MOVIES - May 5, 1994

Pentagon Honors Spielberg: Steven Spielberg has won yet another accolade for “Schindler’s List,” this time a commendation from the U.S. Defense Department. During a Washington ceremony in the Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes, which is dedicated to winners of the prestigious military Medal of Honor, Defense Secretary William Perry praised Spielberg for “harnessing the power of motion pictures to focus on a time we must never, never forget.” Spielberg said that he would share the honors, which also marked the 50th anniversary of World War II, with the film’s heroes--German industrialist Oskar Schindler, who rescued 1,200 Jews from concentration camps, and survivors of the Holocaust.

* Drawing Bad Reviews: Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci’s $33-million film “Little Buddha” has been mercilessly panned by British movie critics, many of whom alluded to the great director’s decline since his political films of the 1970s and his much-lauded 1987 effort, “The Last Emperor,” which won nine Oscars. Bad word of mouth about the film’s excessive length and simplistic screenplay caused Bertolucci to lop 15 minutes off just before the London premiere, but it apparently didn’t assuage the critics. The film stars Bridget Fonda and Chris Isaak as the parents of a 9-year-old Seattle boy told by Buddhist monks that he may be the reincarnation of a Tibetan lama. Scenes with Keanu Reaves, who stars as the Nepalese prince who becomes the Buddha, have drawn unintended audience laughter, according to some reports. “Little Buddha” has its North American premiere May 20 as part of a Bertolucci tribute at the Seattle International Film Festival.

POP/ROCK

Record Exec Faces Gun Charges: Death Row Records CEO Marion (Suge) Knight, who manages rap and pop acts including Dr. Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg and Jodeci, has been ordered by a federal magistrate to appear in Las Vegas on May 13 to answer charges that he obtained two guns illegally. The FBI alleges that Knight, 29, paid $2,500 to another man and his girlfriend, who purchased two Austrian Glock 40-caliber pistols from a Las Vegas gun shop under a fictitious name. According to the indictment, the guns allegedly were later delivered to Knight. Knight’s attorney, David Kenner, said that the guns were for security guards in Knight’s business. Knight is free on $100,000-bail pending trial Oct. 1.

TELEVISION

Roseanne Sued: Roseanne Arnold’s former manager, Arlyne Rothberg, has filed a $20-million defamation lawsuit accusing the comedian of unfairly portraying Rothberg as disloyal and unprofessional in Arnold’s tell-all book, “My Lives.” In fact, Rothberg says in her L.A. Superior Court lawsuit, she helped make Arnold a star, only to be dumped after the actress’ 1990 marriage to Tom Arnold. Rothberg’s complaint calls the book “a vitriolic effort to ‘even the score’ with many of the individuals who came in contact with Arnold prior to her marriage.”

* Court TV Takes on Violence: Cable’s Court TV is launching a yearlong, $1.5-million project examining violent crime and the judicial system. Called “American Violence, American Justice,” the programming aims to “go beyond the nightly menu of violence that flashes across evening newscasts and place the issues surrounding crime and violence in an informative context.” The initiative will be incorporated throughout Court TV’s existing programs and will spawn two new weekly shows, “Verdicts and Justice,” which premieres today, and “The System,” which debuts May 29. The network is also establishing a Court TV Foundation to support crime fighting and victims groups.

* Elsewhere in Cable: Nick at Nite celebrates Cinco de Mayo today with two hours of programming in Spanish with English subtitles. Starting at 8 p.m., the block includes two episodes of “I Love Lucy,” sandwiched between single episodes of “Mork & Mindy” and “Dragnet.” . . . Comedy Central, which has given a comedic twist to such news events as President Clinton’s State of the Union Address and Howard Stern’s bid for New York’s Libertarian gubernatorial nomination, has launched an official news division. Called Comedy Central News (“CCN”), the division aims to lend a “unique and alternative twist” to coverage of world affairs, politics and popular culture.

QUICK TAKES

Current Hollywood heartthrob Hugh Grant (“Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Sirens”) gives his first prime-time TV interview tonight on CBS’ “Eye To Eye With Connie Chung.” . . . The cause of Gene Kelly’s hospitalization is not the flu, but is actually a skin infection, called cellulitis, on his right leg, his doctors said. He will be treated with intravenous antibiotics for roughly a week. . . . Otis College of Art and Design today will confer an honorary doctorate degree on Los Angeles artist and community leader John Outterbridge, whose work was recently seen in a retrospective at the California Afro-American Museum in Exposition Park. In addition, Otis will recognize Masami Teraoka as distinguished alumnus of the year, and J.T. Steiny and Liz Young as outstanding young alumni. . . . Steve Edwards and Joel Roberts on Wednesday officially took over Peter Tilden’s 4-7 p.m. afternoon radio show at KABC-AM (790). Tilden starts Monday at KMPC-AM (710).