8 pm: Movies & Pop Music

MTV is celebrating its 20th anniversary, but for a lesson in the “ancient history” of music videos, leave your television behind and check out a special screening of “Don’t Look Back” at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre. The landmark D.A. Pennebaker documentary about Bob Dylan’s 1965 British tour opens with the 23-year-old singer, impassive under a head of wild hair, standing in an alley and flipping through placards that sync up with the lyrics of his “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” The image has been oft-spoofed (most memorably in an INXS video and the film “Bob Roberts”) and helped shape the lexicon for the musical mini-movies to follow. Before the screening, an array of musicians will interpret Dylan songs in genres ranging from swing to reggae, among them King Cotton, Eddie Baytos & the Nervis Bros., Ron Taylor, John “Juke” Logan and Claire Muldar.

* “Don’t Look Back,” John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East, Hollywood, 8 p.m. $20. (323) 461-3673.

all day: Movies

Francis Ford Coppola revisits the horror of the jungle with “Apocalypse Now Redux,” the reedited, restored version of his 1979 Vietnam War epic. Martin Sheen stars as Willard, the U.S. military operative sent upriver to “terminate with extreme prejudice” the command of Marlon Brando’s Col. Kurtz; Robert Duvall plays Col. Kilgore, the surf-crazed commander of an airborne cavalry division; Albert Hall, Frederic Forrest, Sam Bottoms and Laurence Fishburne are the crew escorting Willard. New sequences include a second encounter with the Playboy Bunnies and a sojourn to a French plantation that were cut from the original version of the film.

* “Apocalypse Now Redux,” rated R for disturbing violent images, language, sexual content and some drug use; opens Friday exclusively at the Century Plaza Cineplex, Century City.

all day: Movies

A San Francisco teen gets a royal make-over when she learns that she’s destined to be the ruler of the tiny European principality of Genovia in “The Princess Diaries.” Anne Hathaway stars as the reluctant heir to a throne with Julie Andrews as her grandmother, the Queen, who comes to the Bay Area to bestow lessons in the art of being a princess. Garry Marshall, who managed to turn a hooker into Cinderella in “Pretty Woman,” directs.

* “The Princess Diaries,” rated G, opens Friday in general release.

7:30 pm: Theater

The historic Doctor’s House Museum in Glendale is the atmospheric setting for Action/Reaction Theater Company’s production of “Morning’s at Seven,” Paul Osborn’s nostalgic 1930s comedy about small-town life. Presented as a benefit for the Glendale Historical Society.

* “Morning’s at Seven,” Doctor’s House Museum, Brand Park, 1601 W. Mountain Ave., Glendale, Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m. Free; box suppers available for $10. (818) 908-4094.

7:30 pm: Pop Music

Rapid-fire drums, thundering guitar riffs and lyrics about the impending clash between man and machine--not to mention a chaotic mosh pit? Must be Fear Factory manufacturing its industrial-strength aggro-rock. The veteran Los Angeles band with a penchant for dark cyber-imagery plays the House of Blues in West Hollywood.

* Fear Factory, with Puya and Primer 55, House of Blues, 8430 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, Friday, 7:30 p.m. $20. (323) 848-5100.

8:30 pm: Theater

Broadway star Patti LuPone joins the Los Angeles Philharmonic in “Patti LuPone Live!,” in a program called “Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda.” The celebrated vocalist will perform songs and roles from Broadway musicals that she “could have played, would have played, did play and will play,” including, natch, “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina.”

* “Patti LuPone Live!,” Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood, 8:30 p.m. $3 to $90. (323) 850-2000; (213) 480-3232; (714) 740-2000.

7 pm: Family

Follow a certain little blue puppy and meet Mail Box, Slippery Soap, Tickety Tock and all the pals from Nickelodeon’s preschool hit, in “Blue’s Clues Live!,” a nationally touring stage extravaganza that invites audiences to be an active part of the show’s search for clues to “the most spectacular place.” On Saturday, Oscar Award-winning actress Marlee Matlin, who will teach Blue and host Steve sign language on the show in the fall, will host a pre-performance party and morning matinee to benefit the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation (CAAF).

* “Blue’s Clues Live!,” Pasadena Civic Auditorium, 300 E. Green St., Pasadena, Friday, 7 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m. (CAAF benefit performance; party at 9:30 a.m.) and 2 and 5 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. $14 to $26; CAAF benefit party and performance, $100. (213) 480-3232; (714) 740-2000; (805) 583-8700; (619) 220-TIXS.

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Freebie

* State Street Ballet of Santa Barbara dances the full-length “Giselle,” with live orchestra conducted by Frank Fetta, in the Redlands Bowl, 25 Grant St., Redlands, 8:15 p.m. (909) 793-7316.