EXHIBITIONS

Casa Mañana: The Morrow Collection of Mexican Popular Arts celebrates the collection of Mexican folk art by Dwight W. Morrow 1895 and his wife Elizabeth Cutter, amassed during Morrow's tenure as United States Ambassador to Mexico in the 1920s. (Mead Art Museum, through April 21.)

SELECT FLICKS

Academy of Music Theater

(584-8435)

A sparkling comedy about a beautiful Parisian waitress with a magical smile, "Amelie" is sure to appeal to your funny bone and your sense of the fantastic.

Cinemark at Hampshire Mall

(587-4233)

Director Ron Howard's skillfully directed but contrived film, "A Beautiful Mind," Golden Globe winner for Best Picture (Drama), features Russell Crowe as the schizophrenic mathematician John Forbes Nash, Jr. and Jennifer Connelly as his wife, Alicia.

"Crossroads" is reviewed in this week's issue.

Based on the book by Marc Bowen, "Black Hawk Down" is a visually and emotionally intense drama about the United States' failed 1993 attempt to bring food and aid to starving Somalis. Directed by Ridley Scott, its ensemble cast includes Josh Hartnett, Tom Sizemore and Ewan McGregor.

Sean Penn delivers a painfully over-the-top performance in Jessie Nelson's "I Am Sam," a drama about a handicapped man attempting to retain custody of his young daughter. Michelle Pfeiffer, however, is effectively touching in her role as Sam's tough but troubled attorney.

In a heartfelt and hysterical follow-up to the brilliant comedy "Rushmore," writer and director Wes Anderson presents "The Royal Tenenbaums," the story of a family of oddballs led by Gene Hackman's tactless but sincere patriarch Royal Tenenbaum.

The first installment of J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved trilogy, "The Lord of the Rings," is brought to life in New Zealand director Peter Jackson's lush "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," starring Elijah Wood, Ian McKellan and Bill Boyd.

Pleasant Street Theater

(586-0935)

In his best film since "Short Cuts," director Robert Altman presents the highly acclaimed "Gosford Park," a witty, fluid parody of a classic Agatha Christie-style murder mystery and English comedy of manners. The film stars la creme de la creme of British film and stage actors. Nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

TALKS

Dr. S. Allen Counter will discuss North Pole Legacy: Black, White and Eskimo, about Matthew Henson, the African American who codiscovered the North Pole with Robert Peary. (Wed., 7 p.m., The Odyssey Bookshop.)

Respected New Testament scholar John Dominic Crossan, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Religious Studies at DePaul University in Chicago, will give a talk entitled "Method and Meaning in Historical Jesus Research." The talk is part of a lecture series entitled "Rethinking Jesus: His Intellectual, Spriritual and Material World." (Thurs., 4:30 p.m., Cole Assembly Room.)

STAGE

The Northampton Arts Council concludes its Four Sundays in February program with the "Really Big (?) Show," featuring ten-year-old Dylan Kaufman doing his best impersonation of Ed Sullivan. The show will also include the live wedding of Kathy Service and Tim DeCristopher and a live haircut for City Councilor Bill Dwight. (Sun., 2 p.m., Academy of Music Theater.)

MISCELLANEOUS

The Five College Dance Department presents a lecture and demonstration called "Urban Bush Women ... Working It Out," by Urban Bush Women artistic director Jawole Lilla Jo Zollar. (Wed., 4 p.m., Kirby Theater.)

Health Services presents a four-week workshop entitled "Women, Food and Body Image: Rewriting Our Stories, Restoring Ourselves," led by Health educators Diane Norman-Lentz and Gretchen Krull. (Wed., 7:30 p.m., McCaffrey Room.)

The 34th annual Casino!, a formal evening featuring gaming tables, a champagne room and swing music by New York's Doc Scanlon's Rhythm Boys, will be held to benefit charities fighting hunger and homelessness. (Sat., 9 p.m., Valentine Hall, $12 in advance or $14 at the door.)