BEST BETS / NOVEMBER 1-7, 1998

Movies

Todd Haynes’ “Velvet Goldmine” stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers, above, as a mythical early ‘70s rock icon who finds himself at the very epicenter of the pleasures and decadence of his era. Also featuring Toni Collette and Ewan McGregor, it opens Friday at selected theaters.

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“The Siege” is a political thriller starring Bruce Willis, Annette Bening and Denzel Washington, who plays the head of an FBI/NYPD terrorism task force dealing with a city under siege. It opens Friday in general release.

Theater

The respected Antaeus Company presents Gilbert and Sullivan’s classic spoof of Victorian manners, “Patience” or “Bunthorne’s Bride,” as the inaugural production of (Inside) at the Ford, the renovated indoor space (formerly Taper, Too) at John Anson Ford Amphitheatre. It opens Saturday.

Architecture

Saturday’s daylong “1998 R.M. Schindler Residence Tour” will visit rarely seen homes designed by the famed Modernist architect, including the Elliot House, Falk Apartments (above), Grokowsky House, Laurelwood Apartments, Roth House, Sachs Apartments and Yates Studio.

Music

Returning here after a 10-year hiatus, and beginning a nine-city U.S. tour, the Sydney Symphony, with conductor Edo de Waart, appears at Royce Hall on Saturday, playing Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 8 and 9. Assisting in the latter will be the UCLA and Angeles Chorales and solo singers Christine Goerke, Mary Ann McCormack, Thomas Studebaker and Stephen Powell.

Dance

Mark Howard’s Trinity Irish Dance Company brings its updated style of step-dancing to Royce Hall at UCLA twice today. This is the Chicago-based ensemble that helped turn a stodgy folk idiom into the theatrical powerhouse that spawned both “Riverdance” and “Lord of the Dance.”

Pop Music

Of all the seminal figures in hip-hop, KRS-One has stayed consistently closest to the genre’s core values. The rapper--who goes by Kris Parker in his day job as A&R; man for Reprise Records--is preparing a new album for release next year, and he plays a late show on Thursday at the Key Club.

Video

It’s better than “Howard the Duck.” Still, the monstrous remake of “Godzilla,” left, failed to stomp the box-office competition this summer. Perhaps it just couldn’t live up to all the hype. Featuring Matthew Broderick and Jean Reno, the thriller thumps into video stores on Tuesday.