Zorro

Rating: -- PG for sequences of violence/peril and action, language and a couple of suggestive moments. What it's about: -- The Robin Hood of the Old West rides again and helps California join the Union. Kid Attractor Factor: -- Action, and lots of it. Good/bad lessons: -- Don't assume dad's a weenie just because he let mom run off with the bad guy. Violence: -- Fancy swordplay and fistfights, because guns are for girlie men. Language: -- Spanglish, with un poquito profanity. Sex: -- Despite the lusty return of Catherine Zeta-Jones, no. Drugs: -- Zorro drinks too much.

TELEVISION 1.American Idol - Tuesday, Fox 2.American Idol - Wednesday, Fox 3.CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CBS 4.Grey's Anatomy, ABC 5.Desperate Housewives, ABC FILMS 1.Eight Below, Disney 2.Date Movie, 20th Century Fox 3.The Pink Panther, Sony 4.Curious George, Universal 5.Final Destination 3, New Line Cinema SINGLES 1.Check on It, Beyonce (featuring Slim Thug) 2.You're Beautiful, James Blunt 3.Grillz, Nelly (featuring Paul Wall, Ali and Gipp) 4.Be Without You, Mary J. Blige 5.I'm 'N Luv (Wit a Stripper)

Comic-strip panels portraying U.S. soldiers in Operation Desert Shield in today's "Doonesbury" are actually the work of "Zorro," a member of the Air Force who is stationed in Saudi Arabia, according to a spokesman for the comic strip's syndicate.The panels deal with the bleak living conditions of troops stationed in Saudi Arabia. In the first panel, "Doonesbury" creator Garry Trudeau drew a soldier who tells readers, "Check out these cartoon dispatches from the front, created by 'Zorro,' an airman stationed at Central Command in Saudi Arabia."

....................................Weekend....Total....No. of Rank Title (Studio)......gross*........gross*....weeks 1 Chicken Little (Disney)...$32.0...$72.0...2 2 Zathura: A Space Adventure (Columbia)...$14.0...$14.0...1 3 Derailed (Weinstein Co./Miramax)...$12.8...$12.8...1 4 Get Rich or Die Tryin' (Paramount)...$12.5...$12.5...1 5 Jarhead (Universal)...$12.3...$40.0...2 6 Saw II (Lions Gate)...$9.4...$69.53 7 The Legend of Zorro (Sony)...$6.6...$36.9...3 8 Prime (Universal)

Zorro By Isabel Allende. HarperCollins, 400 pages, $25.95. Anyone who read Isabel Allende's paean to magical realism, The House of the Spirits, developed an instant affinity for the Chilean author's highly original and sensual style. Allende's subsequent work has not always matched the luminous promise of that landmark first novel, however. Her recent memoirs and historical fiction have been readable enough, but none has achieved the sheer finesse of Spirits. Viva Zorro! This is not your tired matinee idol Zorro, nor the sexy cartoon Zorro of the comics.

"The Mask of Zorro" will make filmgoers pine for the days of the Saturday matinee serial, not only because it re-creates so many classic action stunts and picturesque cliff-hangers, but because, at two and a half hours, it begs to be sliced up into little pieces.If "The Mask of Zorro" were 45 minutes shorter, it would be an unqualified must-see this summer.There's plenty right with "The Mask of Zorro," which amply lives up to the "Zorro" legacy established by Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Tyrone Power in the "Mark of Zorro" films.

The makers of The Legend of Zorro, a bloated sequel to the exhilarating 1998 The Mask of Zorro, contend that it took them years to concoct a way to re-create the chemistry between Antonio Banderas' Zorro, the masked hero righting wrongs in Old California, and Catherine Zeta-Jones' Elena, his raven-haired lady fair. That's what they say. I think they dawdled until they noticed the success of Spy Kids, in which Banderas played the head of an espionage-agent family that stayed together because it slayed together.

ON AND OFF THE AIR:* Where do families begin? With the arrival of a baby, of course, and WBAL-Channel 11's second "Your Family Works" special explores the process this weekend.Airing at 7 p.m. Saturday (and repeating at 4 p.m. Sunday), "Rites of Passage: Part One -- Birth," follows an expectant couple through pregnancy and the baby's arrival.And on Sunday, a "Family Works Forum" special airs at noon. Anchor Carolyn McEnrue and reporter Tim Tooten moderate an hourlong discussion of family problems associated with the recessionary rise in unemployment.

....................................Weekend....Total....No. of Rank Title (Studio)......gross*........gross*....weeks 1 Chicken Little (Disney)...$32.0...$72.0...2 2 Zathura: A Space Adventure (Columbia)...$14.0...$14.0...1 3 Derailed (Weinstein Co./Miramax)...$12.8...$12.8...1 4 Get Rich or Die Tryin' (Paramount)...$12.5...$12.5...1 5 Jarhead (Universal)...$12.3...$40.0...2 6 Saw II (Lions Gate)...$9.4...$69.53 7 The Legend of Zorro (Sony)...$6.6...$36.9...3 8 Prime (Universal)

TELEVISION 1.American Idol - Tuesday, Fox 2.American Idol - Wednesday, Fox 3.CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CBS 4.Grey's Anatomy, ABC 5.Desperate Housewives, ABC FILMS 1.Eight Below, Disney 2.Date Movie, 20th Century Fox 3.The Pink Panther, Sony 4.Curious George, Universal 5.Final Destination 3, New Line Cinema SINGLES 1.Check on It, Beyonce (featuring Slim Thug) 2.You're Beautiful, James Blunt 3.Grillz, Nelly (featuring Paul Wall, Ali and Gipp) 4.Be Without You, Mary J. Blige 5.I'm 'N Luv (Wit a Stripper)

Rating: -- PG for sequences of violence/peril and action, language and a couple of suggestive moments. What it's about: -- The Robin Hood of the Old West rides again and helps California join the Union. Kid Attractor Factor: -- Action, and lots of it. Good/bad lessons: -- Don't assume dad's a weenie just because he let mom run off with the bad guy. Violence: -- Fancy swordplay and fistfights, because guns are for girlie men. Language: -- Spanglish, with un poquito profanity. Sex: -- Despite the lusty return of Catherine Zeta-Jones, no. Drugs: -- Zorro drinks too much.

The makers of The Legend of Zorro, a bloated sequel to the exhilarating 1998 The Mask of Zorro, contend that it took them years to concoct a way to re-create the chemistry between Antonio Banderas' Zorro, the masked hero righting wrongs in Old California, and Catherine Zeta-Jones' Elena, his raven-haired lady fair. That's what they say. I think they dawdled until they noticed the success of Spy Kids, in which Banderas played the head of an espionage-agent family that stayed together because it slayed together.

Capote Philip Seymour Hoffman stars as Truman Capote in a film that watches as the writer researches and pens his most celebrated book, In Cold Blood. Catherine Keener co-stars as lifelong friend Harper Lee. R. The Legend of Zorro Seven years after the last Zorro film, Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones return as the masked Mexican freedom fighter and his equally formidable wife. PG. Prime Uma Thurman is a new divorcee who's finding romance with a younger man, much to the consternation of her therapist (Meryl Streep)

LOS ANGELES -- Look for the boom to burn off the gloom. Doom, a film version of the popular video game, takes deadly aim this weekend at The Fog, a horror remake that's currently No. 1 at the box office. The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.: ..................

Zorro By Isabel Allende. HarperCollins, 400 pages, $25.95. Anyone who read Isabel Allende's paean to magical realism, The House of the Spirits, developed an instant affinity for the Chilean author's highly original and sensual style. Allende's subsequent work has not always matched the luminous promise of that landmark first novel, however. Her recent memoirs and historical fiction have been readable enough, but none has achieved the sheer finesse of Spirits. Viva Zorro! This is not your tired matinee idol Zorro, nor the sexy cartoon Zorro of the comics.

ELKIN, N.C. -- Walter Triplette is an entrepreneur whose hobbies and business are inseparable. For 25 years, his Triplette Competition Arms has been churning out weapons, masks and other fencing equipment used by competitors and casual fencers around the world. Triplette, 51, started the business while coaching fencing at Duke University after competing on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's varsity team. He still teaches the ancient sport and fences for fun. In the past decade, his company added a line of medieval products that calls to mind a time when fairy-tale knights fought dragons and rescued maidens.

Capote Philip Seymour Hoffman stars as Truman Capote in a film that watches as the writer researches and pens his most celebrated book, In Cold Blood. Catherine Keener co-stars as lifelong friend Harper Lee. R. The Legend of Zorro Seven years after the last Zorro film, Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones return as the masked Mexican freedom fighter and his equally formidable wife. PG. Prime Uma Thurman is a new divorcee who's finding romance with a younger man, much to the consternation of her therapist (Meryl Streep)

"Beach Party" is the umbrella title (no pun intended) for a trio of beach shows premiering tonight on The Learning Channel. "Beauty and the Beach" (8 p.m.-9 p.m., repeats 11 p.m.-midnight) reveals the bare facts about risque swimwear that has made waves throughout the century. "Beach Crazy" (9 p.m.-10 p.m., repeats midnight-1 a.m.) peers at the sunny side of surf and sand -- from spring break to saltwater taffy. Wrapping things up, Cheryl Tiegs narrates a repeat of "History of the Bathing Suit: Nothing to Hide" (10 p.m.-11 p.m., repeats 1 a.m.-2 a.m.)

"The Mask of Zorro" will make filmgoers pine for the days of the Saturday matinee serial, not only because it re-creates so many classic action stunts and picturesque cliff-hangers, but because, at two and a half hours, it begs to be sliced up into little pieces.If "The Mask of Zorro" were 45 minutes shorter, it would be an unqualified must-see this summer.There's plenty right with "The Mask of Zorro," which amply lives up to the "Zorro" legacy established by Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Tyrone Power in the "Mark of Zorro" films.

"Beach Party" is the umbrella title (no pun intended) for a trio of beach shows premiering tonight on The Learning Channel. "Beauty and the Beach" (8 p.m.-9 p.m., repeats 11 p.m.-midnight) reveals the bare facts about risque swimwear that has made waves throughout the century. "Beach Crazy" (9 p.m.-10 p.m., repeats midnight-1 a.m.) peers at the sunny side of surf and sand -- from spring break to saltwater taffy. Wrapping things up, Cheryl Tiegs narrates a repeat of "History of the Bathing Suit: Nothing to Hide" (10 p.m.-11 p.m., repeats 1 a.m.-2 a.m.)