Fri. Best Bets: 9/11

all day Movies

Director John Dahl caused a sensation in 1994 with the release of not one but two critically acclaimed films--”Red Rock West” and “The Last Seduction.” He follows up those trend-setting films noir with “Rounders,” a look at New York’s high-stakes poker underground. The film also features one of the hottest casts of the year: Matt Damon, Edward Norton, John Turturro, Gretchen Mol, John Malkovich, Martin Landau and Famke Janssen.

* “Rounders,” rated R, opens Friday in general release.

8:30pm: Music and Dance

The annual “Fireworks Finale” at Hollywood Bowl should prove doubly momentous this year--offering newly designed pyrotechnics for Tchaikovsky’s “Marche Slave” plus the very first 1998 “Nutcracker” on view, courtesy of the Hartford Ballet. In its Bowl debut, the 13-member Connecticut ensemble (plus apprentices and children) will dance Act 2 of Stefan Hoff’s so-called “American Nutcracker,” set during the California Gold Rush. And, besides accompanying the fireworks and dances, John Mauceri will conduct the Bowl Orchestra in three orchestral bonbons familiar from Walt Disney’s “Fantasia”: Toccata and Fugue in D minor (Bach/Stokowski), “Night on Bald Mountain” (Mussorgsky/Rimsky-Korsakov) and “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” (Dukas).

* Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, John Mauceri, conductor; Hartford Ballet, Enid Lynn and Peggy Lyman, directors. Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave. Also Sat., 8:30 p.m., Sun., 7:30 p.m. $3-$98. (323) 850-2000.

7:30pm: Opera

Placido Domingo, L.A. Opera’s artistic advisor and principal guest conductor, makes his traditional season-opening appearance with the company, this time in one of his signature roles, “Carmen’s” Don Jose--with Jennifer Larmore turning her famously charming mezzo voice and dramatic style to the earthy title role for the first time in a staged production. The opera runs until Sept. 25, but after Friday, there are only two more chances to see this cast. See Mark Swed’s review of Tuesday’s opening performance, Page 50.

* “Carmen,” L.A. Opera, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave. Also: Sept. 13, 16, 22, 25, 7:30 p.m. and Sept. 19, 2 p.m. Tenor Jacque Trussel sings instead of Domingo on Sept. 16, 19, and 25. $25-$137. (213) 365-3500.

8pm: Pop Music

With sales of the brash “Hello Nasty” nearing the 2 million figure and with their Tibetan freedom campaign becoming one of rock’s premier social causes, the Beastie Boys have established themselves as rock’s reigning clowns and crusaders. The rapping-rocking trio shares the Great Western Forum bill with Money Mark on Friday and the Asian Dub Foundation Saturday.

* The Beastie Boys, Friday and Saturday at the Great Western Forum, 3900 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood. Sold out. (310) 419-3100.

8pm: Pop Music

For a capsule taste of the state of the singer-songwriter in the late ‘90s, try the bill of Beth Orton and Rob Sexsmith at the El Rey Theatre. Orton, from Norwich, England, incorporates subtle traces of techno and hip-hop into her folk-rock-rooted compositions, while Canadian Sexsmith evokes such classic, eccentric models as Ray Davies and Harry Nilsson in his finely crafted material. Together, they illustrate the options--and possibly the future--of the genre in a time of blurring stylistic borders.

Beth Orton and Ron Sexsmith, El Rey Theatre, 5515 Wilshire Blvd. $14.50. (323) 936-4790.

11am: Photography

“Larry Fink: Noble Evenings and Other Social Graces,” a collection of black-and-white photographs by the noted photographer, contrasts the dissimilar worlds of high-society New York and small-town Pennsylvania in a 25-year survey at Jan Kesner Gallery. Capturing the highs and lows of evening gatherings, Fink’s images of black-tie museum benefits and the Martins Creek American Legion dance hall present American photography as social commentary.

* “Larry Fink: Noble Evenings and Other Social Graces,” Jan Kesner Gallery, 164 N. La Brea Ave. Ends Oct. 17. Gallery hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Free. (323) 938-6834.

FREEBIE: Cecilia Coleman Quintet, L.A. County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., 5:30 p.m. (323) 857-6000.