WHAT'S HAPPENING : FAMILY.

Free westerns for kids: Here's something you don't hear every day: ``free movie.'' And what about this?: ``two free movies.'' Sure, they're only 30 minutes each, and, sure, you need to go down to the Gallery Theatre, 4800 Hollywood Blvd., at 11:30 a.m. Saturday to see them. But they're adapted from illustrated children's books, and a hands-on art workshop for kids follows. In one film, ``Pecos Bill,'' narrated by Robin Williams with music by Ry Cooder, you can learn all about a great American tall tale. In the other, ``Annie Oakley,'' narrated by Keith Carradine with music by Los Lobos, see a true story of a female gunslinger in the Old West. The City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department will show two more films in the series next Saturday. Call [phone].

?13- Glenn Gaslin

dining

Local winery bash: Daume Winery, 270 Aviador St., Camarillo, is presenting its annual holiday open house from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Owner-winemaker John Daume, who also operates the Home Wine Shop in Woodland Hills, invites wine fanciers to a wine-tasting event featuring barrel samples of his 1996 wines: sangiovese from Temecula, zinfandel from El Dorado County and pinot noir from Oregon.

There will be hors d'oeuvres and barber-shop singers, Daume said. And discounts will be offered on several of the winery's 1993 and 1994 bottlings as well as gift boxes of Daume's '94 reserve chardonnay and '93 Bordeaux-blend.

For information, call [phone].

?13 - Larry Lipson

art

The power of drawing: In the modern art world of kinetic sculpture and computer animation, drawing seems almost quaint. Or, at least drawing as most of us think of it.

A new exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art at California Plaza tests the traditional wisdom about what drawing is. ``The Power of Suggestion,'' on view through Jan. 26, looks at drawing as a potential subject of art itself, rather than simply as a means for making art.

If this sounds a mite theoretical for a museum show, you're invited to inspect Meg Cranston's installation of drawings on the passion of Marvin Gaye, Kathleen Schimert's film- and photo-based works exploring such narrative genres as gothic fiction and Sowon Kwon's iris prints investigating the tension between idealized human forms and the confining boundaries of architecture.

Four talks are planned on the show, including one by exhibition curator Connie Butler at 1 p.m. Sunday. Museum hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday through Sunday; 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday. Admission is $6 adults, $4 students and seniors, and free to MOCA members and children under 12. Admission is free to all every Thursday from 5 to 8 p.m.

MOCA is located at 250 S. Grand Ave. For information, call [phone].

?13- Reed Johnson

music

Inspired by Ireland: Dubbed one of the most eloquent fiddlers to emerge from the Emerald Isle, Martin Hayes' musicianship was encouraged by his elders in his native east County Clare.

Hayes performed alongside his fiddler father in the Tulla Ceili Band, playing every week for traditional dancers throughout Ireland. He won the All-Ireland Fiddle Championship six times.

In the mid-'80, Hayes linked up with an eclectic group of musicians in Chicago to form Midnight Court, a band that veered off into a jazz-rock fusion direction.

But on his two solo albums for the Green Linnet label, ``Martin Hayes'' and ``Under the Moon,'' the fiddler returned to his roots. He is currently working on his third album, due for release in the spring.

The Seattle-based Hayes appears with guitarist Dennis Cahill tonight at the Neighborhood Church in Pasadena.

Cahill, also a former member of Midnight Court, was born in Chicago to immigrant parents from County Kerry. He studied classical guitar and has performed with many of the top musicians in the Irish traditional music world.

The Neighborhood Church is at 301 N. Orange Blvd., Pasadena. Show time is 8 p.m. and tickets are $16. Information: [phone].

?13- Fred Shuster

theater

Music and madness: Fine acting, intense drama and the cost of creative excellence are among the elements that make ``Shine'' glow. Based on a true story, this impressionistic Australian film presents a stirring portrait of family, music and madness.

The movie charts the life of classical pianist David Helfgott, from his childhood with a loving but tyrannical and frustrated father (poignantly played by Armin Mueller-Stahl) to his nervous breakdown as a young man to his torturous road back to performing - though not entirely to sanity - many years later.

Geoffrey Rush stands out among a superb cast as Helfgott's oldest incarnation. Babbling a mile a minute, convincingly approximating David's fingerwork and vivid body language (the real Helfgott provided the musical soundtrack), Rush creates a mad dervish with a heart of gold. He's irresistible, and so is the movie.

?13- Bob Strauss

Shakespeare's deputy: William Shakespeare has been getting a workout lately, from Kenneth Branagh's four-hour ``Hamlet'' to the low-camp and kinky eroticism of ``Tromeo and Juliet,'' just released by B-movie mavens Troma Inc.

So how irreverent could Dennis Weaver's ``Irreverent Shakespeare'' be?

The former pistol-packin', folksy-talkin' star of ``Gunsmoke'' and ``McCloud'' will answer that question when he performs his solo show over the next two weekends in a benefit for North Hollywood's Group Repertory Theatre.

Now a Colorado resident, Weaver made his abode in North Hollywood during the heady days when he was chasing the bad guys and riding hoss-back through the streets of Manhattan. Now the footlights are calling him back to the town that once named him honorary mayor (why not honorary sheriff?).

The 23-year-old Group Rep will host six performances of ``Irreverent Shakespeare,'' today through Sunday and Dec. 13-15. Showtimes are 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets for all performances are $20. The theater is located at 10900 Burbank Blvd. Call [phone].

?13- Reed Johnson

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

Photo: (1) John Gielgud, left, and Noah Taylor in ``Shine,'' the story of an Australian prodigy driven to madness.

(2) Irish fiddle champion Martin Hayes and guitarist Dennis Cahill perform at 8 tonight at the Neighborhood Church in Pasadena. Tickets are $16.