Dan Webster

Poetry has been used to comment on everything from puppy love to world calamity. James Brock had more of the latter in mind when he compiled the poems for his just-published collection "The Sunshine Mine Disaster" (University of Idaho Press, 74 pages, $12.95 paperback). Brock, a visiting assistant professor of English at Idaho State University, has researched the tragedy - which occurred at the Kellogg, Idaho, mine on May 2, 1972, resulting in 92 deaths - and made it the centerpiece of this fascinating little book.

'Don't be a Menace...' made a respectable $9.6 million.

When the choice to be made is between head and heart, most mainstream movie fans will choose heart. And that's why "Mr. Holland's Opus" should make a lot of money. Here is a film that strives to honor teachers who sacrifice for their work. They, the movie says, deserve praise for trying to teach kids who not only don't want to learn but have a hard time even staying awake in class. It revolves around Glenn Holland (Richard Dreyfuss), a composer whose 1965 high-school teaching "gig" turns into a 30-year career. He's a boogie-woogie "Mr. Chips."

"Sense" stars, from left, Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet and Gemma Jones.

Laurence Fishburne is Othello and Kenneth Branagh is Iago.

Despite the regular fare fed to our children both on television and the big screen, there is a certain kind of children's film that is both entertaining and educational. In other words, kids can have some fun while learning something useful about the big world. One of the movies released Tuesday on video, "Indian in the Cupboard," is exactly that (see capsule review below). Here, then, are a few recommended others: "Big" (1988) - Aside from a fine pre-Oscar performance by Tom Hanks, this little film about a boy who gets his greatest wish, to be big, is a touching statement about the child in all of us. "Heidi" (1937) - Here's Shirley Temple in the definitive version of the little Swiss girl's adventure living with Grandfather, then with a rich family in the city and, finally, with Grandfather again. "Searching For Bobby Fischer" (1993) - A 7-year-old boy (Max Pomeranc), normal in any other respect, turns out to be a chess prodigy. The struggle between his parents, his teacher (Ben Kingsley) and his street coach (Laurence Fishburne) force the boy to figure out what he wants for himself. "To Kill a Mockingbird" (1962) - A powerful statement against racism, this adaptation of Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel may be the best book-to-screen treatment ever achieved. Gregory Peck is a widower lawyer whose children, played by Mary Badham and Phillip Alford, get to experience for themselves the tragedy of poverty and racial hatred. "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" (1971) - Adapted from the Roald Dahl novel, this bizarre film does a bit of reverse-psychologizing to teach its lessons and features the great Gene Wilder in one of his finest roles. You'll never forget the "Oompa-Loompa" song. Indian in the Cupboard ***-1/2 Omri is a typical boy living with his atypical family in big city. When his brother unaccountably gives him a cupboard for his birthday, he is surprised, shocked even, when it proves to have magical powers. For example, when he stores a three-inch-tall plastic model of an Indian warrior in the cupboard overnight, it becomes alive. And, eventually, the little brave becomes his best friend. The script, as directed by Frank Oz, is then a touching opportunity to explore such adult topics as responsibility, courage, loyalty and even death. That last aspect may have earned "Indian in the Cupboard" its PG rating, but it doesn't detract from the film's poignancy nor its power. Rated PG Nine Months * Director Chris ("Home Alone") Columbus takes a perfectly good idea, blends it with some questionable casting, a couple of idiotic plot twists plus the most annoying slapstick imaginable and comes up with this lame comedy starring Hugh ("I Love L.A.") Grant. Cast opposite Julianne Moore as a spoiled child therapist who can't stand the thought of his own impending parenthood, Grant is mostly a mess of tics and grins and bug-eyed grimaces. Moore in particular is wasted, as are Jeff Goldblum and the occasionally funny Robin Williams. Comedy works well enough when people are acting silly, even against their better nature, but the characters whom Columbus has created here (besides directing, he wrote the screenplay) are mostly just plain unlikeable. As for the continuing stardom of Tom Arnold, well, that is becoming increasingly harder to figure out. Rated PG-13.

There's a name for those of us who have both dependent children and parents nearing the age where they need supervised care. We're called "The Sandwich Generation." We're the market that Gail and John Goeller targeted when they put out the first edition of their book "Spokane's Guide to Healthy Aging." Now in its second edition, the Goellers' book has a new title and several expanded sections.

We live in an era controlled by the black-and-white school of social thought. Newsweek magazine, for example, runs a photo of Hillary Rodham Clinton on its cover. The caption reads: "Saint or Sinner?" Eschewing the notion of a middle ground, conservatives call Clinton a "congenital liar." Her defenders, meanwhile, mostly just question the motives of any Clinton critic. The same clash of viewpoints exists in the debate over parenting. Most people are so anxious to state what they believe that they seldom consider opposing views. But let's try. And what we're talking about here is a father's role in parenting as defined by Jerold Lee Shapiro, a psychologist and author of "The Measure of a Man: Becoming the Father You Wish Your Father Had Been."

Angela (Sandra Bullock) talks to authorities in "The Net."

1. Anthony Hopkins 2. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy starred in "Before Sunrise."

"Exhale" stars, from left, Loretta Devine, Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett and Lela Rochon.

Once you get past your first few emotional outbursts, Paul Verhoeven's "Showgirls" may make for fun viewing. I wouldn't know because I'm still intimately involved with my Pavlovian reaction to this Paul Verhoeven adaptation of a Joe Eszterhas screenplay about dreams, bared bodies, lounge-act-quality singing and dancing, swimming-pool sex and the subtle nature of Las Vegas life.

1. Watterson's obstreperously thoughtful 6-year-old boy and his toy tiger are going to be missed by many fans. 2. In the Raccoom series, Calvin deals with the complexities of death. 3. Calvin has Hobbes as his scapegoat when he cuts his own hair in the Haircut series. 4. Calvin's mom shows up in the oddest places. 5. Calvin's adventures with Hobbes were driven by his over-flowing imagination. 6. Calvin is "Everyboy" at the dinner table. 7. Hobbes was only a stuffed animal when adults were around. When they left, Calvin's imagination set Hobbes free. 8. Calvin had a unique ability to study the ridiculous. Few topics were too small for contemplation. 9. Hobbes was a true comfort to Calvin in keeping away the creatures of the night, sometimes. 10. Many fans found truth in Calvin's simply spoken philosophical ideologies.

Some 178 years after her death, British novelist Jane Austen has become hot copy. People magazine even named her one of the 25 most intriguing people of the year. What does that say about 1995?

Divorce is a rough experience for anyone to undergo, and many of us do it at least once. According to the new book "Women on Divorce: A Bedside Companion," edited by Penny Kaganoff and Susan Spano, almost a third of the women who marry between the ages of 20 and 44 end up divorced. And as for second chances, the book offers little good news on that front: Half of all second marriages end up in divorce court. Men, of course, are half the equation. And they have their own means of dealing with marital dissolution. But this book is about women. The men who fail them, and whom they fail, are on many lines (and between most others). "Women on Divorce," however, is concerned more with who women are, and what they have left, when the wedding vows get shattered.

So, you're looking for some last-minute Christmas gifts. Well, why not a book? And why not a book by a local author? Here are some suggestions: "Salt Dancers" by Ursula Hegi. This new novel by the Eastern Washington University writing instructor involves a single mother returning home to Spokane to confront her past.

When a filmmaker decides to take a real-life incident and portray it on screen, he or she has a right - some might say obligation - to take certain creative liberties. Everyone should know, after all, that an Oliver Stone film is only one side of history, one aspect to the truth. It is not, nor is it meant to be seen as, a documentary-like mirror held up to reflect actual events.

Spokane author Jack Nisbet was named recipient of the inaugural Murray Morgan Prize for his book "Sources of the River: Tracking David Thompson Across Western North America." The award, which is sponsored by the Tacoma Public Library, goes to a Washington author "in recognition of a work ... which is of high literary quality and wide interest and embodies the principles of narrative excellence and high standards of research as exemplified in the distinguished career of Murray Morgan."

Famke Janssen and Sean Bean are the baddies in "GoldenEye."

Natasha Henstridge stars as the product of a DNA experiment in "Species."

Vanessa Redgrave and Edward Fox star in "A Month by the Lake."

Admit it: Sometimes when you pull onto I-90, you feel like driving until you run out of gas. Right? It's not necessarily that you hate your life. It's not even that you're fully convinced things are any better down the road.

If you remember the Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan film "Sleepless in Seattle," you may remember how great a date movie it was. That's how Seattle author-publisher Steve Oliver recalls it. Only Oliver sees it as more of a comedy than a romance.

It ended up having 175,000 lights. And, if you can imagine, that was the scaled-down version of the Christmas display set in the front yard of Mitzi and William Jennings Bryan Osborne of Little Rock, Ark.