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Saturday, Aug. 17

Blue Exorcist the Movie is based on the popular manga written and illustrated by Kazue Kato (which became an anime television series in 2011). The story follows Rin Okumura, the teenage son of Satan, in his quest to avenge the death of his adoptive father, Shiro Fujimoto, by becoming an exorcist. Rin is trained at the True Cross Academy — an institution dedicated to protecting humans from the demonic realm. In the film, a mysterious demon shows up as the academy and the town are preparing for a festival, and the exorcists must come to the rescue. Blue Exorcist screens at the Downtown Independent at 7 p.m. and 8:45 p.m.

“The space goes … down down baby, down down the roller coaster …” It's the return of one of Tom Hanks' most memorable movies, complete with its catchy song-chant and duets on a giant keyboard. Yes, it's the 25th anniversary of Big, a feel-good comedy in which the high jinks begin when 13-year-old Josh Baskin wishes upon a fortune-telling machine to be “big” and turns into a 30-year-old man. The celebration, presented by Eat | See | Hear, begins tonight at La Cienega Park at 5:30 p.m. Food trucks (including Umami Burger, Lobsta Truck and Kogi BBQ) will be on-site when the doors open, followed by music at 7 p.m. from Santa Barbara-based Loomis & the Lust. Tickets are $10 for general admission. If you want to skip the pre-movie festivities and arrive at 8 p.m., buy the PopChips Fashionably Late passes for $20.

Sunday, Aug. 18

Pencil-mustachioed filmmaker John Waters will host a director's cut screening of his 1990 cult classic, Cry-Baby, at 5:30 p.m. as part of the ninth annual Johnny Ramone Tribute. Fittingly, it takes place at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where the Johnny Ramone Memorial Statue resides. In this parody of Grease and other teen musicals, set in a town of “drapes” versus “squares,” two teens (Johnny Depp and Amy Locane) fall in love. Traci Lords, who co-starred in the film and was a longtime friend of Ramone's, will be at the event to take part in the Q&A and autograph-signing portions of the evening with Waters. Other special guests are TBA. It costs $10 to get in and an extra $10 to park on-site.

Also at 5:30 p.m. is the inaugural Geekie Awards at the Avalon Hollywood. This live-streamed award show will honor comic books, web series, podcasts, toys, games and more in a showcase of geek culture. Seth Green will present Stan Lee with the Lifetime Achievement Award, and guests will receive lanyards that allow them to shoot robots with a laser gun, and enjoy swag giveaways and product demos — including a raffle for merchandise signed by Lee and others. The nominees and other celebrities will be present at a fancy-dress, preshow VIP party (which you can attend if you fork over $200) but everyone is invited to the afterparty on the dance floor, starting around 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, at the Spielberg Theatre at the Egyptian, Los Angeles Filmforum presents Far From Afghanistan, a collective documentary from five journalist-filmmakers, which takes a look at the United States' involvement in Afghanistan. Two of them — Minda Martin and Travis Wilkerson — will be in attendance at the 7:30 p.m. screening.

Thursday, Aug. 22

Want to help adults with developmental disabilities or women in prison by watching a movie? We thought so. On Thursday, the Vintage Vista Theatre will put on a sneak preview of Redwood Highway, which stars Shirley Knight (two-time Academy Award nominee) as a 75-year-old woman who leaves her senior community to hike the Redwood Highway for her granddaughter's wedding. Tickets are $15, with all proceeds benefiting Chicago-based charity the Still Point Theatre Collective. The discussion after the 6:30 p.m. screening will feature producer James Twyman, Still Point founder Lisa Wagner-Carollo and Still Point managing director Ben Gray.

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