BEST BETS Sunday 11/26

3pm

Pop Music

Good vibrations and needed funds will be sent in the direction of singer and violinist Petra Haden via a benefit at the Knitting Factory Hollywood. Haden, a fixture in the L.A. music community as a collaborator, group member (most recently with That Dog) and independent artist, was severely injured when hit by a car in August. Among those pitching in at the nine-hour event: Beck, Victoria Williams, four of the Go-Go’s backing guest singers, Exene Cervenka & the Original Sinners, Tenacious D, Nels Cline, W.A.C.O., Haden’s brother Josh Haden from the band Spain and Radiobemba, a group featuring Ry Cooder’s son Joaquin.

* Petra Haden benefit at the Knitting Factory Hollywood, 7021 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. 3 p.m. Sold out. (323) 463-0204.

3 & 7pm

Music

For its annual Southern California visit, the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, the touring arm of the Pops organization, plays twice on Sunday at the Cerritos Center. Music Director Keith Lockhart conducts. Guest performers are vocalist Rob Mathes and the University Singers from Cal State Fullerton.

* The Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, 12700 Center Court Drive, Cerritos, 3 and 7 p.m. $92 to $102. (562) 916-8500.

all day

Movies

The malevolent aliens of recent science fiction (“Independence Day,” “Men in Black”) could take lessons in etiquette from two sci-fi classics from gentler eras paired at the New Beverly Cinema. Steven Spielberg’s 1977 “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” stars Richard Dreyfuss as a regular Joe pulled into a UFO mystery. “The Day the Earth Stood Still” is Robert Wise’s 1954 film about an alien who visits earth with a message of peace. Michael Rennie and Patricia Neal star.

* Sci-Fi Double Feature, New Beverly Cinema, 7165 Beverly Blvd. Sunday: “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” 3:10 and 7:30 p.m.; “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” 5:40 and 10 p.m. Monday and Tuesday: “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” 7:30 p.m.; “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” 10 p.m. $3 to $6. (323) 938-4038.

12:30, 1:30 & 2:30pm

Spirituals

As part of the ongoing Wells Fargo Western Serenade concert series, L.A.-based baritone Howard Marshall Jr. sings African American spirituals at the Autry Museum of Western Heritage.

* Howard Marshall Jr., Heritage Court, Autry Museum of Western Heritage, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Griffith Park, L.A. 12:30, 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. Included in museum admission, $3 to $7.50. (323) 667-2000.

7pm

Television

Capping off Thanksgiving weekend and the TV business’ important ratings sweeps is the network premiere of 1997’s “Titanic,” the tragic love story and crowd-pleasing adventure from writer-director James Cameron. The highest-grossing film of all time about the “unsinkable” ship that provided the setting for the teary romance of young lovers Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet) collected 11 Academy Awards, tying it with the previous record holder “Ben-Hur.” Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Gloria Stuart and Bill Paxton co-star in the four-hour NBC telecast.

* “Titanic” begins at 7 p.m. on NBC-TV (Channels 4 and 36).

7:30pm

Pop Music

In a symbolic clash of the teen titans, current pimple-pop rulers ‘N Sync will be wrapping up their U.S. concert tour in Southern California at the time the figures come in on first-week sales of the new Backstreet Boys album. Will their archrivals challenge ‘N Sync’s record of 2.4 million sold in a debut week? Will ‘N Sync demand a recount if they do? Stay tuned.

* ‘N Sync, Sunday at Staples Center, 1111 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m. Sold out. (213) 742-7340. Also Monday and Tuesday at the Great Western Forum, 3900 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood, 7:30 p.m. Sold out. (310) 419-3100. Dec. 1 and 2 at the San Diego Sports Arena, 3500 Sports Arena Blvd., San Diego, 7:30 p.m. Sold out. (619) 224-4176.

all day

Cook-Off

California leans generally more toward oranges than apples, but at Los Rios Rancho--the largest apple ranch in Southern California--you can get a taste of fall in the northern climes. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, the ranch will host an Apple Butter Cookoff. All challengers are welcome in this test of culinary skill and endurance. For the 92% of Southern Californians who don’t know apple butter from mango chutney, there will be apple butter cooking lessons, plus old-time games and a pioneer village. The ranch always has a petting zoo, a cafe and a gourmet shop. Los Rios Rancho--in Yucaipa about 5,000 feet up in the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains--also has nature trails, perfect for seeing the changing leaves.

* Apple Butter Cookoff, Los Rios Rancho, 39610 Oak Glen Road, Yucaipa, Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Exit Live Oak Canyon Road/Oak Glen Road off Interstate 10, go north on Oak Glen Road. Free admission-registration. (909) 797-1005.

Freebie

FREEBIE: Grand marshal Dennis Hopper leads dozens of celebrities, bands and floats in the Hollywood Christmas Parade at 5:30 p.m. Recommended arrival time is 4 p.m. or earlier. The parade starts west of Highland Avenue, and travels east on Hollywood Boulevard, south on Vine Street, then west on Sunset Boulevard, ending at Orange Street, (323) 469-2337. A sneak peek at the parade, Page XX.