John Cazale

If you ever want to stump your movie geek pals with a barroom bet, just ask them who's the actor who appeared in only five feature films and all of 'em -- that's right, all five -- earned an Oscar nomination for best picture.

If you ever want to stump your movie geek pals with a barroom bet, just ask them who's the actor who appeared in only five feature films and all of 'em -- that's right, all five -- earned an Oscar nomination for best picture.

JOHN CAZALE ("The Godfather," "The Godfather Part II," "The Deer Hunter") joins Al Pacino in "Dog Day Afternoon" Tuesday in Orange. See WHAT GOES ON.

JOHN CAZALE ("The Godfather," "The Godfather Part II," "The Deer Hunter") joins Al Pacino in "Dog Day Afternoon" Tuesday in Orange. See WHAT GOES ON.

The impact of the Vietnam War on American lives is the theme of Michael Cimino's 1978 epic. Cimino and his writers do it justice, centering on several young men from a bleak Pennsylvania steel town. What lingers in the memory about this remarkable film--which introduced Meryl Streep--is not so much the brutal experiences the friends undergo in Vietnam as how ethnic working-class people struggle to square away their love for their country with its role in Southeast Asia.

The reggae, ska and rock-steady sounds of the '70s and early '80s are the order of the day at the fourth annual Reggae Old School Jam, a nine-hour festival featuring Barrington Levy, Leroy Sibbles, Johnny Clarke, Linval Thompson, Michigan & Smiley, Mikey "Mac Daddy" Jarrett and Justin Hinds & the Dominoes. Daddy U-Roy will receive a special award during the concert. * Reggae Old School Jam, Queen Mary Park, Long Beach, noon. $25 in advance, $30 at door, children under 12 free. (310) 515-3322.

The perilous times afoot render William Shakespeare's "Richard III" more urgently topical than ever. Appropriately, adapter-director Chris Kelley's Theatre of NOTE production favors contemporary insight, embodied by a remarkable ensemble spearheaded by Jacqueline Wright's award-worthy title villain. Kelley refreshes the Bard's study of corrupted ambition by examining isolation's effect on the pathological persona.

Meryl and Glenn, together again at last! This year's Oscar race marks the first time in more than two decades that the towering talents of cinema - Streep and Close - have been pitted against one another (Streep for “The Iron Lady,” Close for “Albert Nobbs”) . In the last clash of the contemporary titans, 1989's awards marathon, it was Streep in “A Cry in the Dark” and Close in “Dangerous Liaisons.” (Both went home empty-handed, thanks to “The Accused's” Jodie Foster.)

In a movie with a title such as "The Conversation," you'd expect sound to play an important role. But Francis Ford Coppola does something extraordinary: Sound becomes as complex and revealing as the movie's central character. Harry Caul (Gene Hackman in one of his smartest, coolest performances) is a surveillance pro hired to spy on a seemingly innocent young couple (Cindy Williams and Frederic Forrest).