EXHIBITIONS

Timothy Cummings' collection, entitled "Aberrations: Spot Portraits," is a series of works depicting androgynous youth marred by unidentified spots, suggestive of alienation, sexuality and hinting at the possibility of violence. (Through Thurs., Hampden Gallery at UMass.)

SELECT FLICKS

Academy of Music Theater

(584-8435)

From director Mira Nair, who directed the popular "Salaam Bombay!" comes "Monsoon Wedding," a hilarious romantic comedy set in New Delhi. As her extended family gathers for her upcoming wedding, the bride, Aditi, starts having doubts about her fiancée when she falls in love with her boss.

Cinemark at Hampshire Mall

(587-4233)

"Blade II" finds Wesley Snipes reprising his role as a half-human vampire hunter in this special-effects-laden action explosion. Boasting a higher budget and more fluid direction, this is a rare sequel that improves on the original.

"Death to Smoochy" showcases the odd but effective combination of Edward Norton and Robin Williams in the form of a clever satire about a straightlaced children's performer's struggle to maintain his dignity in the face of conglomerate corruption.

Though directed by "Se7en" director David Fincher, the thriller "Panic Room" is predictable and flaccid. Starring Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart as a mother and daughter pursued by a trio of thieves in their home, it features too many contrivances to provide the thrills it ought.

Dennis Quaid stars in "The Rookie," the surprisingly earnest real-life tale of retired pitcher Jim Morris, who was inspired by 12 years of coaching a championship high school team to return to competitive play himself.

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 crème de la crème of British film and stage actors. Seven-time Academy Award nominee and winner for Best Original Screenplay.

TALKS

James B. Rives of the classics department at York University in Toronto will give a talk on "The Trial of Apuleius: Money, Marriage and Magic in Roman North Africa." (Wed., 4:30 p.m., Cole Assembly Room, Converse Hall.)

Professor Paula Fredriksen of Boston University will discuss "Jesus, Paul, and the Origins of Christianity," the last talk in the lecture series entitled "Rethinking Jesus: His Intellectual, Spiritual and Material World." (Thurs., 4:30 p.m., Cole Assembly Room, Converse Hall.)

Copeland Fellow Ivor Miller will conduct a lecture and performance called "New Evidence for the African Diaspora in the Cuban Abakua Society," to be presented with Omí Odara, a five-member performance troupe. (Fri., 8 p.m., Cole Assembly Room, Converse Hall.)

Renowned painter Ellen Phelan will give a lecture entitled "Drawing into Painting," this year's Rapaport Lecture in Contemporary Art sponsored by the department of fine arts. (Fri., 4:30 p.m., Pryne Lecture Hall, 115 Fayerweather.)

STAGE

The Department of Theater and Dance's program amherst works will present its final production of the season, "In the Wake." The show is a two-act event consisting of the Amherst Group Theater's "FOB," a rumination on issues of assimilation and cultural heritage, and Erszi Palko's "The Orpheus Project," a contemporary adaptation of the ancient Greek myth. (Thurs., Fri. & Sat., 8 p.m., Kirby Theater. Free.)

TUNES

The Mount Holyoke Glee Club & Chamber Singers and Harvard University's Glee Club will perform their spring concert, featuring Brahms' "Nanie" and Vaughan Williams' "Spring" from Folk Songs of the Four Seasons. (Sat., 8 p.m., Abbey Chapel at Mount Holyoke College.)

The Grammy Award-winning a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock, whose music finds its roots in the sacred music of the black church, will perform a show incorporating hand percussion instruments and performance art. (Sun., 8 p.m., Calvin Theatre in Northampton.)

MISCELLANEOUS

Weekly Roundup Semester Finale! Come watch the taping of the last show of the year with special guest President Tom Gerety and music by a Boston hip-hop group, Witness Protection Program. (Fri., 8 p.m., Campus Center Frontroom.)

Australian author Peter Carey, who wrote the widely acclaimed "The True History of the Kelly Gang," will read various selections in an event sponsored by the Amherst College Creative Writing Center, the department of English, the Scott Turow Foundation and the George Lurcy Lecture Series and Fund. (Mon., 8 p.m., Pryne Lecture Hall, 115 Fayerweather.)