FILM/SNEAK PEEK : WESTLAKE VILLAGE THEATER ENTICES FILM BUFFS.

Life in Westlake Village is getting a bit more edgy and offbeat with the introduction of ``The Regent Late Show'' at the Regent Westlake Theaters, a two-screen movie house that features art, foreign and specialty films.

Beginning tonight, the Regent will feature cult classics from the past and new destined-to-be cult classics at 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Tickets are $2.

This weekend, ``The Regent Late Show'' will feature Ridley Scott's 1982 sci-fi fave, ``Blade Runner,'' a visually stunning (and dark) epic starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young and Daryl Hannah. It's a detective story about an android killer and his mutated, renegade prey.

The film, which offers a dystopian view of Los Angeles' future, received Academy Award nominations for Best Art Direction and Best Visual Effects. The version to be screened is Scott's original cut.

On May 16 and 17, the theaters offer Stanley Kubrick's ``A Clockwork Orange,'' starring Malcolm McDowell. The ultra-stylish film, also set in the future, was nominated for four Oscars in 1971. It was also quite controversial and was originally rated X.

The Regent Westlake Theaters are located at 4711 Lakeview Canyon Drive. The movie house reopened two months ago with new carpets, paint, drapes, seats and outdoor patio. For more information, call [phone] or [phone].

Long on shorts

The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film and Video Festival kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Thursday with the film ``My America ... or Honk If You Love Buddha'' by Renee Tajima-Pena. The 89-minute film will be screened at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles.

The eight-day festival then moves to Laemmle's Music Hall Theatre, 9036 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, where a variety of works - mostly short films and videos - will be screened.

Some highlights:

``Visa and Virtues,'' a dramatic short based on the true story of Chiune and Yukiko Sugihara, who rescued 6,000 Jews from the Holocaust by issuing them transit visas. Written and directed by Chris Tashima, the film will be shown (with other shorts) at 7 p.m. May 21.

``Sunsets,'' a feature-length film about three friends who fight boredom in the small California town of Watsonville by drinking, smoking, stealing and philosophizing. Made for $20,000 and shot on black-and-white 16mm film, the movie marks the debut of 20-something directors Eric Nakamura and Michael Idemoto. It screens at 9 p.m. May 17.

``Bugis Street,'' a feature-length film by Hong Kong director Yon Fan. It stars Hiep Thi Le (star of Oliver Stone's ``Heaven and Earth'') who will appear with Fan after the screening to answer questions. Set in the '60s, the film is about Singapore's infamous Bugis Street, a hangout for transsexuals and transvestites. It screens at 7 p.m. May 22.

For more information and a complete listing, call Visual Communications at [phone].

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2 Photos

Photo: (1) ``A Clockwork Orange,'' starring Malcolm McDowell, got four Oscar nods in 1971.

(2) Harrison Ford plays a futuristic detective in ``Blade Runner,'' which screens this weekend at the Regent Westlake Theaters.