FRIDAY –

As a movie critic, I love that over the last few years this has become a thing: actors or directors from classic films showing them, and then doing a Q&A with the audiences. This time, it’s “SAY ANYTHING” with John Cusack talking about it, at the Magnolia in EL CAJON. That’s the movie where you hear Peter Gabriel while Cusack holds the boom box over his head.

In sports, the SAN DIEGO MOJO have their mojo risin’ against the Grand Rapids Rise, if you’re into pro volleyball. That’s at Viejas Arena. 

The SAN DIEGO CLIPPERS have a home game at Frontwave Arena in OCEANSIDE, and another game on Saturday night. 

BILLY GIBBONS, the singer/guitarist of ZZ Top will bring his beard to Solana Beach; but that show at the Belly Up Tavern is already sold out (which might be a good thing if you wanted to go…I bought his solo CD and it was awful).

There’s a burlesque show called THE LALAS, at Pechanga Casino.

For tribute bands, there’s Fleetwood Mac at SHELTER ISLAND, Led Zepagain DOWNTOWN.

SATURDAY –

We all know there are dog shows, but who knew there were cat shows? Well, there are, and one is hitting the DEL MAR FAIRGROUNDS – the SAN DIEGO CAT SHOW, with over 40 breeds competing, and 450 kittens. That’s a whole lotta meowing goin’ on. It will be happening all weekend long.

Monster trucks are back in town for the MONSTER JAM at Snapdragon Stadium.

And who is out of town – the SAN DIEGO STATE AZTECS, who will be at UNLV if you want to make the drive to see some hoops and do some gambling. If you just want to listen, you can, on San Diego Sports 760 starting at noon.

Crazy rapper MICKEY AVALON is at the Holding Company in OCEAN BEACH. I can’t get enough of his song “Jane Fonda,” and I was at his show last time he was there and it was great.

You don’t have to go all the way to Vegas for the Electric Daisy Carnival. The ELECTRIC FEELS INDIE ROCK & ELECTRONIC DANCE PARTY is happening at the Observatory in NORTH PARK.

For tribute bands, you’ve got Stevie Nicks in RAMONA, and George Harrison in SAN MARCOS.

SUNDAY –

You can enjoy a wacky musical comedy on stage at the Balboa Theatre DOWNTOWN. SPAMILTON: AN AMERICAN PARODY skewers Hamilton plus other hit plays, with singing, dancing, and lots of laughs.

On Streaming…

“Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!” Is a limited series on HBO about the comic genius behind Blazing Saddles, Spaceballs, Young Frankenstein, The Producers, and more.

Creator Ryan Murphy is up to his old tricks in the body-horror series “The Beauty” on FX/Hulu.

At the Movies…

MERCY

This is one of those rare times my wife and I disagreed on a movie. I had a blast with it. Everyone who saw the trailer thought the same thing – that it was an updated version of “Minority Report” (a brilliant sci-fi film). It was similar, with a dash of “The Fugitive” – because we watch a guy (Chris Pratt) who is accused of killing his wife in a drunken rage. This is set in a crime-ridden future Los Angeles where AI judges give you an hour and a half to prove your innocence. If you can’t, you’re executed on the spot. This reminded me of some of the ‘80s action movies, and I had a lot of fun (as did the two other guests I brought with me). One of the interesting things is that Pratt doesn’t play a perfect person (the way Tom Cruise was in Minority Report, or Harrison Ford in The Fugitive). We see he’s an alcoholic. We see him lose his temper with his wife countless times. Even his teen daughter blogs about how she’s afraid of him and wishes her mom would leave him. All of that makes this a lot more interesting to me. Rebecca Ferguson plays the no-nonsense AI judge, and it’s interesting watching her shoot down all his theories on what could’ve happened. It’s also a nice gimmick that we see the countdown of the clock the entire time, and the percentage of which he’s probably guilty (it starts at 97.5% but when he comes up with random theories, it drops to 92%; other times, it doesn’t move, or even goes up). But I’ve already given too much of the fun away. Sure, the film has a few hiccups, but it’s very entertaining. My wife wasn’t a fan. She thought the reactions the witnesses gave to Pratt didn’t work – whether that was his partner on the force (Kali Reis, True Detective) or AA sponsor (Chris Sullivan, who my wife loved on “This is Us”). She’d give it 2 stars. I’m giving it 3 ½ stars out of 5.