THREE-DAY FORECAST

MUSIC

A live score with film on workers’ struggles

The 1935 film “Redes” cast professional actors and fishermen and the families of the Veracruz village of Alvarado to depict a struggle for social and economic justice. Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas created the score, which the Los Angeles Philharmonic will play live as the film, released in the U.S. as “The Waves,” is screened. The concert, led by Esa-Pekka Salonen, also will include the world premiere of Gabriela Ortiz’s commissioned percussion concerto, “Altar de Piedra” (Altar of Stone), and Copland’s “El Salon Mexico.”

Los Angeles Philharmonic, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A. Today, 8 p.m. $14-$82. (323) 850-2000. Also Saturday, 8 p.m., and Sunday, 2:30 p.m.

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POP MUSIC

Raising a hopeful note

Steve Earle wears a lot of hats -- singer-songwriter, author, teacher -- but he’s not one to give up his role as social commentator. After establishing himself as a prominent musical opponent of capital punishment, he’s come back as a prayerful voice of hope for Middle East peace. The title song of his current album, “Jerusalem,” augmented by a video directed by independent filmmaker Amos Poe, envisions the lion and the lamb lying together. Although that hope seems distant on many days, Earle is an artist with the inspiring gift of keeping hope alive.

Steve Earle, House of Blues, 8430 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. Today, 9 p.m. $25. (323) 848-5100.

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JAZZ

Answering her calling

Jazz singer Dianne Reeves had a busy year in 2002. Not only did she win the best jazz vocal Grammy for her CD “The Calling: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan,” she also was named the creative chair for jazz for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Assn. As chair, she will program eight Hollywood Bowl jazz concerts plus other events at the Walt Disney Concert Hall over the next two seasons. Southland jazz buffs have four chances to hear Reeves herself in Costa Mesa this weekend.

Dianne Reeves, Founders Hall, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Friday-Saturday, 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. $48-$52. (714) 740-7878.

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MOVIES

Trip to the dark side

Paul Schrader’s “Auto Focus,” an unlikely biopic of murdered ‘60s TV star Bob Crane (“Hogan’s Heroes”), stars Greg Kinnear as the likable, good-natured family man fascinated by, and addicted to, sex. Willem Dafoe plays the partner in slime who introduces him to the possibilities of the then-new technology of home video. It’s paired with Schrader’s 1979 film, “Hardcore,” featuring George C. Scott as a Midwestern father pursuing his teenage daughter after she falls into the world of porn.

Paul Schrader double feature, New Beverly Cinema, 7165 Beverly Blvd., L.A. Friday, 7:30; Saturday, 3:20 and 7:30 p.m. $3-$6. (323) 938-4038.

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WORDS

Women get vocal

The publication of “Threads,” a new anthology with writings of female novelists, screenwriters, poets and others, will be celebrated Saturday with readings by several members of WriteGirl Voices whose works appear in the volume. Among them: Pat Payne, a multimedia performance artist, poet, visual artist, reluctant shaman and self-vowed troublemaker; Ariel Robello, author of “Con Ojos Claros” and a 2002 Emerging Voices Fellow with PEN West; Clare Sera, a script consultant and playwright; and Shawn Schepps, screenwriter for “Encino Man,” “Son-in-Law” and “Drumline.”

“Threads” readings, Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles. Saturday, 4 p.m. Free. (323) 363-1287.

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ART

Looks good on paper

Contemporary works on paper by 22 artists make up “International Paper,” a group show of drawings devoted to emerging artists that’s opening Sunday at the UCLA Hammer Museum. From watercolor and gouache to mixed-media collage and paper cutouts, the exhibition will demonstrate how the once traditional medium has evolved and remained vital.

“International Paper,” UCLA Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; Thursdays, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sundays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; ends April 27. $3-$5; students and visitors 17 and younger, free. (310) 443-7000.

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THEATER

Butler to the president

“Looking Over the President’s Shoulder,” James Still’s real-life drama, making its West Coast premiere, is based on the life of Alonzo Fields, the grandson of a freed slave, who served four presidents as chief butler at the White House.

“Looking Over the President’s Shoulder,” Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena. Opens Friday, 8 p.m. Runs Tuesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 5 and 9 p.m.; Sundays, 2 and 7 p.m. Exception: Feb. 12, 2 and 8 p.m.; ends Feb. 23. $39.50-$44.50. (626) 792-8672.

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MOVIES

Chomsky on terrorism

With the United States on the brink of possible armed conflict in Iraq, the presentation of a dissident voice arrives in the form of “Power and Terror: Noam Chomsky in Our Times.” The documentary by John Junkerman (an Oscar nominee for “Hellfire: A Journey From Hiroshima”) chronicles a series of lectures Chomsky gave last spring in which the Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor places the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 in the context of American foreign intervention during the postwar decades. The film also includes a lengthy interview with Chomsky in his Cambridge offices.

“Power and Terror: Noam Chomsky in Our Times,” unrated, opens Friday exclusively at the Landmark Nuart, 11272 Santa Monica Blvd., West L.A. (310) 478-6379.