No time for a vacation this summer? Director Sergio Machado's 2005 flick "The Lower City" offers up a tour of the seedier side of the Brazilian city of Bahia, and slips in a love triangle between two buddies and a prostitute as a bonus.

Visit dirty gyms, a whorehouse, strip clubs, a rusty cargo ship, cockfights and a slum or two; watch the triangulated trio find sexual passion and bottom-dwelling misery all at the same time; and feel good about your love life — or lack thereof.

At the Doris Duke Theatre, today, 1 and 7:30 p.m. 532-8768.

— Derek Paiva

GUIDEBOOK FOR PRE-TEENS COVERS SECRETS TO SUCCESS

This one's for girls 9 to 12 who want to get better grades or make it onto a sports team, start a band or get along better with their parents — along with unlimited other goals. The latest book from American Girl, "You Can Do It!: A Kit to Help You Do Just About Anything," helps girls figure out what they want to achieve, and how to get it.

The brightly illustrated kit offers tools for girls so they can set realistic goals and reach them, one step at a time. It includes a book, a poster and stickers to chart your progress, six motivational flash cards and a journal to organize ideas and action plans.

The fun-filled kit hits bookstores this month — just in time for the new school year.

— Christine Terada

FINAL WORD

"I'm thinking that there's 20 people down there to kidnap us, and I'm going to be in a basement somewhere with a hood over my head, eating porridge and water for the next week."

Colin Farrell | on his fears upon hearing gunshots in Havana while shooting "Miami Vice," in Entertainment Weekly