Last minute

Extra performance: Santaland Diaries, by popular NPR commentator and humorist David Sedaris, has been a sell-out for New Edgecliff Theatre, so the company has added a 2 p.m. Saturday performance to the run, which closes this weekend.

Mr. Sedaris' adventures as a Macy's elf plays at The Artery, 913 Monmouth St., Newport. Call (513) 763-3844 for information.

Jackie Demaline

Countdown

At Humana: Cincinnati native Theresa Rebeck is among the playwrights who will be featured in the 2003 Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville.

Omnium-Gatherum, written with Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros, is about a dinner party as mad as Alice in Wonderland's tea party, set in a near-apocalyptic, post-Sept. 11 world.

The Humana Festival runs March 2-April 13. For a full schedule, call the box office at (800) 428-5849 or visit the Web site at www.actorstheatre.org.Jackie Demaline

Movie buzz

AFI awards: The American Film Institute has honored Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York and Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers as two of the 10 best movies of 2002.

The list included a number of movies that have yet to be widely released, including the dark comedy About Schmidt, starring Jack Nicholson, and The Hours, which stars Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore and Nicole Kidman.

The AFI also honored the Hugh Grant comedy About a Boy and the big-screen musical Chicago starring Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Richard Gere.

Rounding off the list were Adaptation, Antwone Fisher, The Quiet American and Frida. Last year, the institute recognized the first film in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring, as its movie of the year.

NY film award: Far From Heaven, Todd Haynes' sumptuous homage to the Technicolor melodramas of the 1950s, was the big winner this week at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, taking honors for best film and best director.

The movie also won in the categories of best supporting actor (Dennis Quaid), best supporting actress (Patricia Clarkson) and cinematography (Edward Lachman).

Other winners: Daniel Day-Lewis, best actor for Gangs of New York; Diane Lane, best actress, Unfaithful; Charlie Kaufman, best screenplay, Adaptation; Standing in the Shadows of Motown, best documentary. Y Tu Mama Tambien won for foreign language film.

The Associated Press

Movies opening Friday

Ararat
Eight Women
Gangs of New York
Two Weeks Notice
Wild Thornberrys

Coming Friday in Weekend

Nutcracker quiz: Just because the Nutcracker ballet has been around for a long time doesn't mean you know all about it.