Natalie Alper employs earthy colors and iridescent pigments, a combination that places her paintings between matter and spirit. (Opening reception will be held on Sat. 4 to 6 p.m. in the Univerisity Gallery in UMass' Fine Arts Center. Show runs through May 18. Call 545-3670 for more info.)

Raymond Majerski presents "Reflections/Deceptions," a collection of self-portraits. (Mon.-Thurs. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Fri. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Runs through Sat. 4/6. UMass Student Union. Call 545-0792 for more info.)

FLICKS

Academy of Music Theater

(584-8435)

Ed Harris directs and stars in "Pollock," a biopic of the pioneering abstract painter. Oscar-winner Marcia Gay Harden co-stars.

AMC Mountain Farms 4

(584-9153)

Tom Hanks gets down and dirty with a volleyball in "Cast Away."

A high school guy (Ben Foster) is upset after he loses his girlfriend but soon begins to notice his best friend's younger sister (Kirsten Dunst) in "Get Over It."

Anthony Hopkins returns as "Hannibal" in this gory but distressingly unscary sequel to "The Silence of the Lambs."

A band of grade-schoolers save the world from their ex-principal in Disney's animated "Recess: School's Out."

David Arquette is a mailman who has never met a dog he couldn't handle in "See Spot Run."

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."

Cinemark at Hampshire Mall

(587-4233)

"The Brothers" is reviewed in this issue.

"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.

Chris Rock goes "Down to Earth," in this "Heaven Can Wait"-esque comedy.

World War II snipers Ed Harris and Jude Law face off in "Enemy at the Gates." Joseph Fiennes co-stars.

"Exit Wounds" is reviewed in this issue.

Robert De Niro and Ed Burns are cops on the trail of psychopaths who seek their "15 Minutes" of fame by committing murders.

Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt form a mother-daughter con-artist team in "Heartbreakers."

James Gandolfini ("The Sopranos") shines as a gay hitman in the romantic comedy "The Mexican," but just about everything else fails to gel in this Julia Roberts-Brad Pitt vehicle.

When Chris Klein learns that girlfriend Heather Graham is actually his sister, he pleads for her to "Say It Isn't So." This comedy is the latest work of the Farrelly brothers ("There's Something About Mary").

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?"

Oscar-winner Steven Soderbergh documents the "Traffic" of drugs in America in this powerfully bleak ensemble film starring Michael Douglas and Benicio Del Toro.

Pleasant Street Theater

(586-0925)

"Before Night Falls" is an intoxicatingly textured biopic of Cuban homosexual dissident and poet Reinaldo Arenas (superbly played by Oscar-nominated Javier Bardem).

In World War II-era Italy, a group of teenage boys becomes infatuated with widow-turned-prostitute "Malena" (Monica Bellucci).

STAGE

Nationally renowned juggler and performance artist Michael Moschen will blend visual poetics and physical science. The San Francisco Examiner describes him as "someone who can bend and twist the visible world out of the norm through the sheer grace of his movements." (Fri. 3/30, 8 p.m. UMass' Fine Arts Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $10, $7 and $5 with student I.D. Call 545-2511 for tickets and more info.)

"Scraps of Motivation" is a program of dance and video works choreographed by Mount Holyoke College senior dance majors. (Fri. 3/30, 8 p.m. and Sat. 3/31, Kendall Studio Theatre at Mount Holyoke College. $3 with student I.D. Reservations are recommended; call 538-2848.)

TALKS

Film actor and UMass alumnus Bill Pullman will give a series of talks at his alma mater, including "The Performance Diploma as Bear Bait," an account of his experiences in Hollywood. (Mon. 4/2 at 5 p.m. in the Rand Theater at UMass. Free. For other times and locations, visit www.umass.edu/theater/deptnews.html.)

Hot new novelist John Searles, picked by Time magazine as "A Person to Watch," will read from his debut novel, "Boy Still Missing," a coming-of-age tale that addresses abortion rights and the dissolution of the American family. (Wed. 4/4, 7 p.m. at Food for Thought Books in Amherst. Free.)

Poet Franz Wright will read from his newest collection, "The Beforelife." (Wed. 4/4 at 7 p.m. at The Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley. Free.)

Former Dinosaur Jr. frontman J. Mascis will play songs from his new CD, "More Light." (Sat. 4/7 at 8:30 p.m at The Skybox at UMass. Advance tickets are $12; call 577-4SKY to charge by phone.)

TUNES

Les Violons du Roy, a chamber orchestra acclaimed by The New York Times for its "bracing combination of stylistic insight and robust modern sound," will perform a Baroque program. (Fri. 3/30, 8 p.m. in Buckley Recital Hall. $5 with student I.D. Call 542-2195 to reserve tickets.)

Pioneer performance/recording artist Rha Goddess, picked by Essence magazine as one of 30 Women to Watch in the new millennium, will perform her unique blend of spoken word and hip-hop rhythms. (Sat. 3/31, 8 p.m. in Buckley Recital Hall. Free. Call 577-0567 for more info.)

Jazz/funk/soul septet and local favorite, Inner Orchestra, featuring Michael Pisapia '00 on alto saxophone, will celebrate the release of its first studio CD with a show at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton. (10 p.m., Fri. 3/30. Tickets are $6 in advance; call 584-0610.)