Best Bets Thursday 5/16

all day

Movies

The galaxy far, far away returns for “Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones,” the middle chapter of George Lucas’ prequel trilogy. Hayden Christensen assumes the mantle of Anakin Skywalker as he grows into adulthood. He’s learning the Jedi ways from his mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), and finding romance with the former of Queen of Naboo, now Senator Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman), while the dark side looms over his future.

“Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones,” rated PG for sustained sequences of sci-fi action and violence, opens today.

8pm

Jazz

With two critically acclaimed recordings under her belt, jazz singer Claudia Acuna has the jazz world at her feet, but it has not been easy. Born in Santiago, Chile, Acuna decided early on that she needed to move somewhere else. She moved to New York City but, lacking money and English-language skills, she was unable to enroll in any of that city’s many jazz education programs. She continued to perform while supporting herself as a baby-sitter, dog walker and dishwasher. Her perseverance was rewarded with a Verve record contract.

Claudia Acuna, the Jazz Bakery, 3233 Helms Ave., Culver City. Today to Sunday, 8 and 9:30 p.m. $25. (310) 271-9039.

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8pm

Music

Esa-Pekka Salonen’s “Foreign Bodies,” first heard at the Schleswig-Holstein Festival in Germany in August, will get its U.S. premiere, conducted by the composer, this week at the Los Angeles Philharmonic seasonal finale at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The 21-minute work includes some material from recent Salonen works--”Mecanisme” for solo piano and the choral piece, “Djupt i rummet”--both of which have been heard here in recent months. This valedictory program also includes Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto, with soloist Yefim Bronfman, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4.

Los Angeles Philharmonic, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A. 8 p.m. $12 to $78. (323) 850-2000. Also Friday at 1 p.m., Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

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7:30pm

Movies

Filmmaker Michael Mann (“The Insider,” “Ali”) headlines this week’s installment of “The Movie That Inspired Me,” the UCLA Film and Television Archive’s series in which a film artist selects a work that was an important influence on his creative life. Mann has chosen Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 political satire “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb,” to be screened before an informal discussion moderated by director Curtis Hanson.

“The Movie That Inspired Me,” UCLA’s Melnitz Hall, James Bridges Theater, near the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Hilgard Avenue, Westwood. “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” with Michael Mann, 7:30 p.m. $5 to $7. (310) 206-FILM or www.cinema.ucla.edu.