Arts & Entertainment

By Rory Winston
A few years back, people had friends—the average kid could count his friends by using his fingers and, if he was popular but slow, he’d include his toes. Nowadays, young people have “friends.” An average conversation: “Lame—you have only 920 friends ...? Lol (Laugh Out Loud)—After 2 weeks I had like ... Wait: OMG (oh my God) mine’s up to 56 gazillion mwahahaha (or as some now write: sel—subversive evil laugh)”.

Literature
Best-selling author Calvin Trillin reads from “About Alice,” an ode to his beloved late wife, at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at 192 Books. Head to Bowery Poetry Club at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, when actress Patricia Clarkson joins poet Howard Altman to read from his collection “Who Collects the Days.”

“The Wicker Man”
Warner Bros. Pictures
That someone saw the need to remake “The Wicker Man” is far more fascinating to me than the actual movie. Either version, for that matter. But since they did, I will forge ahead. Redirected and rewritten by Neil LaBute and starring the once-great actor Nicolas Cage, the movie occupies some vague middle ground between horror and comedy. And neither one is intentional.

A Guide To The Spring 2007 Television Season

FOX
"24"
Mondays at 8 p.m.
When last we saw Jack Bauer, he was being kidnapped by the Chinese in connection with the death of the Chinese Consul in season four. Will he escape in order to continue thwarting the terrorists? Tune in to FOX for the two-night, four-hour season six premiere Jan. 14 and 15 to find out.

By Jennifer Grogan

When art historians heard the suggestion recently that a famous statue believed to be the work of classical sculptors was in fact a forgery by the Renaissance artist Michelangelo, they were skeptical.

Dance/Film
Dance Films Association presents its 35th annual Dance on Camera Festival Jan. 3-7 and 12-13 at Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theatre.

Dance
Dance Theater Workshop kicks off its 42nd year of Fresh Tracks, a series that features new works by emerging artists, Jan. 4-6.

“Little Miss Sunshine”
Fox Searchlight Pictures

I loved this movie—I’ll even overlook the indie-film stereotypes in the characters because every actor manages to dig deep and come up with profoundity and pathos. The story is rife with conflict and angst, and it’s real. Every character in the film is everyone we’ve ever met, been related to or slept with and it’s delivered within the context of a very clean road movie.

By Michelle Vellucci

Archaeologist Howard Carter searched Egypt’s Valley of the Kings for seven years before unearthing the tomb of the ancient pharaoh Tutankhamun in November of 1922. In it he discovered rooms within rooms filled with boxes and nested shrines. Tutankhamun’s body itself was placed inside three coffins, the innermost one made of solid gold.

By Heather Corcoran
Think you’re busy this holiday season? Between performances as the Sugar Plum Fairy in George Balanchine’s “The Nutcracker,” prima ballerina Wendy Whelan has her hands full preparing for her next star turn—Aurora in “Sleeping Beauty.” This season marked her 15th as a principal with New York City Ballet, which she joined in 1981. We caught up with Whelan between class and rehearsal to talk about the special place the arts occupy in New York.

THEATER
“The Coast of Utopia, Part Two: Shipwreck,” the second chapter of Tom Stoppard’s trilogy about a group of 19th century Russian intellectuals, is now playing at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater. The trilogy spans 30 years and features 44 actors—among them Billy Crudup, Jennifer Ehle, Josh Hamilton, Ethan Hawke, Amy Irving and Martha Plimpton—in 70 roles. (150 W. 65th St., (212) 239-6200)