Throwback January

We get that everyone’s personal Jiminy Cricket is still in blowhard mode right now: upward and onward! You can save money for retirement, eat more chia seeds, learn French, spend less time Googling Game of Thrones rumors and do your part to end the gender-wage gap! But sometimes to make progress, one has to take a step back and look around. This week, the city offers a multitude of opportunities to travel back in time and observe what once was and how it reflects on what will be:

On Friday, January 15, and Saturday, January 16, the Crest Theatre (1013 K Street) presents the Noir Nights Film Festival. Practice your old-timey detective talk at the speakeasy hosted by Empress Tavern in the Wide-Angle Lounge from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday before catching Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil. Over the course of festival, attendees will be able to catch the original Mildred Pierce, Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing, Out of the Past and Leave Her to Heaven. Festival tickets are $35 and more information can be found at www.crestsacramento.com.

Switch your focus to local history with Hands on History: Trappers, Trades & Treaties at Sutter’s Fort (2701 L Street) on Saturday, January 16, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and check out the recently restored walls and gates while learning about the hardcore dudes who hunted, bartered, negotiated and battled their way to settling the West. Admission is $3-$7 and includes a sample of OG beef jerky dried over an open fire. Learn more at www.suttersfort.org.

For those with a local-history habit that just won’t quit, head over the next day to the Crocker History Tour (216 O Street) on Sunday, January 17, from noon to 1 p.m., where attendees will learn about the influential founding family as they settled in the area around the turn of the 19th century. The tour is free with general admission. For more information visit www.crockerartmuseum.org.