Spectacle Picks

Art..............Michelle Finocchi

Tonight at the Newseum/NY at 6:30 p.m., Martha Rial, a staff photographer for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette and a Pulitzer Prize winner, will discuss her career as a photojournalist and several of her international and local projects. Before the talk, check out The Pulitzer Prize Photographs: Capture the Moment at Newseum/NY. On view at this exhibition will be many monumental photographs, including Robert H. Jackson's photograph of Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald (1964) and Eddie Adams's photograph of the execution of a Viet Cong prisoner (1969). Newseum/NY. 580 Madison Ave. (btw. 56th and 57th Streets) (212) 317-7596 Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Free.

Books...............Annie Chan

Looking for an alternative to those macho, "Me Superman, you helpless female victim forced to face potentially life-threatening situation in heels" comic books? Look no further because kryptonite has a new name. Meet Erica Smith, editor and creator of the überhip, Brighton-based underground girls' zine GirlFrenzy, and regular contributing artist Carol Seatory, of paper cut-out comic strip fame, this Friday at Bluestockings. Smith has been publishing articles and comic strips by and about female 'zinesters since 1991, but rather than make-up tips, diet regimens, or shoe fetish therapy, she opts to include essays on topics ranging from '70s comic books to homemade nipple tassels, in addition to the latest work of talented young female comic strip artists. Bluestockings. 172 Allen St. (212) 777-6028. Friday, Sep.15. 7 p.m. Free.

Film...............Patrick Ciccone

With the strike at MoMa over, you can now enter the museum's doors without guilt, but you may still end up feeling guilty if you go to see Paul Verhoeven's 1997 bug-exploding mindfuck Starship Troopers. Just keep telling yourself that this is a parody, and you might feel better about enjoying the sight of immaculate, ridiculously chiseled youth blasting alien bugs to gooey bits in the near fascist future. Verhoeven, director of the current Hollow Man and 1990s touchstones Basic Instinct and Showgirls, turns every surface in the film into a weirdly smooth airbrush contour, making the human element of the film look distinctly unreal next to the digital bugs. Featuring poetic lines like, "They sucked his brains out!" and the intelligent acting of Ms. Denise Richards and Neil Patrick Harris (a.k.a. Doogie Howser), this flick also treats us to a very nude version of an innovation that began in Wien Hall: co-ed showers. Museum of Modern Art. (212) 708-9480. Sunday, Sep. 17, 1:00 p.m.

Food...............Kristin Savarese

If you happen to have tripped over a pot of gold on your morning jog, hustle down to Union Square tonight for Harvest in the Square. For only $85, you can sample unlimited treats from local restaurant kitchens and vendors who will set up booths inside the park. The benefit runs from 7:30-10 p.m., and even if you can't afford to bite, there is no better people-watching than ogling the crowds of New Yorkers who can. There's another type of harvest on Saturday at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. In a bizarre homage to the tomato, there will be canning demonstrations, recipe contests, and many fresh tomatoes for sale. Not as glamorous as the Harvest, but admission is one paltry donation of a can of food, tomatoes perhaps. All donations will go to City Harvest, and the stunning Brooklyn Botanic Garden puts the weeds in Union Square to shame. Union Square. 14th St. and Broadway. (212) 239-6200. Thursday, Sep. 14, 7:30 p.m. $85. Brooklyn Botanic Garden. 1000 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn. (718) 623-7200. Saturday, Sep. 16, 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Donation of one can of food.

Music...............Tania Biswas

True love never dies. Or in Sarah Brightman's case, true novelty. Armed with something of a vacant expression and vocal cords that are strong enough to take kickboxing lessons, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber's ex-wife and first Christine Daae to star in the musical version of The Phantom of the Opera takes to the stage yet again to astound audiences with her celestial voice and shove another "I told you so" in Webber's recently little-seen face. If you have any sort of childhood obsession with the Broadway recording of Phantom, you might want to attend. There's no telling whether she'll pull out the "Time to Say Goodbye" or "The Phantom of the Opera" guns, but if the ticket prices have anything to say about it, she damned well better. Theater at Madison Square Garden, 7th Avenue (btw. 31st and 33rd Streets), (212) 465-674. Friday, Sep. 22, 8 p.m. $55-85.

Theater...............Casey O'dOnohoe & R. Eric Thomas

Ralph Fiennes has left the big screen and London behind for...Brooklyn? Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) presents Richard II and Coriolanus in rotating performances through the end of September. The harsh reality is that tickets are sold out, but any returned tickets will be made available 90 minutes prior to curtain at the Harvey Theater box office. Since good theater is worth fighting for, we challenge you to make the trip to Brooklyn and chain yourself to the box office to gain entrance to what promises to be Shakespeare like he's never been before. Harvey Theater at Brooklyn Academy of Music. 651 Fulton St. (btw. Ashland Pl. and Rockwell Pl.) (718) 636-4100. Richard II: Sep. 16,19,20,23,26,27,30, 7:30. Coriolanus: Sep. 21,22,28,29 at 7:30. $25, $45, $75. Performances Tuesday-Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday-Sunday at 3 and 8 p.m. Tickets are $12 for students, $45 for others. (212) 460-5475.