Best Bets / August 29-September 4, 1999

Movies

Cuba Gooding Jr. and Skeet Ulrich need to keep cool in the worst way when they find themselves in possession of a chemical that threatens catastrophe if it is allowed to thaw in “Chill Factor,” which opens wide on Wednesday.

In “All the Little Animals,” Christian Bale stars as an orphaned man-child who flees from his stepfather into the English countryside, where he encounters an eccentric misanthrope played by John Hurt. Opens Friday at the Westside Pavilion Cinemas.

Theater

Zany chaos reigns in Ken Ludwig’s hit screwball comedy, “Lend Me a Tenor,” when ‘30s culture snobs fear that their imported Italian opera star, “Il Stupendo,” may be a no-show. Opens Friday at Long Beach’s Center Theatre, presented by International City Theatre.

Music

The second of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s three weeks at Hollywood Bowl this summer brings even more variety than the first. Tuesday, the L.A. Philharmonic program features composers of the Americas--Leonard Bernstein, Gershwin and Revueltas. On Thursday, the composer is Bach, the soloists violinists Alexander Treger and Bing Wang, principals of the orchestra.

Jazz

The 5th anniversary West Coast Jazz Party is three nighttime concerts held at the Irvine Marriott over Labor Day weekend starting next Friday. It features such notables as Jack McDuff, Red Holloway, Scott Hamilton, Ken Peplowski, Harry Allen, Terry Gibbs, Pete Jolly and Juggernaut plus many others.

Dance

Led by Lester Horton Dance Award-winner Monica Favand, the locally based, experimental Trip Dance Theatre makes its debut at Hollywood’s John Anson Ford Amphitheatre on Saturday, performing the full-evening “Exquisite Corpse.” Expect a fusion of guitar, sitar, Brazilian percussion and electronic music to accompany all the exquisite dancing corpses.

Pop Music

The 20th anniversary edition of the Long Beach Blues festival opens Saturday at Cal State Long Beach with a lineup featuring Buddy Guy and Koko Taylor. The festival moves in an R&B; direction on Saturday with Al Green, Bobby “Blue” Bland and Clarence Carter, and wraps on Labor Day with John Lee Hooker headlining.

Video

Mike Judge, creator of the animated hits “Beavis and Butt-head” and “King of the Hill,” makes his live-action directorial debut with “Office Space,” a satire of corporate America. Ron Livingston plays an employee who decides to rip off his company. The comedy, which also stars Jennifer Aniston, arrives Tuesday in video stores.