Dan Webster

From virtually the beginning of recorded time, the very notion of motherhood has been universally honored. In 1915, songwriter Howard Johnson worked out the sentimental lyrics that still cause some people's eyes to water every time they hear his song "M-O-T-H-E-R." You know the tune, the one that starts out, "M is for the many ..." and goes from there.

In film festival circles, the name Sundance is golden. Year after year, the little film fest that Robert Redford founded in Park City, Utah, screens dozens of films to critics, industry types and plain old movie fans. A good reaction there can boost any film's chances of attracting a wider audience later on. But according to Kathleen McInnis, chief publicist of the Seattle International Film Festival, the atmosphere of Park City isn't always the best. Especially in January.

You can learn something on virtually every page of the "Roadside History of Idaho" (Mountain Press Publishing, 362 pages, $18 paperback). Turn to, say, page 161 of the newly published 11th edition. Here's what author Betty Derig has to say about the Craters of the Moon National Monument:

Emma Thompson stars in "Carrington."

If your only memory of Shakespeare was a lousy college production of "Hamlet" then Richard Loncraine's "Richard III" should surprise you. Ian McKellan portrays the villainous Briton with a barely contained glee. His acting, plus a Nazi-like 1930s-era setting, gives the play a welcomed boost that might please even the Bard.

Whitworth English professor Laura Bloxham isn't afraid to pose intimidating assignments. Case in point: her "nearly annual" Bronson Alcott Bad Prose Contest. Officially, the task she puts forward most every winter is this: Budding writers are asked to pen "one sentence of bad original prose, preferably the opening sentence of the worst novel you never expect to read."

Look around you. See the anger out there? Some examples are easy to spot. Random shootings by deranged surfers. Planned bombings by societal fringe-dwellers. Brutal beatings by abusive spouses.

Ian McKellan portrays an evil King Richard III in the newest adaptation.

(From "The Truth About Cats and Dogs")

Mother Nature unleashes her fury in National Geographic's "Cyclone."

Time marches on for America's World War II veterans. A half-century after the end of that global conflict, most of those who fought it have seen their 70th birthday come and go. The many stories that were printed in the national press as each 50-year anniversary of WWII passed is indicative both of the importance of that overall event and of the thanks each individual is owed. On Saturday, from 4 to 6 p.m., the Hastings outlet at 1704 W. Wellesley will deliver another thank-you by holding a special book signing featuring four authors of books recalling WWII.

French filmmaker Claude Lelouch takes an epic look at France and the first half of the 20th century in "Les Miserables." Using Victor Hugo's classic novel as an outline, Lelouch masterfully deconstructs the myths of France and World War II while examining how one man (played by Jean-Paul Belmondo) struggles to earn personal salvation.

Two of this week's major releases ranked among the more successful films of 1995, earning both satisfactory reviews and relatively good box office receipts. One, "The Bridges of Madison County," even earned an Oscar nomination for its female lead, Meryl Streep. However, the fact that the other, the African-American study "Waiting to Exhale," attracted no Oscar attention at all became a matter of controversy.

"The Truth About Cats and Dogs" stars Ben Chaplin, Uma Thurman and Janeane Garofalo.

Mark Rylance and Patsy Kensit.

When Ladies' Home Journal writer Leslie Bennetts asked a 42-year-old man what, generally speaking, men want from women, he answered "sex on demand." It's a big joke, right? Not completely, according to a professor of psychiatry quoted in the same article. Says Willard Gaylin of Columbia University, "A man wants validation that even though the world around him is eroding his sense of potency, somewhere there's someone who's going to make him feel potent." Worse, Gaylin says, this is why men tend to pull back when women offer what they think their man needs: sympathy.

If you haven't yet read Tim Egan's book "Breaking Blue," you're a little out of date. It was published in hardback by Knopf in 1992. But you now have another chance. Sasquatch Books of Seattle has purchased the paperback rights, and the book (267 pages, $14.95) is due out this month. "Breaking Blue" tells the story of former Pend Oreille County Sheriff Tony Bamonte's investigation of a half-century-old murder. The victim was the town marshal of Newport, Wash., George Conniff, and Bamonte contended that the murder was committed by Clyde Ralstin, a former detective on the Spokane Police Department.

(Gong Li)

Director Claude Lelouch brings Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables" into the 20th century.

"Now and Then" stars Rosie O'Donnell, Rita Wilson and Demi Moore.

FROM FOR THE RECORD (Wednesday 17, 1996): Don Barlow is a keynote speaker for Saturday's Solo Strategies Conference. He was misidentified in a Tuesday story.

(Photo of movie poster)

Nicole Kidman in "To Die For."

"Rashomon," playing at the Magic Lantern, will benefit KPBX.