FILM SNEAK PEEK 'MAN' BURNS IN PASADENA.

Byline: - Valerie Kuklenski

``Burning Man: The Burning Sensation,'' a documentary about that annual anything-goes alternative culture festival in the desolate Nevada desert, tonight will open DOCtober, the fourth annual International Documentary Film Festival.

DOCtober, the weeklong showcase at Pasadena's Pacific Theatres, also features Charles Guggenheim's ``The First Freedom,'' about free press in the 20th century; James Ronald Whitney's ``Just, Melvin,'' a chilling account of the filmmaker's grandfather's incestuous behavior, and Stanley Jacobs' ``Pitch People,'' about ``the world's second oldest profession.'' A set of Ginsu knives will be given away at each ``Pitch People'' screening.

Screenings begin at 10 a.m. daily and continue through midnight. Tickets are $7 for general admission and $5 for members of the International Documentary Association, students and seniors. They may be purchased at the Pacific Theatres box office, 467 N. Rosemead Blvd. in Pasadena, or by calling [phone]. Information: www.documentary.org on the Web.

'DIAL' 3-D: Alfred Hitchcock's ``Dial 'M' for Murder'' plays this weekend and next in 3-D at the Silent Movie Theatre.

The theater gears up for Halloween with Andre de Toth's ``House of Wax,'' the most popular of the 1950s 3-D films. (Watch for Charles Bronson, billed in 1953 as Charles Buchinsky.) ``House of Wax'' plays Thursdays through Sundays, Oct. 19-29.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for children, students and seniors; price includes 3-D glasses. The Silent Movie Theatre is at 611 N. Fairfax Ave. in Hollywood. Information: [phone].

HEAR, HEAR!: George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola and Saul Zaentz will be on hand tonight when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences pays tribute to sound designer and film editor Walter Murch.

Murch has been nominated for Oscars eight times and won three: best sound for ``Apocalypse Now'' in 1979 and both best sound and film editing for ``The English Patient'' in 1996, making him the first person to win both of those categories for the same film.

Tonight's program at 8 kicks off a three-part inside look at the sound business. Next Wednesday, Murch and Oscar winner Randy Thom will lead a symposium on some of the best sound moments in movie history. On Oct. 18, veteran sound editors, mixers and foley artists will lead the audience through the film soundtrack process, pre-production to post.

A three-night ticket is $12 for the general public and $8 for academy members or students. Tickets for each night are $5 for the public and $3 for members and students. The academy is at 8949 Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills. Information: [phone].

BEACH FEST: ``The Old Man and the Sea,'' which won the 1999 Oscar for best animated short, is among the opening selections tonight at the Laguna Beach Film Festival.

The films will screen at the Forum Theater at Laguna's Festival Grounds. Information: [phone] or www.lagunafilmfestival.org on the Web.

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``Burning Man: The Burning Sensation,''opens DOCtober, the International Documentary Film Festival, in Pasadena tonight.