MOVIES - March 15, 1996

Rocky ‘Showgirls’ Show: MGM/UA will re-release its NC-17-rated “Showgirls” as a midnight camp show in Los Angeles and New York on March 29. Hoping to attract a “Rocky Horror Picture Show”-style following, the $40-million movie, which was panned by critics and flopped at the box office, will debut at West Hollywood’s Laemmle 5. When it was released last fall, writer Joe Eszterhas drew the ire of Motion Picture Assn. of America President Jack Valenti by encouraging under-age teens to see the movie, which focuses on the steamy world of nude dancing in Las Vegas. Star Elizabeth Berkley was dropped by her talent agency after the debacle. However, she has a supporting role in the upcoming “The First Wives Club.”

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A Hollywood Smooch: As a happy ending to his Republican presidential campaign becomes increasingly unlikely, Patrick J. Buchanan is looking to Hollywood for inspiration. While campaigning in Cleveland earlier this week, Buchanan spun a plot line for the GOP race borrowed from “The Graduate.” He cast himself as the Dustin Hoffman character and compared rank-and-file Republicans to the girl Hoffman saves from an uninspired union (clearly with a groom that in Buchanan’s mind resembles Bob Dole). “The girl was at the altar, and it was an arranged marriage and she did not want to stay in the marriage, so Dustin Hoffman gave her a way out and she finally bolted at the last minute,” Buchanan said. “Dream On” probably fits as a working title.

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Casting Call: A reminder that an open casting call will be held Sunday for the upcoming Selena film, to be written and directed by Gregory Nava (“My Family”). Auditions will be held at Union Station from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The filmmakers are looking for “bright perky Latinas” to play Selena at age 8 and at 18-21. Applicants must be able to dance, speak fluent English, be natural in front of the camera and project the kind of “magical spark and charisma” of the slain singer, Nava said. Since the auditions were announced last Thursday, the production company has received 50,000 calls from across the country inquiring about the role. Nava likened it to the search for Scarlett O’Hara nearly 60 years ago.