We got your weekend: Sharks, champagne, and a speakeasy

Pizza Nola will host a free Sharknado 2 screening and panel discussion Wednesday evening.

Wednesday / Jaws who? You haven’t truly embraced summertime until you’ve found yourself eating pizza somewhere, anywhere, while watching a made-for-TV movie.

This summer you may not have to execute this right of seasonal passage at home, alone, in your terrier pajamas. Lakeview pizzeria Pizza Nola (141 W Harrison) will host a free viewing party for the sequel to the SyFy Channel’s made-for-television disaster film Sharknado, about sharks terrorizing the streets of Los Angeles, ingeniously titled Sharknado 2: The Second One.

At 7 PM, one hour before the screening, there will be a humorous panel discussion, “Surviving the Sharknado,” with various members of the New Orleans media circuit, including Scott Walker (news anchor, WDSU-TV), Kevin Allman (Editor, Gambit Weekly), Mark Schleifstein (Environmental Reporter, Times-Picayune/Nola.com), Allison Kushner (Director, Jewish Community Relations Council, and Sharknado star Ian Ziering’s cousin), Dave Davis (Actor, The Walking Dead, True Detective), and Eve Troeh (News Director, WWNO-FM Radio). The screening will be held in the pizzeria’s parking lot, with the film projected onto a large screen; attendees are welcome to bring their own chairs and blankets. Pizza Nola will be selling food (including a special “chum” gelato made of cheesecake gelato, red velvet cake pieces, and Swedish Fish) and beverages, so they ask that you leave your own refreshments at home.

Thursday / Ain’t no thang: Like, yes, a (fried) chicken wing. In a city that loves its fried chicken, how do you improve a fried chicken dinner? You pair it with one of the Big Easy’s other true loves: booze — champagne, to be exact.

Uptown restaurant Coquette (2800 Magazine) hosts its third annual “Fried Chicken and Champagne Dinner.” In addition to the fried chicken and champagne (Perrier Jouet Grand Brut NV and Diebolt-Vallois “Blanc de Blancs” NV), the all-inclusive meal ($100; tax and gratuity included) will include passed hors d’oeuvres, an array of sides, champagne punch, and desserts. The meal will begin at 6:30 PM. To purchase tickets call 504-265-0421.

Friday – Thursday, August 7 / Parlez vous français? If not, it’s okay; this is what subtitles are for.

Coquette will hold their annual Chicken and Champagne dinner Thursday evening.

The Prytania Theatre will commence its annual, week-long French Film Festival Friday at 5:30 PM. Film selections vary tremendously — from 1931 stage-adapted drama Marius to 2013 psychological thriller Tom at the Farm to recent (and highly anticipated) biographic drama Yves Saint Laurent. Each day of the festival will include two to four screenings; showtimes vary. Tickets are $11. And yes, there will be subtitles.

Friday – End of August / Month at the museum: It’s approximately 285 degrees outside, and it doesn’t look like that will be changing any time soon, so you may want to find a slew of indoor activities to keep you busy for the next month or so.

In an inaugural “New Orleans Museum Month,” 15 New Orleans museums will join forces, giving members of participating museums free admission and/or guided tours. Participating museums include: Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium, Beauregard Keyes House, The Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans, the Cabildo, the Old U.S. Mint, Madame John’s Legacy, the Irish Cultural Museum, Le Musee de f.p.c., Longue Vue House and Gardens, The McKenna Museum of African American Art, New Orleans Pharmacy Museum, New Orleans Museum of Art, The Ogden Museum of Southern Art, and the National WWII Museum. For more information about membership prices and benefits, check individual museum’s online member pages.

Local electro-pop band Big History will send their lead singer off in style with a show at Tipitina’s this Saturday.

Saturday / Shane’s shout out: Big History Hiatus Show feat. Sweet Crude, Vox & the Hound: 10 PM/ doors open at 9 PM at Tipitina’s, (Tickets $10)

What do you do when one of your friends heads to Paris to attend grad school? Throw her a big ole’ American going away party of course. Local electro-pop band Big History will send their lead singer off in style with a show at Tipitina’s this Saturday before they retire the band for the foreseeable future. Expect plenty of collaborations amongst the three bands on the bill and tons of positive party vibes as they rage into the night.

Saturday / An alternative White Linen fete: If you’ve lived in New Orleans for at least a year, you’ve probably been through the Julia Street White Linen Night shuffle. This year, Where Y’Art, NolaVie, New Orleans Living Magazine, and NOLA Art House Music will bring you a fresh way to celebrate in your best linen frocks: a White Linen Jazz + Art Speakeasy. The prohibition-themed party at Tasseology (the building with Podesta Bunny Men perched atop, 1228 OC Haley) will showcase the works of emerging musicians and artists and will feature thematically appropriate cocktails, as well as jazz performances from Evan Christopher, Greg Agid, Bleu Orleans, and Matt Lemmler. Tickets are $10. Doors open at 9 PM/ show starts at 10 PM.