Critics' Choice

MOVIES

PELLE THE CONQUEROR. A timid old Swede and his dashing young son find work on a 19th-century Danish farm. Aided by stars Max von Sydow and Pelle Hvenegaard, director Bille August cuts a stern, colorful, grand swatch of Masterpiece Cinema.

MY STEPMOTHER IS AN ALIEN. Kim Basinger is an unlikely E.T. and Dan Aykroyd the earthling who humanizes her in a clever fable -- sweet and light enough for the kids, sexy and suspenseful enough for mature adults.

WORKING GIRL. Pert secretary Melanie Griffith climbs the corporate ladder, dislodging career gal Sigourney Weaver and claiming hunky Harrison Ford in Mike Nichols' suave tale about getting it all on your own sweet terms.

THEATER

WE. Pulitzer prize winner Charles Fuller (A Soldier's Play) launches an earnest, poignant cycle of five black history dramas, beginnning with Sally and Prince, in repertory off Broadway.

EASTERN STANDARD. Insider trading, bag ladies, AIDS and nouvelle cuisine -- everything '80s gets skewered, then sentimentalized, in this stylish satire transferred to Broadway.

FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE. Kathy Bates returns to the role she winsomely originated in Terrence McNally's off Broadway hit about love between two lonely losers.

PLATONOV. Romanian director Liviu Ciulei blends farce and great sadness in Chekhov's early drama, at Harvard's American Repertory Theater.

MUSIC

THE MODERN JAZZ QUARTET: FOR ELLINGTON (East-West). Part homage, part re- invention, this is a ravishing tribute by one of the premier jazz groups to one of America's greatest composers. The MJQ pay the Duke the ultimate honor: they don't just respect him, they make him swing.

HANDEL: MESSIAH (Archiv). O thou that tellest good tidings: Handel's hardy perennial gets a definitive performance from Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert & Choir. Hallelujah!

SCHUBERT: SYMPHONY NO. 9 (Virgin). Charles Mackerras leads the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in the aptly nicknamed "Great" C Major Symphony, on original instruments.

THE TRAVELING WILBURYS, VOL. 1 (Wilbury Records). They look and sound a lot like George Harrison, Bob Dylan and other famous folk. Could it possibly be? The mystery is thin, but the sounds are joyous, making this the good-time record of the year.