MOVIESOscar Flap: Some Oscar voters were surprised...

MOVIES

Oscar Flap: Some Oscar voters were surprised to open their ballots and not see “The Summer House,” a British comedy starring Jeanne Moreau, listed among the eligible films. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said the movie was disqualified because of a long-standing rule that a film cannot appear on television anywhere in the world before it is seen in Los Angeles-area theaters. “Summer House” played in British theaters, then on the BBC before it opened in Los Angeles. The film’s distributor, Samuel Goldwyn Co., said it had not been informed of the disqualification. Goldwyn’s president of production, Tom Rothman, said, “the rule doesn’t reflect the way of today’s movie-making, particularly for small pictures, because those pictures are financed by piecing together money from international sources, which often includes television networks.” Another of 1993’s films not eligible under the same rule is Miramax Films’ “The Snapper,” directed by Stephen Frears, which also aired on the BBC.

Scorsese Tapped for Top ACE Award: Director Martin Scorsese (“The Age of Innocence”) will receive the American Cinema Editors’ top honor--the ACE Golden Eddie Award--at the group’s 44th annual ACE Eddie Awards program March 12 at the Beverly Wilshire. Past recipients of the award for “distinguished contributions to the art and craft of film” include Clint Eastwood, Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas.

TELEVISION

As the Channels Grow . . . : MTV personality Daisy Fuentes will host a weekly, half-hour live interview program on cable’s CNBC beginning Feb. 12. The program, to air on Saturdays at 5 p.m., will focus primarily on lifestyles and cultural topics and will include live interviews and viewer call-in segments. Fuentes will continue her role at MTV, where she hosts several programs including “Street Party” and the Spanish-language “MTV Internacional.” . . . Meanwhile, for those who think they can take on Fuentes, and maybe even David Letterman, America’s Talking, a 24-hour all-talk cable network set to launch later this year, has announced plans for a nationwide contest to find an “average American” to become the country’s “next talk-show personality.” The first-place winner gets a yearlong contract to host a national talk show on the NBC-owned channel.

ATTRACTIONS

A ‘Mystery’ at Knotts: Burbank-based BRC Imagination Arts has announced plans for a $10-million special effects attraction scheduled to open at Knott’s Berry Farm in May. Called “Mystery Lodge,” the new attraction focuses on Native American culture with a family oriented multimedia show taking place around a full-size replica of a traditional Kwakiut’l Indian house. Hailed as “one of the park’s most technically advanced projects ever,” “Mystery Lodge” is to be the largest expansion to Knott’s since the addition of “Bigfoot Rapids” in 1988.

PEOPLE WATCH

Burt Agrees to $37,000 a Month: Actor Burt Reynolds has tentatively agreed to pay estranged wife Loni Anderson $15,000 a month in child support for the couple’s 5-year-old adopted son, Quinton. He has also agreed to pay the $22,000 monthly rent on the 12,000-square-foot Los Angeles home where Anderson and Quinton live, Reynolds’ lawyer told a Florida judge Monday. The latter payments would continue until the lease on the home expires in July. A Jan. 26 hearing will determine whether Reynolds will be ordered to also pay Anderson temporary alimony.

Rogers & Cowan Sues Woodward: Powerful L.A. public relations firm Rogers & Cowan has sued Joanne Woodward for unspecified damages, alleging the actress breached a 34-year-old contract stipulating she would pay the company 5% of her gross entertainment industry earnings to represent her to the media. The Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit says Woodward’s actor husband, Paul Newman, wrote the firm to terminate both their contracts in 1992, citing slowdowns in their careers. But the agency alleges Woodward didn’t repay money it advanced for publicity on her behalf between Jan. 1, 1991, and June 30, 1992.

The Winner in a Recount: Producer-composer-arranger David Foster was actually the top nominee for the 36th Annual Grammy Awards, with seven nominations in categories including Producer of the Year and Record and Album of the Year for Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” and “The Bodyguard” soundtrack album. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences last week credited him with only five nominations, putting him behind Sting’s six nods. Foster has won eight previous Grammys and now has 34 total career nominations.