From ‘Secrets’ to Amusement Park Scares

*MOVIES: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Cinematheque Francaise with a public screening tonight at 8 in its Samuel Goldwyn Theater of Chris Marker’s “La Jetee” and Jean-Luc Godard’s “Contempt,” both landmarks in modern French cinema, plus “Preamble to Cinema: Etienne-Jules Marey.” . . . “Secrets & Lies” (selected theaters), wizardly British director Mike Leigh’s story of the love and chaos created by a young woman’s search for her mother, is a completely accessible work that goes straight to the hearts of audiences. It was honored as best picture and for best actress (Brenda Blethyn) at Cannes. . . . With “That Thing You Do!” Tom Hanks makes a (what else but?) likable writing and directing debut with the story of a 1964 rock band’s climb to the pinnacle of teen mania. Good-humored and reeking of innocence, it succeeds in its determination to leave audiences feeling good. . . . “Ed’s Next Move” (selected theaters), a classic tale of a country innocent trying to survive in Manhattan, is a lightly eccentric romance playful enough to make you smile. . . . As a prelude to Halloween, the historic Orpheum Theater tonight is launching its second annual “Spook-a-Thon ‘96,” held Fridays at 7:30 p.m. through Oct. 25, with Edgar Ulmer’s “The Man From Planet X” (1951), one of the first “invaders from outer space” movies. . . . The UCLA Center for the Performing Arts will present Carl Dreyer’s 1928 masterpiece “The Passion of Joan of Arc” Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 4 p.m. at Veterans Wadsworth Theater, accompanied by the opera/oratorio “Voices of Light” featuring the early music vocal quartet Anonymous 4, the Los Angeles Mozart Orchestra and I Cantori Chorus. Both screenings will be preceded by a lecture from composer Richard Einhorn.

* DANCE: Germany’s Pina Bausch Tanztheater Wuppertal performs the 210-minute neo-Expressionist epic “Nur Du” (Only You) tonight through Sunday afternoon in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. . . . In its first local appearances, Australia’s Queensland Ballet dances the full-evening “Pirates!” (based on Gilbert and Sullivan) tonight at the Alex Theater in Glendale, then switches to “Scheherazade” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” on Saturday at Citrus College in Glendora.

* POP MUSIC: The Low & Sweet Orchestra headlines the Troubadour tonight.

* MUSIC: Conductor Richard Kapp brings his New York-based orchestra, Philharmonia Virtuosi, to the South Bay Center for the Arts at El Camino College Saturday night for a program ranging from Locatelli and Mozart to Elgar and Holst. . . . The annual Los Angeles Philharmonic fund-raiser, the Peninsula Music Fair, takes place again at the Chadwick School campus on Palos Verdes Peninsula, Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Michael Christie will conduct the Philharmonic; appearing during the day will be pianist Robert Thies and violinist Michi Wiancko, among others. . . . Coleman Concerts begins its 69th year of chamber music events, Sunday at 3:30 p.m., hosting the Emerson String Quartet in Beckman Auditorium at Caltech in Pasadena.

* JAZZ: Top-shelf pianists Kenny Barron and Barry Harris are in from New York for concerts at the Hermosa Beach Civic Auditorium Saturday and Sunday. They’ll work with bassist Buster Williams and drummer Ben Riley.

* THEATER: “Laura Dennis,” Horton Foote’s recent, telling drama about a close-knit 1938 Texas town and the repercussions of hidden unpleasant truths, receives a masterful staging at the Zephyr Theatre in Hollywood. . . . A top-notch cast and solid direction highlight “Supernormal Clutches,” Pamela Gray’s sidesplitting, mainstream-accessible “lesbian comedy” at the Celebration Theatre in Hollywood.

* FAMILY: Spooktacular events are planned during Six Flags Magic Mountain’s “Fright Fest” for the next three Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and Oct. 31. . . . Bone-chilling events will unfold at Knott’s “Scary” Farm’s “Halloween Haunt” on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Oct. 30 through Nov. 2. . . . Queen Mary’s “Shipwreck ‘96” will feature its annual “Haunted Hull of Horror” and a new “Londontowne of Terror” maze, today-Sunday, Oct. 18-20, 25-31 and Nov. 1-2.

* ART: Noted landscape photographer Richard Misrach continues his 20-year epic exploration of the American desert in “Desert Canto XVIII: Skies” on view through Saturday at Jan Kesner Gallery. Misrach’s latest series of pictures include large-scale abstract color images of skies, captured in rich hues of blues, reds and grays.

--Compiled by Calendar writers

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