmer's Market Bounty

Outdoors: Fun in the SoCal Sun

Romance: Date Nights (and Days)

Classic L.A.: Historic Hot Spots

The 1 Percent: Live in Luxury

Kids: Modern Family Adventures

Follow me on Twitter @sajilpl

Ultimate Romantic Summer Weekend: Date Nights (and Days)

FRIDAY

Hurry: You can still make it to Agent Provocateur (242 N. Rodeo Drive) before 6 and pick up some of the sexiest lingerie on the planet. Then slink over to the candle-lit, open-air terrace at the new Sirena (8265 Beverly Blvd.) with your date. It's a favorite of Diana Ross, Taylor Lautner and Serena Williams. Order the oysters and Bollinger La Grande Annee Brut Champagne ($315); skip dinner so the lingerie looks even better.

PHOTOS: Best of Hollywood: 28 Ways to Create a Perfect Summer Weekend

SATURDAY

Start the day with a Champagne brunch cruise on the Hornblower (13755 Fiji Way), boarding from Marina del Rey's Fisherman's Village at 11:30 a.m. It's a two-hour trip with a buffet, music, views and free-flowing bubbly ($63 a person). Or, if you are a learning-moments type of couple, try Sexy Saturdays With Mou, a weekly discussion group led by licensed sex therapist Mou Wilson from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Liberace's former penthouse (7461 Beverly Blvd.; sexysaturdayswithmou.blogspot.com). A three-minute drive away, you can satiate other cravings with a Parisian lunch and rosé at Little Next Door (8142 W. 3rd St.).

Check out the nearby Kiki de Montparnasse (8481 Melrose Place), a posh Paris-style "adults-only store" carrying such instruments of pleasure as masks, blindfolds, videos and massage oil. Go home and take a test drive. Or save the romp for after an evening down the road at Pour Vous (5574 Melrose Ave.), a Parisian oyster bar (try the Zou Bisou cocktail) with burlesque and aerialist performances and one of L.A.'s only dress codes. More domestic couples might opt for Date Night cooking classes at Sur La Table (Farmers Market, 6333 W. 3rd St.) to learn how to make romantic recipes from Spain and Provence.

PHOTOS: 26 of Summer's Most Anticipated Movies: 'Man of Steel,' 'Wolverine,' 'The Lone Ranger'

SUNDAY

Start your day with a downward dog a deux at a free 10:30 a.m. yoga class at Runyon Canyon (2001 N. Fuller Ave. entrance) because the couple that works out together stays fit together (and you know what that means). For vittles afterward, Stellar Hitch matchmaker Cristina Morara suggests bringing a picnic basket from Joan's on Third (8350 W. 3rd St.) -- "with the sexiest cheeses, breads and charcuterie" -- to Malibu Wines (31740 Mulholland Hwy.) for "a mini-retreat among the vineyards." Four Seasons L.A. (300 S. Doheny Drive) offers The Power Couple spa/cabana package with chocolate-covered strawberries, Tory Burch sandals, a bottle of Veuve Clicquot and two treatments for $550. Forget dinner; you'll be drunk on amour.

See more perfect summer weekends below:

Shopping With Jewelry Designer Jennifer Meyer

Music With Breakout Star Skylar Grey

Art With Director Phil Lord

Food: From Seafood Craze to Farmer's Market Bounty

Outdoors: Fun in the SoCal Sun

Pampering: Spa, Aaah

Classic L.A.: Historic Hot Spots

The 1 Percent: Live in Luxury

Kids: Modern Family Adventures

Follow me on Twitter @sajilpl

Ultimate Shopping Summer Weekend With Jewelry Designer Jennifer Meyer

 

Combine the best of both worlds, shopping and being near the beach, by starting out your retail adventure in Venice. While boho-chic Abbot Kinney is the main go-to, some of the Westside’s most exciting retailers are setting up shop on an up-and-coming stretch of Lincoln Boulevard. Start at Pearl Drop (328 S. Lincoln Blvd.), the latest retail offering from longtime L.A. designer (and Jack Nicholson spawn) Jennifer Nicholson, who stocks her eclectic digs with hand-dyed wares by fellow L.A. clothier Gregory Parkinson (Lily Collins is a fan), statement baubles by famed hippie jewelry label Alex & Lee as well as her own namesake collection. Pick up Pendleton jackets and other heritage-heavy gear at Tradesman, the plywood-accented men’s shop owned by former Gap visual merchandising vets Doug Behner and Ruben Leal (1807 Lincoln Blvd.). For a jewelry fix, All For the Mountain/Sacred Door (2118 Lincoln Blvd.) showcases local artist Carly Margolis’ futuristic-meets-tribal necklaces and the occasional tie-dye workshop. For drinks, the intimate rooftop at Hotel Erwin (1697 Pacific Ave.) is ideal for sipping a blood orange julep at sunset before grabbing a lobster roll at breezy new seafood spot Salt Air (1715 Pacific Ave.).

PHOTOS: Best of Hollywood: 28 Ways to Create a Perfect Summer Weekend

SATURDAY

Start with brunch at Barney Greengrass (9570 Wilshire Blvd.), the rooftop lox-plate purveyor at Barneys New York that CFDA-nominated jewelry designer Jennifer Meyer calls “delicious and decadent.” After drooling over Meyer’s delicate, playful gold pieces and Alexander Wang cutout bathing suits, head down the street to try on sleek foot candy from supermodel Anja Rubik’s new capsule collection for Giuseppe Zanotti (9536 Brighton Way). On Rodeo Drive, engage in some shopping damage at Carolina Herrera’s new CH boutique, which carries her classic, ladylike, lower-priced line as well as her collection of crisp, white button-down shirts (230 N. Rodeo Dr.). And don’t miss Saint Laurent’s too-cool-for-school metallic sandals and tailored blazers at its marble-and-chrome-filled temporary digs (469 N. Rodeo Dr.). “I’m obsessed with everything sort of Saint Laurent — Hedi Slimane’s new grunge everything!” says Meyer. Next, head over to La Brea, where a stretch between 2nd Street and Beverly Boulevard is shaping up to be one of the new great shopping zones. Pre-spree, grab a chicken salad and Greek yogurt toast with a side of people watching at The Sycamore Kitchen’s outdoor patio (143 S. La Brea Ave). Then hit up the second outpost of Venice design mainstay A+R (171 S. La Brea Ave.) — owned by style journalist and curator Rose Apodaca and one-time film editor husband Andy Griffith — which is the place to find limited-edition welded steel chairs by artist Oskar Zieta mingling with inexpensive Pantone color coffee mugs. High-end vintage emporium What Goes Around Comes Around (159 S. La Brea Ave.) has a major collection of ’80s Chanel and a secret back VIP room full of rare Alaia and Valentino goods that top Hollywood stylists like Karla Welch love to pull. Other top shops include Undefeated, the superstore that helped put American sneaker culture on the map (112.5 S. La Brea Ave.), men’s shop General Quarters (153 S. La Brea Ave.) and the airy, namesake boutique (318 N. La Brea Ave.) from T-shirt maven Cheyann Benedict, the founder of C&C California. Show off your new garb at Petty Cash Taqueria (7360 Beverly Blvd.), a casual contemporary Mexican spot with a good scene, even better octopus-infused tacos and Mezcal for days.

PHOTOS: 26 of Summer's Most Anticipated Movies: 'Man of Steel,' 'Wolverine,' 'The Lone Ranger'

SUNDAY

Grab some eggs and hash browns at trusty mainstay 101 Coffee Shop (6145 Franklin Ave.), which lures names like Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan, and then head five blocks east to Counterpoint Records & Books (5911 Franklin Ave.) to peruse a mighty selection of gently loved art and design tomes. Next, get ready to explore the best of the Eastside and downtown. In Los Feliz, stop in to Confederacy (4661 Hollywood Blvd.), the mostly menswear outpost co-owned by top stylist Ilaria Urbinati, who works with Bradley Cooper and Nina Dobrev. Less than a mile east, gawk at the artsy, affected street style in Silver Lake’s Sunset Junction, where DJ Kevin Carney and wife Bo have just expanded their popular Mohawk General Store (4011 W. Sunset Blvd.) to include a stand-alone men’s shop filled with all the Dries Van Noten gear fit for a modern moneyed hipster. Farther along Sunset is of-the-moment leather maker Clare Vivier’s flagship shop (3339 Sunset Blvd.) as well as Gogosha Optique (3208 1/2 Sunset Blvd.), with an expertly curated collection of head-turning Mykita and Thierry Lasry shades that has a big fan in Lady Gaga. It’s then just a 10-minute drive to downtown’s Arts District. Find preppy, fair trade blazers and gingham button-downs at Apolis Common Gallery (806 E. 3rd Street) and pieces by the likes of Vivienne Westwood and Timo Weiland at former stylist Thed Jewel’s graffiti-decorated 12345 (811 Traction Ave.). Cap the day with an indulgent slice of Mexican chocolate pie from the Pie Hole (714 Traction Ave.).

See more perfect summer weekends below:

Music With Breakout Star Skylar Grey

Art With Director Phil Lord

Food: From Seafood Craze to Farmer's Market Bounty

Outdoors: Fun in the SoCal Sun

Pampering: Spa, Aaah

Romance: Date Nights (and Days)

Classic L.A.: Historic Hot Spots

The 1 Percent: Live in Luxury

Kids: Modern Family Adventures

Follow me on Twitter @sajilpl

Ultimate 1-Percenter's Summer Weekend: Live in Luxury

Rent a new supercar at Beverly Hills' Black & White Car Rental (8800 Burton Way) -- its black Lamborghini LP 700-4 Aventador Mansory Edition goes from zero to 60 in 2.8 seconds (for $5,500 a day). For dinner, reserve a table at Wolfgang Puck's Cut steakhouse (9500 Wilshire Blvd.) and slice into a 100 percent Japanese Wagyu eight-ounce rib-eye ($155). Then enjoy a staycation at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills (300 S. Doheny Drive) in the 3,235-square-foot Presidential Suite East. At $10,000 a night, it's the most expensive hotel room in L.A. that's available for a night or two.

SATURDAY

Call up stylist and personal shopper Nicole Pollard of La La Luxe (laluxe.com), whose clients include Middle Eastern royalty. She'll ring up some shops on Rodeo Drive (such as Saint Laurent, Dior and Martin Katz) to open early for private shopping. "I can't reserve a store for anyone," advises Pollard. "They have to be known as a shopper." A client will be expected to spend $50,000 minimum for the privilege. (Total: around $60,000, which includes the fee for Pollard, who'll arrange for a car and driver, Champagne, and scones from Urth Cafe.) Midday, reserve the private spa suite The Enclave at the Hotel Bel-Air's Spa by La Prairie (701 Stone Canyon Road) for a light lunch and the $1,000, 90-minute White Caviar Illuminating Facial (half-day suite reservation; price upon request).

PHOTOS: Best of Hollywood: 28 Ways to Create a Perfect Summer Weekend

In the afternoon, head east for more avant-garde but no less spendy shopping. West Hollywood's Maxfield (8825 Melrose Ave.), a destination for labels like Balmain and Rick Owens, recently was ranked by Bundle, which analyzes consumer spending, as the fifth-most-expensive store in the U.S. It has a new competitor for the crown in Just One Eye (7000 Romaine St.), located in Howard Hughes' former Hollywood headquarters and selling items like Mai Lamore's peacock-feather pumps ($20,880). At sundown, head to the sublime n/aka (3455 Overland Ave.), helmed by one of the sushi world's few female chefs, Niki Nakayama, where the 13-course tasting menu with wine pairings runs $250 a person. After dinner, sip a rare Macallan 64-year-old Scotch ($64,000 for 2 oz.) at reservation-only £10 bar at the Montage Beverly Hills (225 N. Canon Drive); $50 drink minimum.

SUNDAY

Brunch on caviar scrambled eggs ($18) at the Petrossian cafe (321 N. Robertson Blvd.). Then, take a charter helicopter tour with Elite Adventure (eliteadventuretours.com). The $5,950 Downtown L.A. package starts at the Santa Monica Pier, crosses over Universal Studios and the Hollywood sign, and ends in a rooftop landing downtown. Elite's tours are fully customizable to include a chef-catered lunch and more. Afterward, make like Formula One heiress Tamara Ecclestone, who's on the hunt for an L.A. trophy, and call up a blue-chip agent to tour the area's priciest houses, including Holmby Hills' $150 million Owlwood Estate and $90 million Carolwood Estate (once the site of Walt Disney's house). "We pull out all the stops -- car service, bottle service -- for a high-end buyer," says Billy Rose, founder of The Agency (theagencyre.com), which has both listings. "We try to convey the lifestyle experience that comes with living in L.A."

See more perfect summer weekends below:

Shopping With Jewelry Designer Jennifer Meyer

Music With Breakout Star Skylar Grey

Art With Director Phil Lord

Food: From Seafood Craze to Farmer's Market Bounty

Outdoors: Fun in the SoCal Sun

Pampering: Spa, Aaah

Romance: Date Nights (and Days)

Classic L.A.: Historic Hot Spots

Kids: Modern Family Adventures

Follow me on Twitter @sajilpl

Ultimate Kids Summer Weekend: Modern Family Adventures

Coming on the heels of a busy workweek (even in the summer), Friday night is a difficult one to plan for with kids: Free your mind -- and theirs -- at Art Rebel (14382 Ventura Blvd.). On the first and third Friday nights of each summer month, you and your brood (ages 5 and up, $25 per person) can do glow-in-the-dark painting in a wacky, black-lit room, followed by a pizza dinner (provided), all under the watchful eye of Ponti, whose art is owned by the likes of Sean Penn.

SATURDAY

Start your day at the Annenberg Community Beach House (415 Pacific Coast Highway) with the 9 a.m. stand-up paddleboarding class (reserve the Friday before). Then splash the late morning away in the tide pools at Leo Carrillo State Park in Malibu, where you can call ahead to have a park ranger (Rick comes highly recommended) give you a guided tour (310-457-8185). Before you leave the area, grab corn on the cob at Cafe Habana Malibu (3939 Cross Creek Road), a favorite of Soleil Moon Frye (co-founder of children's clothing line The Little Seed) and her kids.

PHOTOS: Best of Hollywood: 28 Ways to Create a Perfect Summer Weekend

If you're loath to battle beach crowds, head north into the woods: Sarah Chalke, Amy Brenneman, Noah Wyle, Julian Sands and the late Huell Howser are among those who have chased down pixies at Griffith Park during A Faery Hunt, an interactive theater experience at 10:30 Saturday mornings. (Tickets are $15 to $25 a person and locations vary, so check the schedule; afaeryhunt.com.) Head west for lunch at Westwood's 800 Degrees Pizza (10889 Lindbrook Drive), an assembly-line create-your-own joint, then take your littlest beauty queen for a mommy-and-me manicure at Plush Beauty Bar (7879 Santa Monica Blvd.). Not only is the salon formaldehyde-free, but kids too young and restless to enjoy the pleasures of grooming can hang out in a toy area while you and a big kid get your digits polished (open Saturday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.).

If beauty's not your kids' bag, trot over to Will Rogers Polo Club in Will Rogers State Park (the club is free to the public from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays, following $12 parking -- bring cash; 1501 Will Rogers State Park Road), where kids can watch polo matches and play in the large picnic area. For a sweet afternoon snack, make your way to Ice Cream Lab (9461 S. Santa Monica Blvd.), Beverly Hills' science experiment/creamery. Beyond the calories, the spectacle is worth the trip. The ice cream is made in a liquid nitrogen display, and kids go crazy for it. Visitors include Jay Leno and Jessica Alba with her kids.

When night falls, get reserved seating at Eat See Hear, a weekly festival of outdoor movies, live music and food trucks. The lineup mostly is family-friendly -- crowd-pleasers like Big and Elf (yes, in July) -- but there's an occasional Boogie Nights thrown in, so check the schedule unless you're ready to field some uncomfortable questions from the backseat. (Locations vary; doors open at 5:30 p.m., live music at 7, movie at 8:30; $10 per reserved ticket, $8 for kids 12 and under -- free for kids under 5; eatseehear.com.)

PHOTOS: 26 of Summer's Most Anticipated Movies: 'Man of Steel,' 'Wolverine,' 'The Lone Ranger'

SUNDAY

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner have taken their clan to Duff's Cakemix (8302 Melrose Ave.), a bakery and DIY cake-decorating studio where cake artists re-create the venom and victory of an Ace of Cakes episode. Frye's family loves the Larchmont Village Farmers Market (10 a.m.-2 p.m., 209 N. Larchmont Blvd.) because of the great food and "homey vibe." While you're there, drop by BlueBird LA Kids (652 N. Larchmont Blvd.), an upscale used-clothing store that's a favorite of Alicia Silverstone.

If you're up for an afternoon drive -- car nap! -- take your kids to Santa Clarita's The Gentle Barn (Sundays only, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., $10 suggested donation; 15825 Sierra Highway), where they can interact with animals that have been rescued from abuse. Portia de Rossi visited recently. And once you make it to Sunday night, you deserve some carbs -- and a break. Cecconi's West Hollywood (8764 Melrose Ave.) provides a family-style Italian dinner plus a magician and babysitter to entertain your kids once they sit still and eat for two minutes.

See more perfect summer weekends below:

Shopping With Jewelry Designer Jennifer Meyer

Music With Breakout Star Skylar Grey

Art With Director Phil Lord

Food: From Seafood Craze to Farmer's Market Bounty

Outdoors: Fun in the SoCal Sun

Pampering: Spa, Aaah

Romance: Date Nights (and Days)

Classic L.A.: Historic Hot Spots

The 1 Percent: Live in Luxury

Follow me on Twitter @sajilpl

Ultimate Classic L.A. Summer Weekend: Historic Hot Spots

Travel back to the 1950s at the midcentury-mod Bob's Big Boy (4211 W. Riverside Drive) in Burbank, where every Friday from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. hot-rod hotshots line up with their rides to compare carburetors in a scene right out of American Graffiti. No surprise: Big-time car collector Jay Leno has been known to roll up. Afterward, drop by the nearby SmokeHouse (4420 Lakeside Drive), a steak spot just outside the lot at Warner Bros. -- the studio's execs have been coming since it opened in 1946. Garry Shandling frequently name-checked it on The Larry Sanders Show, and George Clooney and Grant Heslov named their production company Smoke House after their favored hang. Once stomach-lined, head to under-the-radar throwback The Blue Room lounge (916 S. San Fernando Blvd.), a popular scene-setter in neo-noir films including Memento and Heat.

PHOTOS: Best of Hollywood: 28 Ways to Create a Perfect Summer Weekend

SATURDAY

For breakfast, take a counter seat downstairs amid the iconic banana-leaf wallpaper at the Beverly Hills Hotel's Fountain Coffee Room (9641 Sunset Blvd.) for retro basics such as corned beef hash and silver-dollar buttermilk pancakes. Then cross the city to stroll downtown L.A.'s reviving Broadway corridor on a walking tour run by preservation group L.A. Conservancy (laconservancy.org). Built in the 1910s and '20s, the historic theaters on the tour once premiered the films of Charlie Chaplin and other silent film stars, and hosted acts like the Marx Brothers. In the early afternoon, gather a group for lunch at Pizzeria Mozza (641 N. Highland Ave.); book the rustic table and Gothic-style red leather chairs in what was Jack Warner's private dining room, located just off the main entrance. Afterward, take a hike from the base of Griffith Park, beginning across from The Trails Cafe (2333 Fern Dell Drive) and leading up to the 78-year-old art deco Griffith Observatory, site of James Dean's famous knife fight with rivals in Rebel Without a Cause. For dinner, visit that most old-school of grill rooms, Musso & Frank (6667 Hollywood Blvd.), where Valentino and Fairbanks ate and Fitzgerald and Faulkner drank. For late-night drinks, head down the boulevard, first to the neon sign-bedecked Frolic Room (6245 Hollywood Blvd.) -- which doesn't just look like a Charles Bukowski-esque dive but really was frequented by the author -- and then to No Vacancy (1727 N. Hudson Ave.), a new throwback lounge from the folks behind nightlife period pieces Pour Vous and La Descarga. The revivalist '20s and '30s decor may be an amalgamation, but the property -- the last Victorian house along Hollywood Boulevard -- is the real deal.

PHOTOS: 26 of Summer's Most Anticipated Movies: 'Man of Steel,' 'Wolverine,' 'The Lone Ranger'

SUNDAY

Get up early to browse Pasadena's Rose Bowl Flea Market (1001 Rose Bowl Drive), the mother of all vintage bazaars in Southern California, with 2,500 vendors and such fans as Madonna, Gwen Stefani and Maria Shriver. The earlier you go, the better the finds. (The market takes place the second Sunday of every month.) Next, visit the angular, '60s-styled House of Pies (1869 N. Vermont Ave.) in Los Feliz for brunch. The selection of fresh, house-made namesake desserts -- apple, peach, cherry, Bavarian chocolate banana -- are made from recipes that date back to an era before the city became obsessed with frozen yogurt and cupcakes. If you haven't had enough treasure-troving, hunt for retro spectacles across the Eastside. Gentleman's Breakfast (1101 Mohawk St.) in Echo Park is renowned for everything from antique monocles to vintage aviators, while Russ Campbell's Old Focals (45 W. Green St.) in Pasadena is the exclusive go-to for Mad Men. "Russ is endlessly resourceful -- digging through his warehouses for the perfect Pucci sunglasses for Megan [Don Draper's wife] or making six new pairs of an old style for Harry [Crane], working only from a photograph of Michael Caine," says the show's prop master, Ellen Freund. "Utilizing vintage eyewear is tricky as it can be very fragile, but Russ seems to be a magician at restoring these fragile treasures."

See more perfect summer weekends below:

Shopping With Jewelry Designer Jennifer Meyer

Music With Breakout Star Skylar Grey

Art With Director Phil Lord

Food: From Seafood Craze to Farmer's Market Bounty

Outdoors: Fun in the SoCal Sun

Pampering: Spa, Aaah

Romance: Date Nights (and Days)

The 1 Percent: Live in Luxury

Kids: Modern Family Adventures

Follow me on Twitter @sajilpl

Ultimate Food Summer Weekend: From Seafood Craze to Farmer's Market Bounty

Kick off your culinary tour with dinner at the lively Connie and Ted’s (8171 Santa Monica Blvd.) in West Hollywood. It’s the latest in L.A.’s big new embrace of classic East Coast seafood shacks, as reconceived by top local chefs. (Think Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo at Son of a Gun, Jason Travi at Littlefork and David LeFevre at Fishing With Dynamite.) This one is all about the steamers and chowda, creations of Michael Cimarusti, known for the fish-focused Providence (which earned two Michelin stars when the guide was still covering the city), all served up in a postmodern swoop of a building that recalls Googie architecture.

PHOTOS: Best of Hollywood: 28 Ways to Create a Perfect Summer Weekend

SATURDAY

First thing, visit the most-talked-about breakfast spot in town, Silver Lake’s Sqirl (720 N. Virgil Ave.), which is at the forefront of the jamming movement. Exhibit A: burnt brioche toast with house ricotta and Blenheim apricot jam. Stay on the Eastside and nab a spot at a suitably summery Hipcooks (eastla. hipcooks.com) class like “The Thrill of the Grill,” held in a loft at the Brewery Arts Complex near downtown L.A. For lunch, go old school with a No. 19 on double-baked rye at Langer’s (704 S. Alvarado St.) in MacArthur Park. The late New York supremacist Nora Ephron once declared it “the finest hot pastrami sandwich in the world.” Afterward, download a neighborhood map from nonprofit Fallen Fruit (fallenfruit.org) and go on an urban produce-picking adventure among the trees and bushes of Pasadena. Then stop by Janet Jarvits’ singular shop Cook Books (1388 E. Washington Blvd.) in the same neighborhood to select a tome from her 30,000 titles, many of which are rare finds. For dinner, book a table — far in advance — at the toughest new reservation in town: the Italian sensation Bestia in downtown’s Arts District (2121 E. Seventh Place). (Warning: Seating for two at 7:30 on a Saturday night is booked two months out, so your assistant better know how to pull strings.) If that sort of planning ruins your appetite, then head west to Brentwood’s Vincenti (11930 San Vicente Blvd.), which has just begun sourcing an Australian truffle variant of the traditional French black Perigord fungus — joining the likes of Santa Monica’s Melisse and downtown L.A.’s Patina. Vincenti’s top toque, Nicola Mastronardi, doesn’t just employ truffles over pasta but with everything from hamachi carpaccio and white asparagus to vanilla gelato. The Down Under market is beginning to boom as U.S. chefs realize they no longer need to fall back on frozen truffles outside of autumn.

PHOTOS: 26 of Summer's Most Anticipated Movies: 'Man of Steel,' 'Wolverine,' 'The Lone Ranger'

SUNDAY

Bring a basket to the bountiful Sunday farmers market in Hollywood, which draws top chefs — like the kitchen team behind Cooks County — and Jake Gyllenhaal alike to scout out A-list Southern California vendors like Gardens Of..., known for its lettuce and potatoes. When you’re finished, tuck into a barbecue brunch at the stylish new Bludso’s Bar-&-Que (609 N. La Brea Ave.) in Mid-City. Kanye West is a stalwart of the storied original outpost in Compton. Once you’re sated, hit the Eastside to stock up on libation rations. Silver Lake Wine (2395 Glendale Blvd.) boasts a Wally’s-esque array of vintages and $20 four-pour tastings — typically regionally themed — at 3 p.m. on Sundays. Close by, Bar Keeper (3910 W. Sunset Blvd.) has all of the nouveau-mixology accoutrements for at-home sipping, such as vintage glassware and small-batch bitters including the sought-after Miracle Mile brand, produced by former Miramax executive Louis Anderman. Then, over in Highland Park, stop by the unparalleled Galco’s Soda Pop Stop (5702 York Blvd.) to select among hundreds of carbonated rarities, from colas (Fukola, Double) and sarsaparillas (AJ Stephans, Baron’s Boothill) to such experimental flavors as juniper berry and lemongrass that make Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray really seem old-fashioned. Finish your 48-hour tour with this summer’s periodic weekend 626 Night Market (626nightmarket.com), situated along the ornate Paddock Gardens in front of the Santa Anita Park horse-racing track in Arcadia. Mimicking the jam-packed night markets of Asia, vendors — many from nearby San Gabriel Valley communities — offer a dizzying array of street eats such as stinky tofu, pig intestine skewers and mango ice drinks. Or, at the other end of the Asian dining spectrum, there’s the glitzy Chi Lin (9201 Sunset Blvd.), across from Soho House. It’s a favorite of Courteney Cox. “I love having a great Chinese restaurant in my neighborhood, especially one that has such a good atmosphere,” she says of the weeks-old newcomer, which specializes in Hong Kong haute cooking with a vaguely Trader Vic’s flair (expect the shrimp-and-chicken fried rice to be served in a hollowed-out pineapple and retro cocktails to be adorned with plastic monkeys).

See more perfect summer weekends below:

Shopping With Jewelry Designer Jennifer Meyer

Music With Breakout Star Skylar Grey

Art With Director Phil Lord

Outdoors: Fun in the SoCal Sun

Pampering: Spa, Aaah

Romance: Date Nights (and Days)

Classic L.A.: Historic Hot Spots

The 1 Percent: Live in Luxury

Kids: Modern Family Adventures

Follow me on Twitter @sajilpl

Ultimate Art Summer Weekend With Director Phil Lord

FRIDAY

Head to LACMA (5905 Wilshire Blvd.), where Paramount's Brad Grey just joined the board, for one of its Friday Jazz at LACMA concerts. If you book a table at the museum's Ray's and Stark Bar (named for producer Ray Stark), you can enjoy the music just as well as you could sitting on the grass. LACMA, now spotlighting the work of iconic light-exploring artist James Turrell, stays open until 8 p.m. Fridays. For a modern architecture staycation, book pioneering architect Rudolph Schindler's trilevel Fitzpatrick-Leland House atop Laurel Canyon. The two-bedroom goes for $350 a night, minimum two nights (airbnb.com/rooms/418226), and benefits the Mak Center for Art + Architecture's cultural and conservation programs.

PHOTOS: Best of Hollywood: 28 Ways to Create a Perfect Summer Weekend

SATURDAY

It's gallery day, so as long as you have signed up for ForYourArt's (foryourart.com) weekly e-mail blast, you'll be up on what's happening in L.A.'s constantly evolving art world. Grab a breakfast sandwich at hole-in-the-wall Coffee + Food (5630 Melrose Ave.) off Larchmont Boulevard before hitting the nearby developing arts area around Highland Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard. Don't-miss exhibits include group show The Humors, June 29 to Aug. 31 at Perry Rubenstein Gallery (1215 N. Highland Ave.), where the soaring design comes courtesy of hot architect Kulapat Yantrasast, who's doing the interiors of downtown's upcoming Broad Museum. A block away is Regen Projects (6750 Santa Monica Blvd.), which regularly draws the likes of John Waters and Rodarte designers Laura and Kate Mulleavy; its next show, June 29 to Aug. 3, showcases the serene, mostly abstract textile-based works of Danish artist Sergej Jensen. Just a block further south is JF Chen (941 N. Highland Ave.), a high-end vintage furniture purveyor where Hollywood's A-list decorators shop. Owner Joel Chen puts on gallery shows as well, including a new exhibit of cocoonlike sculptures made from recycled aluminum-can tops by Clare Graham on view through July 18. Next, head southwest to Culver City's thriving arts district radiating from the axis of La Cienega and Washington boulevards. On Washington, enjoy curry chicken salad and a potato leek tart at six-month-old restaurant Muddy Leek (8631 W. Washington Blvd.). Then pop in and out of the area's 35-plus galleries as producer David Hoberman and investor Dean Valentine regularly do. Among the standouts are Honor Fraser (2622 S. La Cienega Blvd.), showing works by Alexis Smith through July 27 that incorporate movie stills and text from pulp novels; and nonprofit LA><Art (2640 S. La Cienega Blvd.), where 21 Jump Street director Phil Lord is vice chair of the board. He collects the work of Justin Beal, whose multimedia Memphis-architecture-inspired show runs at LA><ART Santa Monica Museum of Art (2525 Michigan Ave.), celebrating its 25th anniversary; its current show through Aug. 17, I Killed Kenny, spotlights Joyce Pensato, whose monumental charcoal drawings take pop culture characters such as Bart Simpson and Mickey Mouse and give them a sinister cast. For dinner, head to Venice to eat at Larry’s (24 Windward Ave.), named after pioneering local artist Larry Bell, who loves the brussels sprout pizza.

PHOTOS: 26 of Summer's Most Anticipated Movies: 'Man of Steel,' 'Wolverine,' 'The Lone Ranger'

SUNDAY

It's museum day: On view around L.A. are multiple exhibits on SoCal modern architecture sponsored by the Getty Foundation's Pacific Standard Time initiative, including MOCA's look at sculptural Gehry-esque buildings, the Getty's sprawling survey of L.A.'s postwar growth and the Hammer Museum's retrospective on A. Quincy Jones. But the undiscovered gem of the bunch might be the Never Built show, running July 28 to Sept. 29 at the A+D Museum (6032 Wilshire Blvd.), a peek at what could have been if L.A. had constructed things like a monorail between downtown and LAX during the '60s. For lunch, head a mile east to just-opened retro fast-food joint Top Round Roast Beef (1000 S. La Brea Ave.) for the 10-spice-rub slow-roasted sandwiches and frozen custards. End the day at Century City's Annenberg Space for Photography (2000 Avenue of the Stars, open until 6 on Sundays); its new show of photos by Helmut Newton, running June 29 to Sept. 8, includes towering 8-foot-tall nudes.

See more perfect summer weekends below:

Shopping With Jewelry Designer Jennifer Meyer

Music With Breakout Star Skylar Grey

Food: From Seafood Craze to Farmer's Market Bounty

Outdoors: Fun in the SoCal Sun

Pampering: Spa, Aaah

Romance: Date Nights (and Days)

Classic L.A.: Historic Hot Spots

The 1 Percent: Live in Luxury

Kids: Modern Family Adventures

Follow me on Twitter @sajilpl

Weekend Plan: MOCA Opens New Southern California Architecture Show

There is a large grey mouse sitting cartoon-like on its tail, with a Pac-Man figurine nestled in a niche within its belly, in a large grey room in a major museum in Los Angeles. Beside it, there is a crude finger drawing of two dancing teeth on the wall. To the left a sculpture of a powerful man aggressively absconding with a reluctant woman melts before the museum-goer’s eyes. The head of the man has severed due to the heat and fallen to the floor. No, this work by Urs Fischer at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA is not an homage to Jeffrey Deitch so far as I know (though numerous Deitch portraits that were crafted by the 1,500 Angelenos who helped Fischer can be seen in the installation). But the scrutiny and criticism that Mr. Deitch has received since his arrival as director of MOCA in 2010 somehow connects the two. And as the tragic/heroic/comic sculpture by Fisher is still lit by candles within, Deitch forges on and continues to deliver a fresh, invigorating museum experience at MOCA.

Earlier this week saw the opening of an exhibition at MOCA whose name won’t stop changing (A New Sculpturalism: Contemporary Architecture from Southern California at the moment of publication) of 38 emerging and established architects from Los Angeles and the immediate vicinity. This ambitious and mesmerizing multi-media installation endured some controversy in its inception due to the sudden exit and eventual return of Gehry Partners from the lineup of studios selected.  The show is a remarkable collection of meticulously executed architectural models interspersed with drawings and schematics organized by broad categories of building type. Three pavilions produced by some of the edgier, emergent design firms and a series of multi-media overhead projection shells energize the space and remind viewers of the spatial emphasis of the exhibition.

STORY: A Self-Consciously Weird 2013 MOCA Gala Raises $2.5 Million

The Hollywood Reporter sat in on a panel discussion featuring five architects included in the show: Thom Mayne of Morphosis Architects; Georgina Huljich of Patterns;  Tom Wiscombe of Tom Wiscombe Design; Neil Denari of Neil M. Denari Architects (NMDA); and Eric Owen Moss of EOM Architects, who was the moderator of the discussion.

The panel discussion was most interesting when it highlighted the differences between the different generations of architects participating.  In a discussion of who defines architecture, the more established architects, Mayne, Denari and Moss, were determined that it was the architect’s role to define the term. The younger, emerging talents Huljich and Wiscombe argued for a more fluid, less categorical approach in which the user ultimately determines the boundaries of the concept. Following the discussion, The Hollywood Reporter spoke with architect Thom Mayne and MOCA Director Jeffrey Deitch about some challenges for architecture in Los Angeles and about the exhibition on view. Below are some excerpts from the conversations:

THR: Do you see this younger group of LA architects embracing the challenge of civic architecture and taking on projects with public spaces?

Thom Mayne: Well, the civic entity has to engage the architect. Architects, by nature, we’re trained in a classical way. It starts with Vesuvius, Palladio, and the highest esteem of architecture is public work. Everybody as a student knows that. Somehow in their brain they have an idea of a trajectory as an architect as they grow older. They’re going to build a concert hall, a music hall, a city hall, a school, a building on a college. That’s the work. And to get there you do residential work. In some cases, you continue doing that. But that’s still the highest order of work – it has a broad social agenda, a cultural agenda. You are invited for that. The architect doesn’t get the choice for that.

THR: So in a way you have to earn that.

TM: In a way. The council, the mayor, the city decides that architecture is important and instead of hiring a business practice just to build a building, they hire someone to design a building that has monumental, enduring qualities, which by the way is the history of the world -- it’s nothing unusual. Any city, if you look at buildings, you can immediately differentiate important buildings by the stature of the architect.

PHOTOS: Top Ten: Back to Black at MOCA's 2013 Gala

THR: In that case, do you think that cities are embracing the challenge of hiring architects?

TM: This city has started to. Obviously with the Caltrans building and Frank [Gehry] with Disney Hall.  It’s a young city, so it’s just beginning the process. It’s a signal of an early development of a city. It’s a big city, but it’s a young city. It’s a city that you could say started at the first of the twentieth century, but really started as a city with institutions in post World War II. So here we have a city that is only half a century old – it’s a young, young city -- it’s first growth.  If you think about even our institutions -- you look at Ahmandson, you look at MOCA and LACMA -- it didn’t have museums or concert halls until the early 1960s.  Well, now you couldn’t even define it as a city without those things…There is no possibility that it won’t take place. It will take place, but it just takes time.

THR: There has been a little bit of turmoil with this show coming together. Based on your life with MOCA so far, would it be fair to say that you might be a little disappointed if this show just came together without a hitch?

Jeffrey Deitch: See, this is what the creative process is about. And I’ve been immersed in this for forty years. To realize a great creative project it’s not always a smooth course. And sometimes you have to change course, sometimes there are impediments, but if you have the belief, the vision, I try to push it through. And in the best cases, when there is some difficulty, if you approach it strategically and understand how to deal with the challenges you can make it better. And in this case, we were able to make the show better than we would have imagined in the beginning. And the privilege of having one of the greatest architects alive conceive the installation -- what a privilege. This is incredible. It is very difficult to make an exhibition of primarily architectural models and drawings -- 38 architects -- look exciting. And Thom Mayne and his team have succeeded in doing that. And in addition to creating this visually exciting platform here, they’ve figured out a way to put the central content up there on these screens – images of the real buildings in the world, the voices of the architects.  It adds tremendously to the experience of the exhibition.

A New Sculpturalism: Contemporary Architecture from Southern California will be on view at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA through Sept. 16.  The exhibition is presented in conjunction with Pacific Standard Time presents: Modern Architecture in LA, an initiative of the Getty Museum.

 

'World War Z' Set to Become Brad Pitt's Biggest Opening Weekend Earner

After this weekend, Mr. and Mrs. Smith will no longer be Brad Pitt's biggest opening weekend earner.

The actor's World War Z is set to surpass the $50 million brought in by the 2005 spy film, which co-starred Angelina Jolie. Paramount expects the zombie apocalypse tentpole, which earned a B+ CinemaScore from audiences, to gross more than $60 million in its debut.

BOX OFFICE REPORT: 'Monsters University' Scares Up $30.5 Million on Friday 

WWZ earned $25 million Friday, placing the title at No. 2 on the domestic box office chart behind Disney/Pixar's Monsters University at $30.5 million.

The movie, co-financed with Skydance Productions, underwent an arduous production process that included numerous reshoots before finally making its way into theaters.

Pitt's last summer film was Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, which opened to $38 million in August 2009. He also starred in Steven Soderbergh's 2007 heist sequel, Ocean's Thirteen, which opened to $36 million in June. And the actor opened the mythology epic, Troy, to $46 million in May 2004.