Critics' Voices

By Compiled by Andrea Sachs

MOVIES

THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER. The adaptation of Tom Clancy's best-selling nuclear- submarine saga (with sturdy Sean Connery) earns its thrills; it nicely balances human menace with technical gee-wizardry. But could this scenario happen in Gorbachev's navy?

WHERE THE HEART IS. Can a spoiled Manhattan family find happiness squatting in - a Brooklyn hovel? Why, sure. Can top director John Boorman (Hope and Glory) make a Disney comedy? Well, no. Dabney Coleman supplies the (few forced) laughs, Uma Thurman the redeeming prurient interest.

CINEMA PARADISO. In this Oscar nominee for best foreign picture, a Sicilian boy of the 1950s sees movies as the whole world -- a panorama of laughter, drama and forbidden dreams.

MUSIC

MICHAEL PENN: MARCH (RCA). Surprise. Here's a homage to the playful high seriousness of Beatles music that sounds workably modest, modern and personal. Penn (yes, he's got an actor brother named Sean) takes a while to find his footing, but once he does, tunes like Big House grab hold and don't let go.

JAZZ MASTERPIECES (Columbia). The latest crop of reissues in this remarkable four-year-old project features classic performances by such legends as Miles Davis, Roy Eldridge and Billie Holiday. But the most welcome new arrival to the series is trumpeter Bix Beiderbecke, whose digitally remastered 1927 sides capture the haunting tone and phrasing of the original "young man with a horn."

BOOKS

LONDON FIELDS by Martin Amis (Harmony; $19.95). The British author of Success and Money: A Suicide Note produces a murderously funny novel about a 1990s world that is tumbling inexorably toward a loveless void.

WHAT I SAW AT THE REVOLUTION by Peggy Noonan (Random House; $19.95). From a former speechwriter for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, the most amusing and self-effacing political memoir likely to come out of the 1980s.

MARY REILLY by Valerie Martin (Doubleday; $18.95). The Jekyll-Hyde saga from the point of view of a spunky, sensual servant girl.

ART

PHOTOGRAPHY UNTIL NOW, Museum of Modern Art, New York City. This idiosyncratic history of camera art culminates John Szarkowski's 28 distinguished years as MOMA's chief photo curator. Szarkowski tells the familiar tale with many unfamiliar images, like an impish papa springing surprises throughout a bedtime story. Through May 29.

SELECTIONS AND TRANSFORMATIONS: THE ART OF JOHN MARIN, National Gallery of Art, Washington. John Marin (1870-1953), a gifted painter whose dynamic, semi- abstract seascapes and urban scenes made him one of America's leading modernists, is surely due for a comeback. Perhaps this comprehensive sampling of his works could be the start of it. Through April 15.

TELEVISION

ELVIS (ABC, Sundays, 8:30 p.m. EST). ABC's new bio series offers two surprises. Rather than a cynical attempt to cash in on Elvismania, it is an unpretentious look at the King's early years. Surprise No. 2: despite glowing reviews and a good time slot, Elvis is walking on Lonely Street in the ratings.

CHANGES: CONVERSATIONS WITH JANE PAULEY (NBC, March 13, 10 p.m. EST). Jane Pauley interviews people who have gone through major personal or professional transitions in her first prime-time special since she left the Today show after 13 years.

ETC.

FELD BALLETS/NY, Joyce Theater, New York City. Choreographer Eliot Feld's renamed company has four new works. A standout is Ah Scarlatti, danced in jeans and featuring one of the sexiest pas de deux in recent years. Through April 1.

DANCE THEATER OF HARLEM, John F. Kennedy Center, Washington. This intrepid group has financial troubles it doesn't deserve and will probably shut down for a few months after this run. Meanwhile, it mixes old favorites (John Taras' Firebird) with ambitious newer productions (a program of Bronislava Nijinska's works, including Les Noces). Through March 25.

PORTEX. Fess up: a lot of what's so cool about personal computers -- their speed, their unforgiving accuracy -- is also what's so daunting. Here is an especially slick and simple piece of software that doesn't stint on wizardry and exudes a comforting, almost cozy familiarity. It turns any IBM or compatible machine (sorry, not Apple) into a fully functioning appointment calendar and phone directory -- a Filofax on a monitor. Yuppie nirvana! But wait. Lots of software can do similar stunts. Portex actually prints out addresses and lunch dates on supplied paper that fits snugly into a Filofax diary or any standard loose-leaf organizer. A word-processing program is included for aspiring PC Pepyses, but the real fun of Portex is savoring the illusion of a well-ordered life. After all, neatness counts. (Available at $69.95 to $169.95 from Eurosoft International, Asheville, N.C.)