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)

Love endures through the confusion and pain of Alzheimer's disease in "Iris," a real-life drama starring Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent and Kate Winslet.

Cinemark at Hampshire Mall

(587-4233)

Josh Hartnett as devout Matt Sullivan tries to give up sex for Lent to test the controlling power of his wily girfriend in Robert Perez's latest œuvre, "40 Days and 40 Nights."

Jason Shephard (Frankie Muniz), a 14-year-old whose writing assignment gets ripped off by big-shot movie producer Marty Wolf (Paul Giamatti), voyages to Hollywood to get his revenge in "Big Fat Liar."

Director Ron Howard's skillfully directed but somewhat 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.

The Britney Spears vehicle "Crossroads," a road-trip movie featuring the pop star as a teen in search of her biological mother, fails to deliver even the guilty pleasure its cast and premise promise.

Based on the book by Marc Bowen, "Black Hawk Down" is a visually 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.

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

Author and collector James Allen will talk in regards to "Without Sanctuary," his current exhibition of photographs of American lynchings. (Thurs., 4 p.m., 115 Fayerweather.)

Mount Holyoke College Professor of Art Anthony W. Lee will give a lecture titled "North of the Border: The U.S. in the Mexican Artistic Imagination." (Thurs., 7 p.m., Stirn Auditorium.)

Public Radio International composer and editor of Marketplace, David Brancaccio, will give a talk about what happens behind the scenes at his business news program. (Thurs., 7:30 p.m., Chapin Auditorium, Mount Holyoke College. For tickets, call 545-2511)

TUNES

Samuel Adler, one of the best-known contemporary American composers who is writer-in-residence at Mount Holyoke College, will be present for a concert of exclusively his own works sponsored by the Five College departments of music. (Thurs., 8 p.m., Pratt Hall, Mount Holyoke College.)

The Pioneer Valley Gay Men's Chorus will be holding their annual spring season concert. (Sat., 7 p.m., Sweeney Concert Hall, Smith College. For ticket information, call 586-2354.)

MISCELLANEOUS

Mount Holyoke College Professor of Philosophy Thomas Wartenberg, author of the book "Unlikely Couples: Movie Romance as Social Criticism," will speak preceding the film "Together," as part of the film series inspired by the book. (Thurs., 7:30 p.m., Wadsworth Auditorium, Hartford, Conn.)

Peter Orner and Mount Holyoke college alumna Sabina Murray will treat the public with readings from their respective acclaimed collections of short stories, "Esther Stories" and "The Caprices." (Mon., 7 p.m., The Odyssey Bookshop.)