UMass senior Nicole Manganelli will host a reception for the opening of her honors project, "Outrage into Action: Feminist Organizing at UMass Amherst." (Mon. 4 to 6 p.m. in the Student Union Art Gallery, UMass. Call 545-0792 for more info.)
FLICKS
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Director Gus Van Sant lamely re-makes his own "Good Will Hunting" in "Finding Forrester."
Brendan Fraser and Bridget Fonda star in "Monkeybone," a comedy about a cartoonist who slips into a coma, ensuing adventures in his own fantasy world.
When Jason Biggs ("American Pie") falls prey to psycho girlfriend Amanda Peet ("Whipped"), his loyal pals Jack Black ("High Fidelity") and Steve Zahn ("Happy, Texas") become bent on "Saving Silverman."
Eccentric Charlize Theron treats businessman Keanu Reeves to a "Sweet November." Theron is charming, but the rest of this inspid romantic drama induces nausea.
The remarkable Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo star as sister and brother in Ken Lonergan's funny and wrenching drama "You Can Count On Me."
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Tom Hanks gets down and dirty with a volleyball in "Cast Away."
"Chocolat" is a by-the-numbers feel-good pseudo-art film from Miramax, but what the heck-the chocolates look delicious, as does luminous leading lady Juliette Binoche.
Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun-Fat kick major ass as wushu warriors-in-love in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," but the central plot involving spoiled protege Zhang Ziyi lacks urgency. In Chinese with English subtitles.
"Down to Earth" is reviewed in this issue.
Anthony Hopkins returns as "Hannibal" in this gory but distressingly unscary sequel to "The Silence of the Lambs." Julianne Moore co-stars.
Petty thief George Clooney flees from the law with two other inmates in the period comedy (and loose Odyssey re-telling) "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"
During summer break, a band of grade-schoolers save the world from their ex-principal, a laser-toting madman, in Disney's animated "Recess: School's Out."
"Snatch," Guy "Mr. Madonna" Ritchie's more-of-the-same follow-up to the guns-and-accents comedy "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels," features flashy camera work and a hilarious Brad Pitt as a gypsy.
Elvis impersonators Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner attempt a Vegas casino heist in "3000 Miles to Graceland."
Director Steven Soderbergh masterfully documents the "Traffic" of drugs in America in this powerfully bleak ensemble film starring Michael Douglas and Benicio Del Toro.
Jennifer Lopez is "The Wedding Planner" in this brainlessly outrgeous-and painfully unfunny-romantic comedy co-starring Matthew McConaughey.
STAGE
The UMass department of theater presents Arthur Miller's classic "The Crucible," a fictionalized account of the Salem witch trials. (Thurs. to Sat., 8 p.m., Rand Theater, UMass. $4. Call 545-2511 for more info.)
Words She Spoke, a poetry-in-performance series, will feature former National Haiku Slam Poetry Champion Tracie Morris. (Thurs., 7:30 p.m., UMass' New World Theater. Free.)
Mount Holyoke senior Molly Parker directs "The Bedbug" by Vladimir Mayakovsky, a satirical Russian play commenting on Soviet society. (Sat., 8 p.m. Rooke Theatre, Mount Holyoke College. Free.)
TALKS
The Creative Writing Center presents the acclaimed short-storywriter Thomas Glave reading from his collection "Whose Song?".(Monday, 4 p.m. Babbott Room in the Octagon.)
The director of the Youth Action Coalition, Stacey Lennard, will give a talk entitled "Girls' Eye View: Celebrating the Voices and Visions of Teenage Girls" dealing with the photography/leadership program she developed in 1997. (Mon., 4:30 p.m.. Five College Women's Studies Research Center, Mount Holyoke College. Free.)
Nation columnist Alexander Cockburn will lead a discussion about the World Trade Organization and its resistors before a signing for his latest book, "Five Days That Shook the World: Seattle and Beyond." (Tues., 7 p.m., Food for Thought Books.)
Professor Robert Alter from the department of comparative literature at the University of California, Berkeley will speak on "Scripture, Commentary and the Challenge of Interpretation." (Thurs., 4 p.m., McCaffrey Room.)
TUNES
The Grieg Trio, internationally acclaimed violinists, will perform works by Haydn and Ravel, among others. (Thurs., 7:30 p.m. Bezanson Recital Hall, UMass. $7. Call 1-800-999-UMAS for tickets.)
Copeland fellow Shobha Vasudevan will perform South Indian vocal music, accompanied by K.V.S. Vinay on violin and David Nelson on mrdangam. (Fri., 8 p.m., Buckley Recital Hall. Free.)
The Amherst College Choral Society, directed by Mallorie Chernin, and the Amherst College Orchestra, directed by Lanfranco Marcelletti, will fill Buckley Recital Hall with the sounds of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. (Sun., 3 p.m.. Free. No reservations.)
The Ground Control Allstars Tour, featuring West Coast hip hop standouts such as Aceyalone and the Masterminds makes its stop in Northampton at Pearl Street. (Sun., 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $10. Call 466-9500 for more info.)
The sounds of Trombonanza II, a factulty recital featuring a variety of trombone styles, will fill UMass' Bezanson Recital Hall. (Tues., 8 p.m. $4. Call 545-2511 for more info.)
MISCELLANEOUS
Cliff Matias, award-winning Native American Hoop Dancer, will perform at UMass' Augustus Savage Gallery. (Tues., 7 p.m. Free. Call 545-5177 for more info.)
The Eighth Annual Multicultural Film Festival, presented by the UMass Interdepartmental Program in Film Studies, will screen Sundance favorite "Dark Days." The film's director, Marc Singer, will be present. (Wed., 7:30 p.m., Tower Theatre, South Hadley. Free.)