Good morning, it’s Monday, August 24 and it will be miserably hot out (high 90s in the city, over 100 in the Valley).
1. Inside one man’s quest to find the best movie theater bar in Los Angeles.
The Video Vortex at Alamo Drafthouse, which did not score in the top 3 of Eric’s ratings. (Photo by Eric Misitzis Mennel)
What started as a bit for L.A. Material contributor Eric Misitzis Mennel became an actual assignment, paid in American dollars: To seek out and determine the best movie theater bar in Los Angeles.
And so Mennel descended night after night, into darkened rooms where everything smells like melted butter and the drink menus lean into bad movie title puns and wildly overpriced beer. He hit 21 bars in seven days, asking: Can they possibly be great? Can they even be good?
His story is a delight, and a useful guide if you’re ever looking for a cocktail at the multiplex.
2. Here’s a quick look at the week ahead.
MONDAY: Earlier this year, then-GOP gubernatorial candidate and current Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco seized more than a half-million November 2025 ballots from county officials to investigate alleged election irregularities. State Attorney General Rob Bonta fought back saying Bianco’s allegations were unsubstantiated and would sow distrust in elections.
The California Supreme Court will take up the matter today, with the justices hearing arguments in Bonta’s case against Bianco, as well as a companion case against Bianco brought by Riverside voters.
And up in Sacramento, the state Legislature enters the last full week of its legislative session.
TUESDAY: The L.A. County Board of Supervisors will not be meeting this week, but the L.A. City Council remains in session.
WEDNESDAY: A big day for voting! The final round of Emmy voting closes late Wednesday night. Separately, the local chapter of the DSA is also expected to send an email ballot out to their full membership to decide whether to endorse Nithya Raman’s mayoral campaign.
FRIDAY: Culver City’s annual Fiesta La Ballona opens Friday afternoon and runs through the weekend.
SATURDAY: This year’s Leimert Park Jazz Festival will be held at Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza.
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READING MATERIAL
COUGARS ON THE FAIRWAYS: Mountain lions have stalled plans to build 400 residences on a Woodland Hills golf course, the L.A. Times reports.
CASHING IN ON VIRAL CHAOS: As one Ventura County trail has exploded in popularity, neighbors have started side hustles charging for parking on their property and hawking cold water and gatorade at the trailhead, according to SFGATE.
TUNNEL VISION: As the WNBA soars, more players are working with Hollywood stylists to hone their looks in and out of the tunnel, Air Mail reports.
SPEAKING OF THE W: The person who threw a sex toy onto the court last week during a Los Angeles Sparks game has been arrested and indefinitely banned from all WNBA and NBA games, per The Athletic.
RAW MATERIAL
For today’s peek inside our member-only forum, @mstokes has a micro-review of Pasadena bakery ID-eclair in the #i-was-here channel:
AND FINALLY… A poem to pair with your morning coffee: “Monet’s Waterlilies” by Robert Hayden.
