Critics' Voices

By Compiled by Andrea Sachs

MOVIES

BAD INFLUENCE. A devilish Rob Lowe matches wits with James Spader (sex, lies, and videotape), who plays a computer-nerd Faust in this stylish thriller. Spader, a truly talented actor, accomplishes the rare trick of making the weak good guy seem more interesting than the strong bad guy.

HOUSE PARTY. On the night of the biggest party of the year, Kid (Christopher Reid) is grounded because of his bad report card. What's Kid to do? Sneak out, of course. Writer-director Reggie Hudlin gives zip and lots of laughs to this sharp, hip-hop comedy that blends a John Hughes-like ear for dialogue with the visual flair of Spike Lee.

FOR ALL MANKIND. By combining NASA footage of the Apollo missions and voice- over interviews with 13 astronauts who visited the moon, this award-winning documentary recreates the exhilarating experience of exploring earth's satellite from pre-launch to splashdown.

TELEVISION

CRISIS: URBAN EDUCATION (PBS, April 10 and 17, 10 p.m. on most stations). The ills of big-city schools -- and some of their successes -- are explored in four half-hour documentaries, spread over two weeks.

CAPITAL NEWS (ABC, debuting April 9, 9 p.m. EDT). Hill Street Blues alum David Milch co-created this overly earnest ensemble drama about reporters for a Washington newspaper. Lloyd Bridges presides weekly as the crusty editor.

FESTIVALS

NEW ORLEANS JAZZ & HERITAGE FESTIVAL. Ten days of hot music (jazz, blues, R. and B., Zydeco, gospel) and spicy food (jambalaya, crawfish pie, gumbo, red beans and rice), set in America's premier party town. Now in its 21st year, the festival will play host to some 3,000 musicians, including local artists and such international stars as B.B. King, Ramsey Lewis, Linda Ronstadt, Gary Burton, Ornette Coleman and the Crescent City's own Neville Brothers. April 27 through May 6.

THE U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL, Colorado Springs. From The Wrath of Grapes, a documentary about pesticide threats to farmworkers, to the pilot of The Elite, television's first eco-police drama, a feast of 135 movies, videos, shorts and cartoons that is certain to give the 20,000 expected participants a Rocky Mountain high. April 27 through 29.

ETC.

TALIESIN WEST: FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT'S ARIZONA LEGACY, Scottsdale. There have long been daily tours, but now the master's Western architecture school and home is offering special seminars and musical performances, as well as expanded tours each Thursday, featuring spaces never before open to the public. Through April 15, 1991.

TO MANY AMERICANS, THE WORDS SPANISH WINE mean sherry or sangria, that treacly mixture of fruit, club soda and purplish plonk. But try the phrase out on bargain-minded oenophiles, and the response is likely to be Rioja or Penedes, the rugged northern districts that produce most of the country's best table wines. Major vintners have spent millions on modernization, and Spanish reds and whites, once notorious for unreliability, have more than held their own in recent blind tastings with comparably priced products of France, Italy and California. In the U.S., Montecillo and Marques de Caceres are the best- selling Rioja brands, Torres the dominant name from Penedes. For a top-of- the-line treat, try one of the velvety, puissant reds produced by Pesquera (Alejandro Fernandez) or Vega Sicilia. Critics agree that they are world- class in quality -- but, alas, in price as well.

THEATER

CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF. Can screen sex-goddess Kathleen Turner play Tennessee Williams' toughest and lustiest heroine? An emphatic yes, though it doesn't hurt that she spends the whole first act in just a slip. The director is from Britain, and most of the accents are from Mars; but otherwise this is a spectacular production, with Turner's steam offset by the wonderfully chilly malice of Charles Durning as the patriarchal plutocrat Big Daddy.

SEX, DRUGS, ROCK & ROLL. Solo satirist Eric Bogosian (Talk Radio) in another city-smart walk on the wild side. His characters, from a rock star to a homeless man to a fist-pounding executive, are realized with a stunning eye for detail.

ST. MARK'S GOSPEL. What Hal Holbrook is to Mark Twain, Alec McCowen is to the King James Version of Scripture, and the return of this rich, textured performance off-Broadway is good news even for atheists.

MUSIC

RAGE TO LIVE: BLAME THE VICTIMS (Restless/Bar/None). Intense, intrepid rock 'n' roll. A Jersey group for whom Springsteen's Asbury might as well be a black hole on the ocean, Rage to Live muscles its way through 20 tunes -- some tough, some off-center -- and does a three-minute job on the CSN&Y classic Suite: Judy Blue Eyes that leaves you wondering what the original did with the extra five minutes.

THE LOUNGE LIZARDS: VOICE OF CHUNK (1-800-44-CHUNK). Another bold first in direct marketing: the name of the label is the number you dial to order the record. The Lizards are actor-saxer John Lurie's loose-limbed group of refried bop addicts, and Chunk fairly swings with wit and invention.