WHAT'S HAPPENING : DINING.

Soul-full buffet brunch: Homey Southern-style fare now comes on buffet tables every Sunday at the hip, new Shark Bar restaurant, 826 N. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles, located toward the north end of the city's unofficial restaurant row.

Served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., the all-you-can-eat buffet is priced at $15.95 per person and includes a choice of beverages: fresh juices, fruit punch, sodas and coffee.

Orange juice is freshly squeezed, and there are numerous baked treats from the Shark Bar's ``bread basket.''

Smothered greens, fried chicken, fried whiting, cheese grits and macaroni and cheese are some of the down-home favorites available.

Scrambled eggs, French toast, bacon, sausages, roasted potatoes, fresh fruit and peach cobbler show up among the rest of the buffet fare opportunities.

Reputed to be a sports celeb hangout, the Shark Bar reportedly is already a fave of Shaq and Magic.

Reservations: [phone].

?13- Larry Lipson

art

Culturally connected: Half a century ago in North America, their artworks were being sold off, whitewashed or, at best, largely ignored. Now, in a seismic shift of cultural standards, Mexico's Modernist masters are being feted with a major exhibition all their own in Los Angeles.

``Mexican Masterpieces From the Bernard and Edith Lewin Collection'' brings together more than 90 paintings and works on paper by Carlos Merida and Rufino Tamayo, as well as selected works by their contemporaries Jose Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros.

The Lewins of Palm Springs began collecting Mexican art in the late 1950s, demonstrating a degree of foresight and aesthetic openness toward Latin American art that many U.S. art patrons at the time lacked. Their collection of more than 2,000 works, recognized as one of the world's most significant private holdings of Mexican art, came into LACMA's hands in September, ending years of art-world speculation.

``Mexican Masterpieces'' runs through Feb. 16. The museum is open noon-8 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday; noon-9 p.m. Friday; and 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For information, call [phone].

?13- Reed Johnson

theater

Theatrical early birds: Before they get to be masterpieces or even off-Broadway hits, plays first have to be works in progress. Unlike novels or paintings, plays are collaborative affairs that usually require outside input. Playwrights can benefit greatly from hearing early versions of their works read aloud or by test-driving them with a live audience - without the pressure of having to mount a full-fledged production.

Over the last decade, the Mark Taper Forum's New Work Festival has helped several well-regarded scripts take their first steps toward Broadway, including Robert Schenkkan's ``The Kentucky Cycle'' and Tony Kushner's ``Angels in America (both eventual Pulitzer Prize-winners). The festival also has attracted new audiences for a large number of L.A. playwrights and performance artists such as Don Cheadle, Sandra Tsing Loh, Kelly Stuart and Jose Rivera.

No telling whether another Pulitzer or Tony winner is lurking among this year's festival entries, but the guesswork makes for part of the fun.

Presented by the Taper in association with A.S.K. Theater Projects, the festival runs through Dec. 20. Valley residents get a bonus: Instead of having to schlep into downtown L.A., they can get a look at Garry Marshall's new Falcon Theatre in Burbank, where the festival is being held for the first time. It's located at 4252 Riverside Drive at the corner of Rose Street. For schedules and other information, call [phone].

?13- Reed Johnson

film

Binding and legal: ``John Grisham's The Rainmaker'' manages to be absorbing while remaining a totally predictable legal potboiler. Credit adapter-director Francis Ford Coppola for stocking the movie with terrific actors and abundant humor.

Matt Damon plays the idealistic law school grad who learns the ropes of the real Memphis attorney business from a couple of low-rent operators (Danny DeVito and Mickey Rourke, both hilariously crooked). Scrounging for clients, he eventually takes a massive insurance company to court, playing David to the Goliath of a high-powered firm headed by an oily smooth Jon Voight.

There are diversions and colorful characters along the way - Damon's dalliance with a young victim of domestic abuse, played by Claire Danes, goes particularly nowhere. But the film's main strength is its jaundiced, amused critique of a judicial system that favors the rich and powerful but leaves room for the poor and determined to raise all manner of Cain.

?13- Bob Strauss

music

Quizzical quality: Ben Folds, witty leader of the oddly named trio the Ben Folds Five, ought to put a sign next to his piano stating: ``Warning! Sense of humor at work.''

Folds, whose song titles include ``One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces'' and ``Battle of Who Could Care Less,'' is the type of guy who just can't refrain from laughing at funerals.

After a self-titled indie debut album received international acclaim a few years ago, the Ben Folds Five recorded the excellent ``Whatever and Ever Amen'' for the Sony-owned 550 Music label. The album, released in March, spawned national airplay for the above-mentioned songs as well as the new single, ``Brick.''

Folds, plus Scottish pop-rockers Travis, appears Sunday at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles. Travis, whose debut album ``Good Feeling'' garnered positive reviews, is named for the Harry Dean Stanton character in the film ``Paris, Texas.''

The literate, piano-based music of the Ben Folds Five brings to mind a dark-edged Billy Joel or a twisted Joe Jackson. Growing up in Chapel Hill, N.C., Folds soaked up Broadway scores and soul music while practicing piano.

Folds' guitarless trio played its first gig the week Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain killed himself.

The El Rey Theatre is at 5515 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. Show time is 8 p.m., and tickets are $13.50. Information: [phone].

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

Photo: (1) A young lawyer played by Matt Damon, left, learns the ropes in a law firm of ambulance chasers, including Danny DeVito, in Francis Ford Coppola's perceptive and humorous film, ``John Grisham's The Rainmaker.''

(2) Ben Folds Five brings its intelligent and quizzical ``One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces'' and other catchy titles to the El Rey Theatre on Sunday.

(3) ``Portrait of Frida Kahlo,'' circa 1939 by Diego Rivera, is included in the private collection of Mexican masters on display at the Los County Museum of Art.