BEST OF THE WEEKEND.FILM `ROUGE' AWAKENING: If it doesn't give you seizures, ``Moulin moulin (m  lăN`): see pothole. Rouge'' offers an abundance of pleasures. A boundless cinematic pinata of gorgeous costumes, astonishing a·ston·ish tr.v. as·ton·ished, as·ton·ish·ing, as·ton·ish·es To fill with sudden wonder or amazement. See Synonyms at surprise. production design and a century's worth of cleverly reworked popular songs, this hyperkinetic hyperkinetic pertaining to or marked by hyperkinesia. hyperkinetic episodes see Scottie cramp. hyperkinetic circulatory disorders musical is often too much of a good thing. But, all told, a good thing it is. Set in a soundstage Paris of 1899, the film's simple story line concerns the growing love between Ewan McGregor's naive, Bohemian writer and Nicole Kidman's ravishing courtesan cour·te·san n. A woman prostitute, especially one whose clients are members of a royal court or men of high social standing. [French courtisane, from Old French, from Old Italian cortigiana , who is also the star entertainer at the notorious title nightclub. There's a putting-on-a-show plot line, a jealous English aristocrat, a band of merry pranksters led by Toulouse- Lautrec and that old operatic standby: an incurable case of consumption. But the real show is the speed-demon production numbers, some of which are shot and cut too fast to be properly savored. But when director Baz Luhrmann (``William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet'') calms down enough to trust his performers with the material, ``Moulin Rouge'' recaptures much of the rapturous rap·tur·ous adj. Filled with great joy or rapture; ecstatic. rap  tur·ous·ly adv. magic of the classic movie musicals. - Bob Strauss STAGE ASIAN CULTURE: At 8 p.m. Saturday, the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center presents a retrospective celebrating the 10th anniversary of the hereandnow theatre company. The company is one of the nation's oldest Asian-American touring ensembles. The 19-member cast will perform a selection of interdisciplinary work from its repertoire over the past decade, from personal family stories to Korean folk tales to a spoken-word/poetry piece about a slain Filipino postal worker killed in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. . The event takes place downtown at the Japan America Theatre, 244 San Pedro St. in Little Tokyo. Tickets are $16 and $12 for JACCC JACCC Japanese American Cultural and Community Center JACCC joint airlift coordination and control cell (US DoD) JACCC Joint Air Control and Coordination Center members. Call (213) 680-3700. - Evan Henerson FESTIVAL A WALK IN THE PARK: Family fun will be available at the 19th annual ``Salute to Recreation Family Festival'' presented by the Department of Recreation and Parks; 6 to 10 p.m. today, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The three-day event will include live music, drill and dance team competition, carnival rides and games, skateboard demonstrations, D.J. battle, sports zone, petting zoo, marketplace and international food booths. Northridge Park, 10058 Reseda Blvd., Northridge. (818) 349-0535. - Holly Andres MUSIC SOMEWHERE ... : Since first singing ``Over the Rainbow'' as a kid, acclaimed jazz thrush Jane Monheit has learned hundreds of songs. She selected 11 of them (including ``Over the Rainbow'') for her sophomore set, ``Come Dream With Me,'' featuring an all-star trio of pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Christian McBride and drummer Gregory Hutchinson. Monheit, performing tonight through Sunday at Catalina Bar & Grill, blends sophistication so·phis·ti·cate v. so·phis·ti·cat·ed, so·phis·ti·cat·ing, so·phis·ti·cates v.tr. 1. To cause to become less natural, especially to make less naive and more worldly. 2. and charm with a heartfelt delivery. Accompanying her this weekend will be a fine quartet of Hutchinson, pianist Bill Cunliffe, saxophonist Rickey Woodard and bassist Bob Hurst. Catalina's is at 1640 N. Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood. Show times are 8:30 and 10:30 tonight and Saturday, and 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $18 and $20. Information: (323) 466-2210. - Fred Shuster SATIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN: The Austin Lounge Lizards
Trademarks of the Lizards, appearing tonight at the Encino Community Center, are sharply pointed lyrics poking fun at politics, love, religion and pop culture. Favorite song titles include ``Put the Oak Ridge Boys in the Slammer A worm that caused a billion dollars worth of damage on the Internet on January 25, 2003. Slammer infected computers all over the Internet by generating random IP addresses and causing the computer's buffer to overflow with its own instructions that replicate itself and start the process ,'' ``Shallow End of the Gene Pool'' and ``Jesus Loves Me Jesus Loves Me is a Christian hymn written by Anna B. Warner[1] and David Rutherford McGuire. The lyrics first appeared as a poem in the context of a novel called Say and Seal, written by Susan Warner and published in 1860. (But He Can't Stand You).'' The Encino Community Center is at 4935 Balboa Blvd., Encino. Show time is 8 p.m. and tickets are $19. Information: (818) 817-7756. - F.S. NEW PUNK?: Chicago's high-energy Alkaline Trio has come up with a fresh take on punk. Appearing Sunday and Monday at the El Rey Theatre with label mates No Motiv and Dashboard Confessional, the group checks in with fresh melodies and unexpectedly inventive guitar work on its third album, ``From Here to Infirmary.'' Alkaline recently opened for Blink-182 at the Hollywood Palladium. The El Rey is at 5515 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. Show time is 7 p.m. both nights and tickets are $12.50. All ages admitted. Information: (213) 480-3232. - F.S. ALL THAT JAZZ: If the Pasadena Playhouse's acclaimed production of ``Side Man'' isn't swingin' enough for you, double your jazz quotient Saturday with ``A Great Day of Jazz,'' a free symposium at the Playhouse. Featuring three panels, the symposium takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 39 S El Molino Ave. in Pasadena. The ``Jazz in Hollywood'' panel (from 10 to 11:15 a.m.) will feature drummers Frank Capp and Earl Palmer, Grammy nominee John Clayton, pianist/author Billy Mitchell and moderator James Jannise of KLON-FM. Joining blues singer Linda Hopkins for ``Women on the Road'' (11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m.) will be trumpeter Clora Bryant, jazz vocalist Lesa Terry, and performers Yvette Carson and Yvette Freeman. The moderator will be Ruth Price, owner of the Jazz Bakery. ``Swingin' With the Cast of 'Side Man' '' (1 to 2 p.m.) will be moderated by Michael Kerker of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is a non-profit performance rights organisation that protects its members' musical copyrights by monitoring public performances of their music, whether via a broadcast or live performance, and compensating . The cast includes Mare Winningham, Dennis Christopher and Ethan Phillips. For more information and reservations, call (626) 792-8672, Ext. 499. For tickets to ``Side Man,'' which runs through June 17, call (626) 356-7529. - Evan Henerson DANCE GETTING GLOBAL: Let's see. For this dance performance, we've got an opera diva, Japanese Taiko
``World Tap,'' produced by the L.A.-based Mark Goodman Tap Company, will perform Saturday and Sunday at the El Portal Center El Portal Center is a regional 385,000 square foot indoor mall located in the north Rio Grande bank in downtown Laredo, Texas[1]. It was previously known as the River Drive Mall until 2003 when Morgan Stern Realty bought it and renovated it. for the Arts in North Hollywood, 5269 Lankershim Blvd. Fusing New York swing-style tap with world rhythms and other forms, the performance features Goodman ``traveling the world'' in search of new rhythms and movement. Performances are 8 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $15 to $20. Call (818) 508-4200. - Evan Henerson CAPTION(S): 5 photos Photo: (1) Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor paly pal·y 1 adj. pal·i·er, pal·i·est Archaic Pale. lovers in ``Moulin Rouge.'' (2) no caption (Jane Monheit) (3) no caption (Alkaline Trio) (4) no caption (Austin Lounge Lizards) (5) no caption (``World Tap'') |
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