WHAT'S HAPPENING : FILM.

Women in rare form: No, it didn't make the AFI list of America's 100 all-time greatest flicks but, at age 59, George Cukor's ``The Women'' is still heap big entertainment. Based on Clare Boothe's delectably catty stage hit of the same name, this all-female comedy ostensibly looks at the scrambled state of marital/romantic relations on the eve of World War II. In fact, the flimsy subplots mainly serve as a great device for setting up some cracklingly acerbic dialogue. Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Joan Fontaine and, best of all, Paulette Goddard do some of the decade's finest ensemble work. Wednesday's 8 p.m. screening at the State Theatre, 703 S. Broadway in downtown Los Angeles, is part of the Los Angeles Conservancy's ``Last Remaining Seats'' series at L.A.'s vintage movie palaces. And how's this for glam: A vintage fashion show will precede the screen action. Tickets are $15 ($12 for Conservancy members) and are available at Ticketmaster locations or by calling [phone].

- Bob Strauss

family

Water world: It's been more than a century since a light bulb went on in Long Beach: Build a tank and they will come.

Efforts to turn the seaside community into a tourist destination, a place where residents and visitors alike can revel in the beauty and wonder of marine life, came in fits and starts.

But on Saturday, the city will showcase its vision come true.

The Aquarium of the Pacific, a 157,000-square-foot home to more than 10,000 creatures of the sea, will celebrate its grand opening Saturday.

The partying actually starts at 6:30 tonight with the dedication - including a music and fireworks show - at Rainbow Harbor, a new charter-boat center and tourist venue that also serves as the aquarium's watery front yard.

In Saturday's L.A. Life, we will provide a complete tour of the aquarium and a history of the city's efforts to build the facility.

For more information about the aquarium, call [phone].

- Betty Kwong

music

`Down-home cat': New Orleans jazz and r&b pianist-singer Henry Butler has been described as having a bit of McCoy Tyner in his left hand and Professor Longhair in his right.

Drawing inspiration from '20s stride piano, '40s be-bop, '50s r&b and '90s avant-garde, Butler is a modernist above all. None other than Dr. John calls him a ``down-home cat.''

Butler, whose new album, ``Blues After Sunset'' (Black Top), features help from Crescent City icon Snooks Eaglin on guitar and tasty harmonica work from Mark ``Kaz'' Kazanoff, spent a few afternoons with Longhair learning Fess' trademark shuffle patterns and trills.

Butler appears tonight with ex-Meters guitarist Leo Nocentelli at the Mint in Los Angeles.

Blind since infancy, Butler was attracted to piano at an early age. By the time he was 7, he had joined the glee club at the Louisiana School for the Blind, where he was studying piano.

He was gigging by the time he was 14. In 1986, Butler recorded his first album, ``Fivin' Around,'' followed by ``The Village,'' ``Orleans Improvisation,'' ``Blues and More'' and ``For All Seasons.''

The Mint is at 6010 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles. Show time is 10:30 p.m. and admission is $10. Information: [phone].

- Fred Shuster

television

TV's newest couple: First there was ``Ren & Stimpy,'' then came ``Beavis & Butt-Head.''

Now comes the latest entry into television's ever-expanding foray into animation, ``Bob and Margaret,'' who couldn't be any more different from the aforementioned pairs if they were drawn in black and white.

The Comedy Central series, which debuts Monday at 10:30 p.m., is a slow-moving joy ride through the perils of midlife.

The brainchild of real-life couple David Fine and Allison Snowden (who is also the voice of Margaret) follows a dentist and his podiatrist wife, who at times put their feet in their mouths.

Topics covered by the ethically impaired animated British pair, who were born in a 1995 Aca-demy Award-winning animated short, include how to embellish on insurance forms after being burglarized.

Paired with another slow-paced and hilarious animated Comedy Central hit, ``Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist,'' ``Bob and Margaret'' is well worth watching and a refreshing alternative to summer reruns, and even fresh episodes of most series.

- Keith Marder

film

No brainer: School's out. But something went wrong at the Hollywood factory, and they're releasing things like ``The Truman Show'' and ``X-Files,'' movies that actually require you to think.

Thank heaven there's ``Can't Hardly Wait,'' an enjoyably bubbleheaded comedy about a likably brainless graduation party. Yes, it's stocked with teen-age stereotypes in cliched situations, but it's all done with infectious affection for the clueless traumas and party hearty ethos most of us, at some point in our lives, took much too seriously. A winning young cast, headlined by Ethan Embry and ``Party of Five's'' Jennifer Love Hewitt, puts it across with all the conviction that could reasonably be expected.

- Bob Strauss

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

Photo: (1) The public gets its first look at Long Beach's pride and joy, the new Aquarium of the Pacific, on Saturday.

(2) Henry Butler appears tonight at the Mint in Los Angeles.

(3) ``Can't Hardly Wait,'' starring Peter Facinelli and Jennifer Love Hewitt, is just the sort of enjoyable summer picture that homework-taxed brains crave.