Best Bets
Movies
The courtroom thriller “High Crimes” reunites Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman, who co-starred in the 1997 hit “Kiss the Girls.” Judd plays a successful attorney who defends her husband (Jim Caviezel), a former military undercover operative accused of a heinous war crime; Freeman is a former military lawyer who comes to her aid. Directed by Carl Franklin (“One False Move,” “Devil in a Blue Dress”), it opens Friday. Above: Caviezel and Judd.
Music
The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s program this week is a mini-Finnish festival, featuring two recent works by Magnus Lindberg: the North American premiere of his orchestral piece, “Parada,” and his Cello Concerto (1999). Lindberg’s compatriot and friend, Esa-Pekka Salonen, conducts; the soloist is young Finnish cellist Anssi Karttunen. Performances are Thursday and Saturday night, and next Sunday afternoon.
Jazz
The Art Davis Quintet will kick off LACMA’s free Jazz Concert series this Friday at 5:30 p.m. The series’ 10th anniversary season will include performances by Jon Mayer, Michael Session, Ernie Watts, Cathy Segal-Garcia, Alan Pasqua, left, and many more of L.A.’s best players.
Theater
Mrs. Willis may be on her deathbed, but she’s still determined to orchestrate the overdue marriage of son Fred to his long-time girlfriend, Frankie. Surprises are in store, however, when secrets and skeletons in closets come to light, in the world premiere of Horton Foote’s Texas comedy, “Getting Frankie Married-- and Afterwards.” Opens Friday at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa.
Also: In the Southern California premiere of A.R. Gurney’s romantic play, “Far East,” staged with elements of Kabuki and Noh theater, an adventure-seeking young reserve officer arrives on an American naval base in post-Korean War Japan. There, he must contend with a captain struggling to find purpose in a Cold War world, and the captain’s wife, who controls a quaint-yet-rigid social structure on the base. Opens Saturday at the Laguna Playhouse.
Dance
National Ballet of Spain dances the world premieres of “Estampio” and “Entreverao (Farruca )” Wednesday to next Sunday at the Wilshire Theatre in Beverly Hills. “De Azabache y Plata,” “A mi Aire,” “Concierto de Aranjuez,” “Mujeres” and “Grito” are also in the repertory. Mayte Bajo, Kira Gimeno, Oscar Jimenez, Francisco Velasco and Esther Jurado are the featured soloists.
Pop Music
It’s buzz season in the rock world, with the machinery thawing out after the winter lull and kicking into gear with a batch of new artists looking to save the world, or at least be allowed to make a second album. The act leading the pack in 2002 is the raucous but eloquent Texas band ... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, which continues its fast climb from the underground with shows Friday at L.A.’s El Rey Theatre and Saturday at Pomona’s Glass House.
Video
Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton play two eccentric bank robbers known as the “Sleepover Bandits” in Barry Levinson’s underappreciated comedy, “Bandits.” The thieves’ perfect working relationship becomes complicated when they both fall in love with the beautiful, unhappily married woman (Cate Blanchett) they kidnap. Troy Garity, son of Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden, is amusing as Willis’ dimwitted relative. Thornton and Blanchett received Golden Globe nominations. Written by Harley Peyton, “Bandits” hijacks a video retailer near you on Tuesday.
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