7 fantastic Bay Area things to do this weekend, March 24-26

Got your weekend plans? We are here for you on that front, with details on compelling new movies and shows as well as some awesome ways to have fun in Sonoma Valley. So let’s get to it, shall we?

As with everything these days, be sure to double check websites for any last-minute changes in health guidelines. Meanwhile, if you’d like to have this Weekender lineup delivered to your inbox every Thursday morning for free, just sign up at www.mercurynews.com/newsletters or www.eastbaytimes.com/newsletters.

1 WATCH: A racy ‘Great Expectations’?

An edgy new adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic 19th-century novel finds Pip getting a somewhat more visceral education, if you catch our drift. It tops our list of new shows and movies you should watch this weekend. Also on the list is “A Good Person,” Zach Braff’s new tragicomedy starring Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman which, he tells us, he had a brutal time directing.

2 PLAY, EAT & SIP: We ♥ the wine country

Spring is the absolute best time to play in the wine country (until summer comes along, that is), and have we got some awesome places for you to visit.

3 SEE & HEAR: Great shows and concerts abound

From the phenomenal singer Rhonda Benin (and her fabulous friends) to Alanis Morissette headlining a children’s hospital benefit, there are a lot of great shows to see in the Bay Area this weekend and beyond.

4 DEVOUR: Sandwich savvy, Part II

After we posted a roundup of 16 superior sandwich joints, our brilliant readers chimed in with some amazing picks of their own. Tuna with jalapeno spread? Yum!

5 SEE & HEAR: An opera with singing penguins

“Prospero” is a world premiere opera based on Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” set in the Falklands and centering on the search for a Nazi war criminal and … oh, heck, they had us at singing penguins.

6 COOK & EAT: The search for tater tot supremacy

As tater tot aficionados all know, there are a lot of frozen tots vying for domination in our supermarkets. Some are divine. Some are duds. Someone needed to separate the good from the bad, and that someone was us.

7 PLAY: A history-rich murder mystery

Video game fans have been waiting for Sega to release its Japan-based “Yakuza” series in the U.S. Now it’s here (renamed “Like a Dragon”) and it’s steeped in Japanese history and revenge. Here are our thoughts after giving it a spin.