all day: Movie

Let the battle of the Julia Roberts romantic comedies begin! America’s sweetheart has re-teamed with actor Richard Gere and director Garry Marshall (the three made box office gold in 1990 with the mega-hit “Pretty Woman”) for “Runaway Bride,” which Paramount will release later in the summer. But first up is “Notting Hill,” in which Roberts stars as the world’s most famous movie star, who falls for a reticent British bookstore owner (Hugh Grant). Screenwriter Richard Curtis and producer Duncan Kenworthy previously teamed on the 1994 British charmer “Four Weddings and a Funeral.”

* “Notting Hill,” rated PG-13 for sexual content and brief strong language, opens Friday in general release.

all day: Animation

Those wacky folks at Mellow Manor Productions are at it again. Every year since 1977, they’ve put together a collection of world-class animated shorts and called it “Spike and Mike’s Classic Festival of Animation.” The 1999 edition starts its local run at the Nuart Theatre and will feature the Academy Award-winning shorts “Bunny” from the U.S. and “Balance” from Germany. Other shorts include “Hum Drum,” the latest from Aardman Animation; Don Hertzfeldt’s Slamdance-winning “Billy’s Balloon”; the cult favorite from Canadian animator Marv Newland, 1969’s “Bambi Meets Godzilla,” as well as the premiere of the ode to that film, “Son of Bambi Meets Godzilla.” Please see Screening Room, Page 18.

* “Spike and Mike’s Classic Festival of Animation,” Nuart Theatre, 11272 Santa Monica Blvd., West Los Angeles. Friday through June 3, 5:10, 7:30 and 9:50 p.m. Additional matinee shows at 12:30 and 2:50 p.m. on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. $5 to $8. (310) 478-6379. June 4 to 10 at Laemmle’s Colorado Theatre, 2588 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, (626) 796-9704. June 11 to 17 at Five Star Theatres, 10155 Reseda Blvd., Northridge, (818) 993-0211.

8:15 pm: Pop Music

“Blondie is a group” was the slogan during the band’s early-’80s heyday, emphasizing that it took a team effort, and not just singer Deborah Harry, to turn out such hits as “Call Me” and “The Tide Is High.” Now Blondie is a reunited group, and its first tour in 16 years brings the New Yorkers to the Universal Amphitheatre.

* Blondie, with the Marvelous 3, Universal Amphitheatre, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, 8:15 p.m. $28 to $53. (818) 622-4440.

8 pm: Music

For its final Dorothy Chandler Pavilion concerts of the winter season, the Los Angeles Philharmonic offers music by Richard Strauss (“Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks” and the “Burleske” for piano and orchestra) and Paul Hindemith (“The Four Temperaments” and the Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber). Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts and piano soloist is Emanuel Ax.

* Los Angeles Philharmonic, 8 p.m. at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Music Center, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. $11 to $65. (323) 850-2000. Also, Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

8 pm: Arts

Actors Anthony Edwards and Marlee Matlin will host Friday night’s opening ceremony for “Art and Soul,” a five-day Olympic-style cultural festival devoted to artists with disabilities. Held at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, the festival will include hundreds of artists from around the world--with and without disabilities--who will demonstrate their achievements in painting, sculpture, dance, music and theater.

* “Art and Soul Festival,” opening ceremony 8 to 10 p.m. Friday at California Plaza, 350 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. The festival will be at the Bonaventure Hotel, 404 S. Figueroa St., downtown L.A. Saturday through Monday, 9 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.; Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Free. (800) 240-3499.

8 pm: Theater

John Glore’s romantic comedy, “On the Jump,” about an abandoned bride who tries suicide and ends up on the road to redemption, premieres with an eclectic cast, including Kellie Waymire and John Fleck.

* “On the Jump,” South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, Tuesdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 2:30 p.m. Ends June 27. $28 to $43; Matinee on Saturday, “pay what you will.” (714) 708-5555.

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FREEBIE: Garden Grove Strawberry Festival at Village Green, 12862 Euclid Ave., 1 to 10 p.m. Also Saturday through Monday. Parade saluting Billy Barty Saturday, 10 a.m. (714) 638-0981.

Multi-wind instrument player Vinny Golia’s quintet with guitarist Nels Cline plays at LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., 5:30 p.m. (323) 857-6000.