A prep course for the month-long World Cup soccer tournament, a worldwide pheno

 to her heirs . And because the trust is a separate entity , it can be passed on

 tax-free to the designated beneficiaries . Be careful if you are considering by

passing your children and giving your estate to your grandchildren , Groppe says

 . This may trigger an additional generation-skipping tax . The government impos

es this tax because , in effect , you have deprived it of a generation 's worth 

of taxes . There is a $ 1 million exemption . But this is a complicated area of 

the tax law , requiring professional advice . ( End optional trim ) There are al

so a variety of irrevocable trusts that can effectively shelter assets from esta

te taxes . For example , there are irrevocable life insurance trusts . Some pare

nts who don't want their children to have to sell property or the family busines

s to pay for estate taxes set up insurance trusts . That way the policy can be p

assed tax-free to the heirs , who then can use the cash to pay the estate tax bi

ll . And there are charitable remainder trusts , which are one of the few tax sh

elters left because they can reduce your income tax while you 're alive . The hi

tch with an irrevocable trust is that once you create one , you can't change it 

. ( Optional add end ) Before you consult a lawyer or other professional about s

etting up a trust , it 's a good idea to educate yourself . Learn more about the

 different kinds of trusts and carefully consider how they may fit your goals . 

Martin Censor , a lawyer and senior editor at Warren Gorham Lamont , a New York 

publishing company , says that most people could cut the amount of time spent wi

th a lawyer and save up to 50 percent in professional fees if they prepare thems

elves first . Finally , shop around for a good lawyer or financial adviser . Don

't be shy about interviewing several experts about their fees and services . And

 , as Berger notes in her book , `` Be suspicious of an attorney , financial pla

nner or bank trust department that urges you to completely turn over the reins t

o your estate by giving total power of attorney . '' Distributed by the Los Ange

les Times-Washington Post News Service .

 In the national interest , President Clinton must find a way out of the trap he

 laid for himself in his executive order a year ago giving China one year to imp

rove human rights in order to retain most favored nation ( that is , ordinary ) 

trading relations . China is the world 's emerging superpower . Removing MFN sta

tus would mean raising tariffs about 40 percent , accepting retaliation , and nu

llifying U.S. companies ' opportunities in the world 's greatest growth market ,

 including oil exploration and construction . The issue is not about isolating C

hina so much as isolating the United States . China is a boisterous economy of r

egions out of control of central direction . But China 's central government is 

paranoid about disorder , having experienced the lunacy of China 's Cultural Rev

olution of the 1960s . Hence the crackdown on dissidents from 1989 a crackdown t

hat is unabated despite U.S. censure . China 's Premier Li Peng will not leap th

rough hoops for the domestic agenda of Clinton . This , however , does not lesse

n the need for the United States to engage China in dialogue , knit it into the 

world community , encourage free enterprise and free spirits . Exactly the oppos

ite of what a trade war would do . There is much the U.S. president can say from

 his bully pulpit about human rights , both for imprisoned heroes of Tiananmen S

quare and , more cogently , the culturally suppressed people of Tibet . Citizen 

groups like Human Rights Watch should not muffle their agitation . But pretendin

g the U.S. government is a human rights referee who must be obeyed , or that tra

de is a favor the U.S. bestows , is a fantasy this nation can no longer afford .

 Drawing away from still another example of untenable foreign-policy posturing w

ill be awkward for Clinton . But he can make the point that under U.S. pressure 

China has halted exports made with prison labor and has eased barriers to emigra

tion the two specific conditions set out in his executive order a year ago . He 

should reject a proposed half-way measure banning goods made by state-owned ente

rprises , including those of the People 's Liberation Army . As Sun corresponden

t Robert Benjamin has reported from Beijing , such a move would hurt the U.S. as

 much or more than China . State firms were the major buyers of $ 8.8 billion in

 U.S. export sales to China last year . It is counter-productive for the United 

States to engage in a gratuitous struggle of wills with a China whose cooperatio

n is needed , for example , in dealing with the North Korean nuclear threat or i

n stopping its missile sales to South Asia and the Middle East . If trade is to 

be an issue , let it concern Chinese pirating of U.S. patents and copyrights or 

opening Chinese markets to U.S. competition . What Clinton must come to terms wi

th in his imminent executive order is that he is shaping policy for years to com

e . The situation is far too important for play-acting about the internal affair

s China , or for grandstanding that ignores real U.S. national interests .

 ACE VENTURA : PET DETECTIVE ( PG-13 ) . Every body movement and facial tic of J

im Carrey ( of `` In Living Color '' fame ) is so broadly exaggerated here , he 

makes goofy Jim Varney look like stoic Charles Bronson by comparison . A movie r

evolving around as manic a presence as Carrey 's sounds like it could be hell , 

but his starring debut proves surprisingly capable of provoking unexpected giggl

e fits . The movie is uneven , but his cartoonish inhumanness is nearly heroic .

 BABYFEVER . `` For those who hear their clock ticking .... '' That would be the

 entire audience after two unrelenting hours of procreation talk . This filmic b

aby shower from women 's best friend Henry Jaglom is so packed with improvising 

actresses ( there are dozens ) that it 's a remarkably compleatist documentary o

n infant morality in the '90s . But it 's way too formless all the way to its di

apers-ex-machina ending to count much as drama . Jaglom 's wife , Victoria Foyt 

, is good enough in the lead to be the rare auteur spouse you actually want to s

ee more of in a movie . BACKBEAT ( R ) . Engaging , uneven movie about the early

 pre-Fab days of the Beatles when Stu Sutcliffe and Pete Best were in the group 

and Ringo wasn't . The film is basically about Stu 's connection to the group an

d his vehement friendship with John Lennon . Stephen Dorff plays Stu , Ian Hart 

is excellent as Lennon . BAD GIRLS ( R ) . Even cowgirls get the guns . This Wes

tern is shamelessly high concept but sometimes enjoyable anyway . Andie MacDowel

l , Mary Stuart Masterson , Drew Barrymore and Madeleine Stowe play prostitutes 

who rampage with righteous fury while showing off the latest designer fashions f

rom the Old West . Stowe is remarkable , as usual . BEING HUMAN ( PG-13 ) . Robi

n Williams stars for writer-director Bill Forsyth ( `` Local Hero '' ) in a seri

es of interwoven vignettes concerning a character who travels through history se

arching for love , self-worth and fulfillment . John Turturro also stars . BELLE

 EPOQUE ( R ) . Fernando Trueba 's Oscar-winning film captures a sunny yet fleet

ing moment in 1932 Spain , an interlude of unconscious freedom and joy as the mo

narchy fades and the republic is born . The setting is a rural community dominat

ed by the open-minded Don Manolo ( Fernando Fernan Gomez ) , whose four attracti

ve daughters beguile a handsome young army deserter ( Juan Sanz ) . BEVERLY HILL

S COP III ( R ) . Eddie Murphy 's back as Axel Foley . This time he 's lured to 

an amusement park with a criminal element . John Landis directs ; Judge Reinhold

 and Hector Elizondo co-star . BITTER MOON ( R ) . Roman Polanski 's carnal blac

k comedy about an obsessively masochistic couple , Peter Coyote and Emmanuelle S

eigner , and the British couple , Hugh Grant and Kristin Scott-Thomas , they dra

goon on a luxury cruise . Laughable and watchable . BRAINSCAN ( R ) . Edward Fur

long stars as a diffident teen-ager swept up in a virtual reality game in which 

a series of murders may actually be real . Scary , in a workmanlike way , but th

e film doesn't live up to its full potential . With Frank Langella . CLEAN SLATE

 ( PG-13 ) . Dana Carvey plays a small-time gumshoe who suffers from a rare form

 of amnesia that makes each morning when he wakes a tabula rasa . Intermittently

 funny but flimsy . The premise far better than the execution . Barkley the wond

er dog shares comic honors with Carvey . COPS AND ROBBERSONS ( PG ) . Michael Ri

tchie 's slyly subversive family comedy in which Chevy Chase plays a suburbanite

 who thinks his big chance to be a hero occurs when crusty cop Jack Palance uses

 his tract house to stake out his villainous next door neighbor ( Robert Davi ) 

. Funny , inspired but with a tinge of sadness amid the laughter . With Dianne W

iest as Chase 's too-perfect wife . CROOKLYN ( PG-13 ) . Though the story of an 

African American family in 1970s Brooklyn is based in part on director-cowriter 

Spike Lee 's own experience growing up , the film that resulted , despite some m

oments of emotional connection , is more aimless than involving . Good performan

ces by Alfre Woodard and Delroy Lindo don't really go anywhere . The Crow ( R ) 

. The only reason for a grown person to see this hyper-violent doom-and-gloom co

mic strip adaptation is for the late Brandon Lee 's charismatic presence . As th

e murdered rock guitarist who comes back to life for vengeance , Lee has a kinet

ic power . His balletic rampages are like waking nightmares . Otherwise , this f

ilm will probably be a hit with tortured male adolescents . D2 THE MIGHTY DUCKS 

( PG ) . A disappointing , overly contrived sequel to the impressive and popular

 1992 original . Once again an energetic Emilio Estevez is coaching his peewee i

ce hockey team , but the first film 's clear concern for values gets badly muddl

ed this time out . EVEN COWGIRLS GET THE BLUES ( R ) . Making Tom Robbins ' tren

dy novel of virtuoso hitchhiker Sissy Hankshaw ( Uma Thurman ) and her oversized

 thumbs into a movie was a questionable idea at best , but combining writer-dire

ctor Gus Van Sant 's deadpan aesthetic of boredom with Robbins ' flimsy jokiness

 proves to be a recipe for disaster . Only k.d. lang & Ben Mink 's fine score su

rvives the wreckage . THE FAVOR ( R ) . Pleasant romantic comedy starring Harley

 Jane Kozak as a thirtysomething housewife who develops an itch for her high sch

ool boy friend ( Ken Wahl ) as their 15th high school reunion approaches and who

 comes up with the cockamamie idea that her single , liberated best pal ( Elizab

eth McGovern ) ought to scratch it for her . With Bill Pullman , Brad Pitt . THE

 FLINTSTONES ( PG ) . John Goodman dons a saber-toothed tiger suit as Fred , wit

h Rick Moranis as neighbor Barney Rubble . When Fred gets a promotion at Slate &

 Co. quarry , things really change for that modern Stone Age family . Elizabeth 

Perkins , Rosie O' Donnell , Kyle MacLachlan , Halle Berry and Elizabeth Taylor 

co-star . Brian Levant directs . FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL ( R ) . A cheerful 

and witty bit of business that belies its no-nonsense title , the latest from di

rector Mike Newell ( `` Enchanted April '' ) provides the kind of sly pleasure t

ypical of British comedy at its best . Hugh Grant stars as a marriage-shy young 

man who keeps running into the very eligible Andie MacDowell at wedding after we

dding . A tasty romp that garnishes its humor with style . HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERS

EN 'S THUMBELINA ( G ) . Animators Don Bluth and Gary Goldman once again cast th

eir spell so effectively that you don't have to be a child to be swept away into

 its magical Never-Never Land , where the diminutive Thumbelina hopes to find a 

Prince Charming her size . Traditional in style yet imaginative , with lyrics by

 Jack Feldman and Bruce Sussman and music by Barry Manilow . Adroit use of such 

familiar voices as those of Carol Channing , Charo and John Hurt . THE HOUSE OF 

THE SPIRITS ( R ) . A lumbering oaf of a movie that turns Isabel Allende 's best

-selling novel of half a century of personal and political turmoil in South Amer

ica into an extended sleeping pill . Not even the presence of a glittering cast 

, including Jeremy Irons , Meryl Streep and Glenn Close , can overcome Bille Aug

ust 's misguided direction . THE HUDSUCKER PROXY ( PG ) . Those pristine perfect

ionists the Coen brothers have done it again with a technically dazzling tribute

 to the films of the 1940s that is more than a little cold around the heart . Fi

ne performances by Tim Robbins and Jennifer Jason Leigh and the best art directi

on in the world can't break the frost . THE INKWELL ( R ) . Widely unveven secon

d film from `` Straight Out of Brooklyn '' director Matty Rich , at once a heavy

handed , way-over-the-top satire of the black bourgeoisie in the '70s and a tend

er coming-of-age story . Set in an area of Martha 's Vineyard called the Inkwell

 , a black enclave since the turn of the century . Larenz Tate stars . JIMMY HOL

LYWOOD ( R ) . This amusing look at the would-be actors of the world is a return

 to small-scale , shambling humor by writer-director Barry Levinson . Joe Pesci 

is clever and effective as Jimmy Alto , convinced that the break he needs is jus

t this far away , but his engaging performance has to contend with a minimalist 

plot that grandly bypasses plausibility . LITTLE BUDDHA ( PG ) . Director Bernar

do Bertolucci 's latest combines a modern story about Tibetan monks looking for 

their reincarnated master with an idealized travelogue on the life of the Buddha

 and comes up with the most elaborate and expensive After School Special ever . 

Well suited for children , but , luscious images notwithstanding , without enoug

h nuance to captivate most adults . MAJOR LEAGUE II ( PG ) . The inevitable sequ

el to the 1989 baseball hit is a so-so clobber comedy with a few funny moments ,

 most from Bob Uecker as the play-by-play announcer of the laggard but pennant-b

ound Cleveland Indians . Charlie Sheen , Dennis Haysbert , Tom Berenger and othe

rs recap their roles from the first film . MAVERICK ( PG ) . High-priced crowd-p

leaser that reaches for Feel Good and settles for Feel OK . Mel Gibson stars as 

Maverick , the spineless , jaunty gambler first seen in the ABC TV series , and 

he 's exhaustingly sporty . Jodie Foster and James Garner co-star . The flimsy f

acetiousness of this comedy places it somewhere between `` Butch Cassidy and the

 Sundance Kid '' and `` The Apple Dumpling Gang . '' A MILLION TO JUAN ( PG ) . 

Paul Rodriguez stars in and directed this clunky sort-of comedy with socially co

nscious overtones . A poor Mexican immigrant is mysteriously handed a check for 

a million dollars . Based on a Mark Twain story that was also the basis for a fi

ne , neglected 1954 comedy starring Gregory Peck . MR . WRITE ( PG-13 ) . It 's 

really `` Mr . Wrong , '' a stale , labored romantic comedy about a nebbishy str

uggling playwright ( Paul Reiser ) who falls for a beautiful woman ( Jessica Tuc

k ) he meets while appearing in a candy commercial . With Martin Mull . MONKEY T

ROUBLE ( PG ) . Harvey Keitel is the con artist who has taught a darling little 

simian how to excel as a pickpocket . Thora Birch later adopts the animal , and 

an wild adventure ensues when Keitel attempts to retrieve his former partner in 

crime . Mimi Rogers co-stars ; Franco Amurri directs . NAKED GUN 33 1/3 : THE FI

NAL INSULT ( PG-13 ) . The third in the `` Naked Gun '' series is not as funny a

s the first two but is still chock-filled with good gags . Leslie Nielsen 's Lt.

 Frank Drebin is retired but not for long . NIGHT OF THE DEMONS II ( R ) . Smart

 , sexy and amusing horror picture , which finds students at a posh Catholic coe

d prep school surprised to find themselves caught up for real in a struggle betw

een the forces of good and evil when they break into a spooky deserted old house

 on Halloween Eve . With Jennifer Rhodes , Amelia Kinkade . NO ESCAPE ( R ) . It

 's 2022 and prisoners too tough for maximum security are airlifted to a peninsu

la called Absalom and left to fend for themselves between warring jungle lords .

 Ray Liotta 's Marine Capt. John Robbins is the antihero convict who tries to su

rvive in the jungle . It 's a no-brainer with some exciting action sequences and

 lots of grunting , decapitating and gougings . ON DEADLY GROUND ( R ) . Steven 

Seagal makes a lively if preachy directorial debut starring as an oil rigger who

 discovers his villainous employer ( a deliciously nasty Michael Caine ) is cutt

ing corners to the extent of endangering the environment . Although one could wi

sh Seagal had delivered his message with a less heavy hand , he is on target in 

his sentiments and quite possibly will be reaching audiences who never thought a

bout the environment before . THE PAPER ( R ) . This Ron Howard-directed ensembl

e piece about a day in the life of a bustling New York City tabloid newspaper an

d its quirky staff can be awfully funny when it chooses to be , but too much of 

the time it is unwisely intent on showing the serious side of its characters ' l

ives . A lot of energetic acting from its cast , especially Michael Keaton in th

e lead , does help . ( Turan ) PCU ( PG-13 ) . The spoofing of campus politics i

s haphazard and directed mainly at feminists in this anemic venture whose real p

oint is to get down and party , but it comes across as a pale , passe carbon of 

`` Animal House '' that 's not half as much fun . With Chris Young , Jeremy Pive

n , Jessica Walter . PHILADELPHIA ( PG-13 ) . Nothing is so fatal to effective d

rama as the air of dogoodism that hangs over Hollywood 's first attempt to deal 

with the AIDS crisis . Tom Hanks plays a high-powered lawyer who feels he 's bee

n fired because of the disease and Denzel Washington co-stars as the initially h

omophobic attorney who takes his case . Not intended to be subtle , with the goo

d and bad guys clearly labeled , this is mainstream socially conscious filmmakin

g that is not worried about sacrificing nuance to make its points . THE PIANO ( 

R ) . Using Holly Hunter and Harvey Keitel in ways never seen before , writer-di

rector Jane Campion has given a sweepingly romantic 19th century tale an almost 

avant-garde edge . Telling the story of Ada , a mute arranged bride who comes to

 primitive 1852 New Zealand with her piano and powerfully affects the lives of K

eitel and Sam Neill , Campion shows herself to have a command of the visual and 

the emotional that is fearless and profound . Winner of two prizes at Cannes , a

nd deservedly so . Won Academy Awards for original screenplay ( Campion ) , actr

ess ( Hunter ) and supporting actress ( Anna Paquin ) . REALITY BITES ( PG-13 ) 

. The most appealing film yet about the nameless post-collegiate generation , th

is romantic comedy starring Winona Ryder , Ethan Hawke and Ben Stiller ( who mak

es his directing debut ) is cheerful , edgy and alive . A traditional triangle d

etailing the rivalry for one woman 's affection , it is turned by Helen Childres

s ' clever and clear-eyed script and Stiller 's direction into a natural and ass

ured piece of business . SCHINDLER 'S LIST ( R ) . A most unlikely director , St

even Spielberg , tells the quietly devastating story of the most unlikely of Hol

ocaust heroes , Oskar Schindler , a convivial sensualist , gambler and war profi

teer who rescued 1,100 Jews and ended up the only Nazi Party member to be buried

 in Jerusalem 's Mount Zion cemetary . Put together with care , emotion and , mo

st importantly , restraint , this is as good a fiction film on the Holocaust as 

we are likely to get . SERIAL MOM ( R ) . John Waters ' latest black comedy is o

ne of his best . Kathleen Turner plays a spic-and-span housewife who is actually

 an avenging mom . It 's her best comic role since the neglected `` The Man With

 Two Brains . '' SIRENS ( R ) . Silly , sexy romp about a stuffy reverend and hi

s wife who go on a religious mission to the mountain retreat of a pagan painter 

and get taken in by the free-floating sensuality . Closer to the Playboy Channel

 than D.H. Lawrence , and probably the better for it . Hugh Grant and Sam Neill 

star , also Elle MacPherson , in the buff . SURVIVING THE GAME ( R ) . A small g

roup of hunters track human prey ( in the form of Ice-T ) in the Pacific Northwe

st . What they 'll painfully learn is that their quarry will fashion his street 

smarts into an effective method of retribution . Rutger Hauer and F. Murray Abra

ham star ; Ernest Dickerson directs . THAT 'S ENTERTAINMENT ! III ( G ) . A show

y tribute to that most glorious and most indisputably extinct of Hollywood genre

s , the glossy MGM musical . Though the introductions by aging stars leans too h

eavily on canned banalities , the clips , especially behind-the-scene footage an

d numbers cut from original productions , are lively and invigorating . 3 NINJAS

 KICK BACK ( PG ) . Lively and imaginative sequel to the 1992 original . This ti

me a Japanese American grandfather ( Victor Wong ) finds he 's competing with th

e growing lure of basebell as he continues to instill his three grandsons with t

he skills and virtues of martial arts , which nevertheless pay off when they 're

 all caught up in an adventure that takes them to Japan . THREESOME ( R ) . Obno

xious comedy about three college roommates played by Lara Flynn Boyle , Josh Cha

rles and Stephen Baldwin who learn all about role-playing and sexual preference 

while carrying on like overheated banshees . It 's sitcom stuff with a carnal ov

erlay . TRADING MOM ( PG ) . Writer-director Tia Brelis makes a delightful featu

re debut in bringing her mother 's novel `` The Mommy Market '' to the screen . 

It 's a fantasy about three children who unexpectedly get their wish to exchange