Best Bets: December 16-22, 2001

Movies

The highly anticipated fantasy “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” the first of director Peter Jackson’s adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s trilogy, arrives Wednesday. Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler and Viggo Mortensen, right, star as the hobbits, wizards, humans and faeries that make up the world of Middle-Earth.

Also: Jim Carrey stars in “The Majestic” as a blacklisted 1950s screenwriter who awakens after a car accident to a new life in a small town. Martin Landau and Laurie Holden co-star in the film directed by Frank Darabont and written by Michael Sloane. Opens Friday.

Theater

“The Who’s Tommy,” Pete Townshend’s Tony Award-winning, roller-coaster ride of a rock opera about an emotionally damaged pinball prodigy--and about family, forgiveness and redemption--returns to the Southland, with music and lyrics by Townshend, book by Townshend and Des McAnuff, and additional music and lyrics by John Entwistle and Keith Moon. The nationally touring production opens Wednesday at the Shubert Theatre in Century City.

Art

“The Kindness of Friends: A Selection of Gifts of Drawings and Prints, 1919-2001” celebrates the holiday with a toast to donors at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The 160-piece show encompasses works by Old Masters, Impressionists, Modernists and contemporary artists. Below: Edgar Degas’ “Woman Drying Herself.”

Music

Observing this month’s 100th anniversary of the death of Giuseppe Verdi, Zubin Mehta will conduct three performances of Verdi’s Requiem with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Thursday through Sunday in L.A.’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Vocal soloists are Fiorenza Cedolins, Dolora Zajick, Stuart Neill and Carlo Colombara.

Pop Music

The KIIS-FM Jingle Ball has leapfrogged up the venue ladder from a modest beginning at Knott’s Berry Farm to the vastness of L.A.’s Staples Center in its third year. Wednesday’s mainstream pop-rock feast features Shakira, Alicia Keys, Five for Fighting, Craig David, Lifehouse, Sugar Ray, Michelle Branch, LFO and Toya, along with (brace yourself) a tribute to Michael Jackson by Rick Dees. The Something of Pop is scheduled to appear but not perform.

Jazz

Christmas comes early for Southland jazz buffs who will have a veritable buffet of talent to choose from this week including the Benny Golson Quartet opening a six-nighter Tuesday at the Jazz Bakery in Culver City; the Art Davis Quartet at Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood on Tuesday and Wednesday; jazz singer Kevin Mahogany at the Orange County Performing Arts Center on Friday and Saturday; and Japanese master jazz saxophonist Sadao Watanabe at L.A.’s Japan America Theatre on Saturday.

Video

Selected best film of 2001 by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, “Moulin Rouge” is a vibrant, inventive musical drama from Baz Luhrmann. Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman, above, play ill-fated lovers in this film revolving around the famed 19th century Paris music hall. Jim Broadbent (the National Board of Review’s choice for best supporting actor) and John Leguizamo also star in this film, which features such classic 20th century tunes as “Your Song” and “Lady Marmalade.” Arrives Tuesday on VHS and DVD.