movies
The Slaughter Rule
David Morse coaches small-town football star, Ryan Gosling (pictured), in this film about the Platonic love between a fatherless boy and his closeted coach. Having made his name as a ferocious, self-hating Jewish skinhead in The Believer, 22-year-old Gosling gives another memorable performance as a lonely, world-hating quarterback.
.
• Tickets & Showtimes.

dance
Altogether Different 2003
Annual modern dance festival highlights incredibly diverse works from around the world and premieres pieces never before seen in the U.S. Tonight's performance features Keely Garfield Sinister Slapstick. In Free Drinks For Ladies With Nuts, Garfield "ponders the notion of female accountability and the irresistible urge to run away."

• 8pm, $20.
Joyce Theater, Eighth Ave. at 19th St., 212-242-0800
or www.joyce.org.

art
The Park Avenue Cubists
A retrospective of four patrician artists (A. E. Gallatin, George L. K. Morris, Suzy Frelinghuysen, and Charles G. Shaw) who, in the thirties, brought Cubism to New York and, through patronage and publicity, smoothed the way for the genre’s entry into museums and art-history classes.

• 11am-6pm. Through March 29th.
Grey Art Gallery, 100 Washington Square East, 212-998-6780.



classical
The New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players
They are the very image of a modern major company: One of the premier G&S troupes in town starts its season with The Pirates of Penzance (tonight), followed in quick succession by The Mikado and The Gondoliers.

• 8pm, $18-$90. Through Jan.12.
City Center 145 W. 55th St. 212-581-1212.

theater
Twelfth Night and Uncle Vanya
Emily Watson (Breaking the Waves, Punch-Drunk Love). makes her U.S. stage debut at BAM, playing, in repertory, Viola in Twelfth Night (tonight) and Sonya in Uncle Vanya. The Sam Mendes–directed imports were a huge
hit this fall at London's Donmar Warehouse. "I like playing these two very different roles," says Watson, "because Sonya is quite emotionally draining—she taps into a rich vein of sadness... and then I get a release with Viola, who is a wit and a wordsmith."

• 7:30pm, $30- $75.
BAM, 651 Fulton St., Bklyn, 718-636-4100. Schedule varies; call for details.

shopping
Friday Night Salon Special
Anderson French has the "Beauty Hour" every Friday night, which includes a blowout and manicure for $35 (usually $65) plus free apple martinis, food, and music.

• 5pm-7pm.
Anderson French, 18 E. 53rd St., 212-838-1820.

• More Sales & Bargains

kids
Hansel and Gretel
The brother and sister duo takes their place at Central Park's Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater. This classic tale by the Brothers Grimm portrays the resourceful sibs encountering adventure as well as a bit of danger, ultimately triumphing over the evil witch.

• 1pm, $6 for adults, $5 for kids.
Central Park, Swedish Cottage, 79th St. and the West Drive, 212-988-9093.

movies
The Son
A carpentry teacher meets a new student —whose past is horribly connected to his own—in the fifth film from the Belgian brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne, known for Cannes Palme d’Or winner Rosetta. In French, with English subtitles.

• Tickets & Showtimes.

festival
George A. Romero Retrospective
George Romero's $70,000 Night of the Living Dead gave a gigantic boost to both the horror genre and independent filmmaking in 1968. "My zombie films are very bloody, but they're the only ones.", he says. This week, a complete retrospective of the Bronx-born storyteller's career also features his little-seen art films, like Knightriders which stars a young Ed Harris as the King Arthur-influenced leader of a motorcycle gang.

• American Museum of the Moving Image, 35 Avenue at 36 St., Qns., 784-0077.

tours
Van Cortlandt Night Hike
Intrepid walkers explore night creatures inhabiting the Bronx woodlands (and dress warmly), accompanied by a knowledgeable ranger.

• 5pm, free.
Meet at Van Cortlandt Park Nature Center, Broadway at 246th St., Bronx, 866-NYC-HAWK.

benefit
Burns Supper
The annual tribute to Scotland's most beloved poet is notorious for encouraging the consumption of perhaps its grittiest: haggis. So it's fitting that the evening of fine scotch, verse, bagpipes, and organ meats (among other dishes) benefits the People's Poetry Gathering, which every two years does its best to bring slammers, academics, standard-bearers, and tribal raconteurs together in one gloriously messy festival.

• 7pm, $100.
Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery, 211-614-0505.

kids
Bang the Drum at Sony
Percussion plays an important musical role for cultures throughout the world. Now it's your tyke's turn for their own drum role. Kids can rap to their own beat at the Sony Wonder Technology Lab as they create their own colorful tom-tom.

• 2pm-5pm, $10.
Sony Wonder Lab, Madison Ave. at 56th St., 212-833-4698.

radio
"Survival Kit" with Oliver Saks
For those New Yorkers still riddled with terror-anxiety, or for those who just believe in Boy Scout-like preparedness, the popular scientist-writer talks about the eight items he'd need to have during six months of isolation.

• 2pm.
WNYC, 820 AM.