Weekend That Includes ‘Whole Wide World’

* MOVIES: Now that all the big holiday movies have been released, this is a good time to catch up with some of the smaller films still playing, such as “The Whole Wide World” (at selected theaters), a fascinating account of the strange love affair between reclusive pulp writer Robert E. Howard (Vincent D’Onofrio), creator of Conan the Barbarian, and schoolteacher Novalyne Price (Renee Zellweger). . . . Then there’s Nick Cassavetes’ warm, engaging “Unhook the Stars” (at the Los Feliz), starring his mother, Gena Rowlands, as a beautiful widow who strikes up a friendship with a little neighbor boy, only to come to a sense that life is passing her by. . . . Cecil B. DeMille’s sophisticated, delightful “The Affairs of Anatol” (1921) with Wallace Reid, Gloria Swanson and Bebe Daniels, is being shown tonight at 8 in Hollywood, at the Silent Movie.

* MUSIC: Fearless Finnish pianist Olli Mustonen is playing Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Esa-Pekka Salonen tonight and Saturday at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the composer’s death. . . . William Kanengiser of the L.A. Guitar Quartet sits in with the Los Angeles Mozart Orchestra, directed by Lucinda Carver, for two Vivaldi concertos Saturday night at the Wilshire-Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles. The program also includes the L.A. premiere of a Concerto Grosso for Strings by Maria Newman, the Mozart Orchestra’s composer-in-residence. . . . The Wiltern Theatre’s Art Deco lobby in Los Angeles will be part of the show on Sunday when pianist Lincoln Mayorga presents “Gershwin and Friends” there at 1:30 and 3 p.m.

* DANCE: Batista and Maruja Belmonte, Yolanda Arroyo, Cecilia Romero, Juan Talavera and others combine their talents in a program exploring “The Enchantment of Spain” through dance, music and poetry tonight and Saturday at the Fountain Theatre in Hollywood.

* ART: Private and public dealers from around the country will exhibit and sell original works of art on paper at this weekend’s “Art on Paper Fair L.A. ’97.” It opens tonight at the Butterfield and Butterfield building on Sunset in Hollywood with a wine and cheese preview reception from 5:30-9 p.m. and continues on Saturday from noon to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Admission is $15 tonight, $7 Saturday and Sunday. College students with IDs will be admitted free Saturday and Sunday.

* JAZZ: Piano sophisticates Billy Taylor and Ramsey Lewis team up tonight at the Alex Theatre in Glendale and again Sunday, courtesy of the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, at the Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton. . . . Another piano virtuoso, Kenny Barron, from New York, continues through Sunday at Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood.

* THEATER: Theatre Kana of Poland is presenting a riveting one-man show adaptation of Venedict Erofeyev’s Russian novel “Moscow--Petushki,” at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble in West Los Angeles. Jacek Zawadzki is memorable as a man articulating his grief through an alcoholic haze. Performances in English tonight and next Friday.

* CABARET: “The Sophie Tucker Songbook,” featuring Sharon McNight’s tour-de-force performance as “the last of the red-hot mamas,” is a must-see at the Cinegrill at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, through Jan. 26.

* FAMILIES: “Fred Garbo Inflatable Theatre Co. With Daielma Santos” offers offbeat comedy, juggling, dance and slapstick plus the company’s trademark inflatable costumes in all shapes and sizes. There’ll be two Saturday matinees at Pepperdine’s Smothers Theatre in Malibu. . . . L.A.’s Kinnara Taiko group will mix the rhythms of Japanese drums and other percussion sounds with movement, mime and flute for a Saturday matinee at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex at Cal State Los Angeles. . . . Top-notch singer-songwriter Jim Rule presents “Let It Shine,” a concert of comic and telling songs about childhood and parenting, Saturday morning at the Irvine Barclay Theatre.

--Compiled by Calendar writers