WHAT'S HAPPENING.

A Mars-Venus thing: There's no love lost between ``Your Friends & Neighbors.'' Not much found, either, as six seething young professionals search a soulless city for intimate connection.

The latest report from the scorched-earth battlefield of the sexes by ``In the Company of Men'' writer-director Neil LaBute, ``Neighbors'' is as acridly funny as it is achingly cruel. This time, three dysfunctional men (wimpy husband Aaron Eckhart, weaselly adulterer Ben Stiller and misogynist lady-killer Jason Patric) match up against three unsatisfied women (impatient wife Amy Brenneman, tart-tongued emotional sadist Catherine Keener, just plain tarty bisexual Nastassja Kinski).

Predictably, nobody has a good time. Except, maybe, moviegoers with strong constitutions and an appreciation for fearless and finely wrought talk about love - and what happens when we don't really feel it.

- Bob Strauss

film

Sturges stand: If it hadn't been for Preston Sturges, comedic writers such as Billy Wilder, Blake Edwards and Woody Allen might never have gotten the green light to direct their own material.

It was Sturges, a playwright whose cultured literary style was better suited for Hollywood, who talked his bosses at Paramount studio into letting him direct. During a remarkable streak from 1940 to '45, which included the much-acclaimed ``Sullivan's Travels,'' the writer-director landed the title as Hollywood's most brilliant satirist and an Academy Award in 1940 for the screenplay for ``The Great McGinty.''

In ``Sullivan's Travels,'' screening at 7:30 in the Bing Theatre at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, actor Joel McCrea plays a director of lightweight pictures who sets out in search of dramatic breakthrough. Veronica Lake (the real deal!) and William Demarest co-star in this masterful, eye-opening road picture.

Also showing is ``Mad Wednesday'' (1950), which takes aim at big business and American advertising while treating common Sturges themes of ordinary courage, cowardice and luck.

Admission is $6 general, $4 museum and AFI members, seniors and students with ID. Information: [phone]. The museum is at 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles.

- Bob McCarthy

music

Shake your Hippos: Formed several years ago in Van Nuys, the Hippos are among the most energetic and downright fun of the new crop of young ska bands.

The band's catchy original tunes draw on daily life, allowing teen-age fans to readily relate to singer-guitarist Ariel Rechtshaid's lyrics.

Although Save Ferris and Reel Big Fish get all the attention, the Hippos just keep doing what they do best - ensuring that dance floors are packed throughout the city.

The six-member band appears tonight at the Troubadour in West Hollywood along with Fred Wilson F.B.I. and the Hickups. The show is open to kids of all ages.

The hard-working Hippos recently signed with a major label and are currently in the studio recording an album. The band's indie debut, ``Forget the World,'' sold nearly 8,000 copies.

The Troubadour is at 9081 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood. Show time is 8 p.m., and tickets are $10. Information: [phone].

- Fred Shuster

dance

Indian intrigue: Dance crazes come and go (see, for instance, the new salsa-inspired Hollywood slinkathon ``Dance With Me''). But the Indian temple dance known as Bharata Natyam is still going strong at 2,000 years and counting.

Intrigued? Then show up at 6 p.m. Sunday at California State University, Northridge's new Performing Arts Center, where Los Angeles-based choreographer Malathi Iyengar, in conjunction with the Rangoli Foundation, will present ``Margam,'' a performance of classical South Indian dance. ``Margam,'' which means ``showing the path,'' incorporates music from a variety of composers, including the Tanjore Quartet, specialists in 19th-century music and dance.

CSUN is at 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge. Tickets are $12 at the door, $10 in advance: [phone].

- Reed Johnson

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos

PHOTO (1) The Indian temple dance Bharata Natyam will be performed in a presentation called ``Margam,'' on Sunday at California State University, Northridge.

(2) Friends Jerry (Ben Stiller), left, Barry (Aaron Eckhart) and Cary (Jason Patric) meet for drinks in the Neil LaBute film ``Your Friends & Neighbors.''

(3) Writer-director Preston Sturges, right, confers with Veronica Lake and Joel McCrea on the set of ``Sullivan's Travels.''

(4) Ska band the Hippos appears tonight at the Troubadour with Fred Wilson F.B.I. and the Hickups.