Our little city has organized a special pre-release screening of Denzel's latest (hey, it's Malibu, we're all on a first-name basis here) at the Performing Arts Center on Wednesday. Proceeds go to help fire victims, many of whom, popular myth aside, were ordinary working-class people who lost everything and are faced with starting from scratch.

"The Great Debaters," a Golden Globe nominee for best picture, also stars Forest Whitaker. Inspired by the life of poet and teacher Melvin B. Tolson. it's the story of how he led a debate team in tiny Wiley College, an all-black school, in 1930s Texas. Suggested donation is just ten bucks, a real steal considering prices at the Malibu theater. ($12.50 weekdays, $14 weekends. No kidding.)

The Performing Arts Center's located at 23825 Stuart Ranch Rd., 7:30 p.m. For more info, call 310.274.3448.

(And just for the hell of it, here's Maisie.)