CRITCS' PICKS : FILM.

As good as it gets: The ultimate film noir, produced a quarter-century after the genre's heyday, ``Chinatown's'' pitch black virtues still resonate as powerfully as ever. Back in a new, 25th anniversary print at the Nuart Theatre in West L.A., it's a sunny, Southern California nightmare with a richly intelligent sense of time and place.

Jack Nicholson was never better than as J.J. Gittes, a wised-up '30s private eye who proves naive compared to the vast scheme of money, water and family psychosis he uncovers. Faye Dunaway is the woman he loves but can't trust, a profoundly sad extrapolation on the femme fatale stereotype. And watch out for John Huston's Noah Cross, the kind of guy for whom the future means everything - and anything.

Directed by Roman Polanski from a Robert Towne script many consider the finest that's ever been written, ``Chinatown'' was a beautifully devastating combination of cinematic classicism and '70s cynicism. And it's still one of Hollywood's greatest masterpieces.

- Bob Strauss

stage

It's all relative: Sandra Tsing Loh's high school friends must've envied her: She could go on an international odyssey without ever leaving her Malibu family home. Born to an irascible Chinese father and a relentlessly upbeat German mother, Loh came of age in a household that was less multiculturally exotic than simply chaotic. In ``Aliens in America,'' her razor-edged, deeply felt and unsentimental new solo show at Tiffany Theaters, Loh takes her audience on a comic trek into the emotional outback of one American family. It's a tribute to the National Public Radio commentator's storytelling gifts that Loh's oddball kinfolk emerge from this theatrical triptych as vivid characters, the kind you might encounter in a well-wrought short story collection. Collaborating once more with director David Schweizer, Loh keeps buffing her performance skills, animating her words with a repertoire of expressive body language. But it's her prose voice - cheeky, perceptive, ultimately forgiving - that makes ``Aliens in America'' a touching postcard album of one woman's singular journey toward selfhood. Extended through Oct. 31. Call [phone].

- Reed Johnson

Barefoot diva: No need to break out your Portuguese-Creole phrase book when listening to Cesaria Evora. This Cape Verde island diva, who often performs barefoot, croons in a gentle but well-traveled alto about all those universal subjects that need no translation: lost loves, nostalgia and the weight of human sadness. Born in the tropical outpost of Sao Vincente, Evora is the reigning empress of mornas, the aching, minor-key ballads that are the Caribbean equivalent of American blues. But she's capable of moving easily from these beautifully poignant lamentations into the easygoing dance music of the coladeira, puffing cigarettes and taking straight shots whenever her band eases into a wordless transition. An ample woman with a soul to match, Evora yet knows how to keep her music light on its feet. She'll perform two shows, at 7 and 10:30 p.m., Saturday at UCLA's Royce Hall. Call [phone].

- Reed Johnson

music

Latin music sampler: There's more to Latin music than maracas. In fact, there are so many strains it's nearly impossible to keep track.

For a good overview, the Latin Jazz Hall of Fame brings together such greats as Chucho Valdes, Eliades Ochoa, Lalo Schifrin, Tito Puente and Eddie Palmieri on Saturday and Sunday at California Plaza's Watercourt.

Valdes was a member of Irakere, the first Cuban musical group to tour the United States. The pianist's approach encompasses the rhythms of Cuba's African religious traditions as well as various jazz styles. He appears Saturday with his quintet.

The same day, Buena Vista Social Club guitarist Ochoa makes his first local appearance, playing songs from the new ``Sublime Illusion'' disc.

Schifrin has penned more than 100 scores for film and TV, including the ``Mission: Impossible'' theme. He'll lift the curtain on his ``Latin Jazz Suite'' with an all-star big band Saturday.

Band leader and percussionist Puente, performing Sunday, is probably the most beloved symbol of Latin jazz today. A timbales virtuoso who also plays piano, congas, bongos and saxophone, his career was helped by Santana's cover versions of ``Oye Como Va'' and ``Para Los Rumberos.''

Co-headlining that day is the enigmatic Palmieri, one of the most prolific Latin musicians on the scene. The New York-born Afro-Cuban pianist fuses the styles of Herbie Hancock, Thelonious Monk and McCoy Tyner, and blended salsa, rock and r&b long before Ricky Martin was born.

The Watercourt is at 350 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. Show time is 5 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $16 per day (standing) or $25 for a two-day pass. General seating is $50 and $75. Information: [phone].

- Fred Shuster

television

Mr. Good Show: David Cross, one-half of the caustic talent pool of HBO's brilliant (but, sadly, now gone) sketch comedy series ``Mr. Show With Bob and David,'' returns to HBO at 10 p.m. Saturday with a scabrously funny hour of stand-up, ``David Cross: The Pride Is Back.'' Performing before a sometimes uncomfortable Seattle audience, Cross slaughters enough sacred cattle to open a chain of steakhouses - Catholics, evangelical Christians, Jews, pro-lifers, sick kids, public art, dope smokers and the Columbine massacre all get caught in Cross' crosshairs. One routine, involving his quest to experience a vision of the Virgin Mary, ends about as unexpectedly, as horribly and as hilariously as humanly possible.

Cross actually has an exceptionally humane outlook on life, but his approach to delivering his message is deceptively and hysterically virulent. As on ``Mr. Show,'' his material works overtime to offend genteel and comfortably mediocre mentalities, but fans of humor with a trenchant bite could hardly do better than this hour of funny fury.

- David Kronke

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos

PHOTO (1) Chucho Valdex and his quintet play Saturday at the Watercourt Plaza.

(2) The Nuart Theatre in West L.A. has brought back ``Chinatown,'' starring Jack Nicholson, to honor the film's 25th anniversary.

(3) Cesaria Evora performs the Caribbean equivalent of the blues Saturday in two shows at UCLA's Royce Hall.

(4) CROSS