FRIDAY –

The SAN DIEGO CLIPPERS play Austin, at Frontwave Arena in OCEANSIDE.

A circus is in town. CIRCUS VARGAS PRESENTS MASQUERADE, at Plaza Bonita in NATIONAL CITY.

If Reggae is your thing, a number of Reggae bands will be performing at the WorldBeat Cultural Center in BALBOA PARK. The show is called “Tribute to the Reggae Legends” with Julian Marley, King Yellowman, Johnny Clarke, and more. That’s Saturday and Sunday.

SATURDAY –

You’ve probably seen the billboards around town, for the SAN DIEGO FC having their first home game of the season against Montreal. That’s at Snapdragon Stadium. You can hear the game stasrting at 7 on San Diego Sports 760.

The Aztecs continue their drive toward another Mountain West title playing at Colorado State, but you can always hear that starting at 2 on San Diego Sports 760.

At Pechanga Arena, you can see the SAN DIEGO SEALS play lacrosse.

Another event at BALBOA PARK. Over the weekend, you can attend the CHINESE NEW YEAR FAIR at the House of China. Music, Dancing, and culinary delights abound. Hopefully the weather doesn’t put a damper on things.

Comedy legend JERRY SENFELD will be at Pechanga Resort in TEMECULA.

The World Ballet Company will perform SWAN LAKE at the Civic Theatre DOWNTOWN.

If classical music is more your thing, you can hear some Ravel, Tchaikovsky, and Britten performed by the SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY at Jacobs Music Center DOWNTOWN. That show is Saturday and Sunday.

SUNDAY –

Here’s a sport that’s the complete opposite of the Winter Olympics – women’s volleyball. You can catch the SAN DIEGO MOJO vs Omaha at Viejas Arena.

If you want an Eagles tribute band, well…one flies into the BALBOA THEATRE. 

ON STREAMING –

The best selling book that was turned into a 7-part series, THE LAST THING HE TOLD ME (Jennifer Garner) returns with season 2 on APPLE TV.

THE NIGHT AGENT is back dropping all 10 episodes of season 3 on Netflix.

AT THE MOVIES –

Catherine O’Hara tribute! The ANGELIKA FILM CENTER did a wonderful thing when Robert Redford died, showing some of his classic movies. It’s great to see they’re doing this with Catherine O’Hara. Over the weekend at the theater you can see her in “Beetlejuice” and “Best in Show.” There will also be some shows during the week, so check the listings for that (I’m hoping the following weekend we’ll get some Robert Duvall films).

CRIME 101

The title is a bit deceptive. It’s a fun play on a phrase, as all the crimes take place near the 101 freeway for an easy escape. This film wasn’t screened for the critics, so off to my favorite theater – Angelika Film Center – to recline in the seats and enjoy the ride. It’s an amazing cast: Chris Hemsworth as the smart thief, Monica Barbaro (Joan Baez in “A Complete Unknown”) as the love interest, the always terrific Barry Keoghan as the rival thief, Nick Nolte is in a few scenes as the man behind the curtain (who still mumbles when he barks orders at his thieves). Mark Ruffalo was good as the police investigator that nobody believes. Jennifer Jason Leigh was under-used as his wife who wants to leave him. And last but not least, Halle Berry plays an insurance agent who’s been passed over for partner because of her age (I’m convinced she’ll still be beautiful when she’s 80). The movie is getting great reviews, but my wife and I – and the 4 friends I was talking to that saw it – were all just a bit disappointed. There were a lot of cliches, and lots of scenes done better in other films. My main problem is that characters did things I just didn’t buy. I’ll give you two examples, both involving Hemsworth. He has trouble talking to women, and blows a date because he’s so bad at it. And, he’s a nice criminal, so he gives the people he robs their phones back before he leaves the scene. It didn’t feel as long as the two hours and 20 minute run time, which is a positive. I just think it needed a sharper script (written by author Don Winslow). 2 stars out of 5.

PILLION

This movie is unrated, but would’ve been given an X or NC-17. It’s rather graphic. It involves a BDSM relationship between two men (that stands for: Bondage, Discipline, Dominance, Submission, Sadism, and Masochism. The movie has two big problems that are hard to get over. One is the relationship. There’s an older guy “seducing” a young man, who hasn’t been in many (if any) relationships. It’s one of the reasons I had a hard time loving “Call Me By Your Name” the way everyone else did – the age difference was creepy, no matter what sex is involved. So when Alexander Skarsgard is a quiet biker who runs with a rough looking biker gang (that are all gay), we’re curious as to how they’ll meet. He basically rapes this young man (at least it felt like that watching it), and the young man continues to put up with abuse from him. I talked to a few people that watched it and we all felt the same – it was disturbing. We don’t know why the young man stays in the relationship. And it might make more sense if they just role-played on weekends or whatever, but this is 24/7. The young man is basically his slave. The only character we liked is the mom (who is dying of cancer), who doesn’t like the abuse her son is taking. There’s a great dinner scene with them all where a confrontation ensues. It’s also cute when the mom tries to set him up with another man she met somewhere. As my wife and a female critic we sat next to said – we’d all hate this movie if this relationship were an older man doing this to a younger, naive woman. Why are we supposed to celebrate this? For a romantic movie involving a gay couple, you should rent the Tom Ford movie “A Single Man” (Colin Firth, Julianne Moore), or the more humorous “The Kids Are Alright” (Mark Ruffalo, Julianne Moore, Annette Bening). That was my favorite film of 2010. For some baffling reason, ‘Pillion” is getting 100% on Rotten Tomatoes as of this writing. I can only give it 1 ½ stars out of 5.

HOW TO MAKE A KILLING

I was looking forward to this. The trailer looked intriguing. A man (Glen Powell) could inherit billions. But there are 7 relatives above him that would receive the family fortune before him. If they’re dead, he gets it all. So, he decides to take them out. That means right off the bat, we’re going to have trouble rooting for him. Even if the family patriarch (Ed Harris) screwed over him and his mom. The movie tries to be a dark comedy and a serious film, and basically – it was bad at everything it attempted. It was just awful. One scene that did make me laugh is Margaret Qualley’s character going on and on about nepotism, when she’s one of the nepo babies in Hollywood that…astrounds me she has a career. I usually dislike everything she does on screen, in most of her movies. And let’s not leave Powell out of my complaining. I’m sick of seeing his face, and when he plays these types of characters, they don’t work. It did have a few fun scenes. And I was surprised they covered a flaw I thought would be there before the movie started – and that was the FBI noticing this pattern after just a few killings (but there are about 20 other flaws with things that happened). 1 ½ stars out of 5.