Best Bets / January 7-13, 2001

Movies

“Antitrust,” a drama set in the high-stakes world of computer technology, stars Ryan Phillipe (above with Claire Forlani) as a new employee at a multibillion-dollar computer company run by his mentor, Tim Robbins. His exhilaration at landing his dream job changes when he discovers dark secrets about the firm. Opens wide Friday in general release.

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Also: The musical drama “Save the Last Dance” stars Julia Stiles as a white, middle-class, small-town teenager who winds up in a virtually all-black Chicago high school but finds solace and romance in the arms of a gifted and popular African American student played by Derek Thomas. Opens Friday.

Art

A selection of prints spanning the lengthy career of one of the most distinguished photographers living today make up “Ruth Bernhard: A Celebration in Her 96th Year,” opening Saturday at Santa Monica’s Peter Fetterman Gallery. Once called “the greatest photographer of the nude” by Ansel Adams, Bernhard presents an extraordinary take on the often difficult art of nude and still-life photography.

Theater

The West Coast premiere of “Mim,” the love story of Mary and Joseph, will be presented concert-style by Music Theatre of Southern California. Starring Ann Winkowski and Danny Michaels in the lead roles and written by Ronald H. Owen, with music and lyrics by Stephen H. Gariepy, the show (today at San Gabriel Civic Auditorium) will feature a 22-piece orchestra.

Music

As part of its first U.S. tour, the 16-year-old Saito Kinen Orchestra from Japan, conducted by Seiji Ozawa, right, plays at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts on Monday night. Ozawa founded the ensemble in 1984 on the 10th anniversary of the death of renowned Japanese educator Hideo Saito. The program for Monday: Mahler’s Ninth Symphony.

Pop Music

Teen pop and hip-hop hog the headlines, but there are also small, thriving music communities out there. In the folk niche, three kindred acts split the audience Friday: matriarch Rosalie Sorrels appears at Caltech’s Dabney Hall, Chris Hillman teams with Herb Pedersen at McCabe’s and Dave Alvin plays Pasadena’s Neighborhood Church with Chris Smither and returns Saturday with Peter Case.

Dance

In “Aeros,” above, champion Romanian gymnasts perform works created for them by Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicolas of “Stomp,” Moses Pendleton of Momix, Daniel Ezralow of ISO and David Parsons of the Parsons Dance Company. See the results Thursday through next Sunday and Jan. 25-28 at Royce Hall, UCLA, plus Jan. 23-24 at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido.

Jazz

Pianist Karen Hammack and drummer Paul Kreibich have been valuable sidemen in countless settings for years. Recently they co-led their first CD, and they celebrate its release Monday at Culver City’s Jazz Bakery, in a straight-ahead quartet with bassist Putter Smith and saxophonist John Gross.

Video

Jim Carrey and directors Bobby and Peter Farrelly, who brought the world the slapstick gross-out farce “Dumb & Dumber,” teamed up for the comedy “Me, Myself & Irene.” The trio hits new lows in humor in this farce, which finds Carrey in his element playing a man with multiple personalities who falls in love with a beautiful young woman (Renee Zellweger). Chris Cooper and Robert Forster also star. The film arrives on video Tuesday and DVD on Jan. 23.