Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation’s press.

MOVIES

George Says Good Night: Property from the estate of the late George Burns--including photographs and memorabilia from his entertainment career as well as decorative art, furniture, awards and personal objects--will be auctioned at Sotheby’s Beverly Hills showroom on Oct. 10. Auction items include a pair of Burns’ signature round eyeglasses, with a Gucci glasses case embossed with GB; a pair of monogrammed gold cuff links with “100” spelled out in diamonds; and Burns’ private collection of humidors and cigars. Burns, who died in March at the age of 100, stipulated in his will that the items be auctioned with all proceeds split between three charities--Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the United Jewish Fund and the Motion Picture and Television Fund. Public previews of the items will begin several days before the sale.

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Funding Preservation Efforts: The House of Representatives has voted to spend $2.75 million to set up a charitable foundation to promote preservation of rapidly deteriorating classic and historically significant American films. The bill was proposed in light of a 1993 study showing that a majority of films made before the 1950s are lost, many because the nitrate in the film base turns the film to powder. The proposed foundation would be funded mainly through private and motion picture industry donations once it got established, although the federal government would provide $250,000 annually in the years 2000 to 2003. The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

TELEVISION

Pumpkins Lead MTV Nominations: The rock group Smashing Pumpkins led the pack with eight nominations Tuesday for the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards, including nods for best video, best alternative music video, breakthrough video, best direction, best art direction, best special effects, best editing and best cinematography. Competing with the Pumpkins’ “Tonight, Tonight” for best video are Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s “Tha Crossroads,” Foo Fighters’ “Big Me” and Alanis Morissette’s “Ironic.” The Foo Fighters, Morissette and Icelandic singer Bjork tied for second in total nominations, with five apiece. Among other nominees, Morissette (“Ironic”) will go up against Jewel (“Who Will Save Your Soul”), Garbage (“Stupid Girl”) and Tracy Bonham (“Mother Mother”) for best new artist in a video; Bone Thugs-N-Harmony (“Tha Crossroads”), Foo Fighters (“Big Me”), the Fugees (“Killing Me Softly”) and Hootie & the Blowfish (“Only Wanna Be With You”) will vie for best group video, and 2Pac and Dr. Dre (“California Love [Mad Max Version]”), Bone Thugs-N-Harmony (“Tha Crossroads”), Coolio (“Gangsta’s Paradise [Dangerous Minds]”) and LL Cool J (“Doin’ It”) will contend for best rap video. The awards take place Sept. 4 at New York’s Radio City Music Hall, and air that same night on cable’s MTV.

POP/ROCK

New Jackson Controversy: Various South Korean civic and religious groups have united to seek the cancellation of pop star Michael Jackson’s scheduled Oct. 11 and 13 concerts in Seoul. “We cannot believe the government has agreed to spend millions of dollars to make an amoral singer the teenagers’ idol,” the committee said in a statement, adding that demonstrations and a boycott of the event’s sponsors is planned. The South Korean government, meanwhile, has brushed aside the groups’ protest because it wants to avoid criticism of its closed policy on arts and culture while it seeks admission to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The Ministry of Culture and Sports, which noted Jackson’s support of environmental and children’s welfare programs, said it decided to approve Jackson’s shows “in view of promoting popular arts.” A 1993 application for a Jackson concert was rejected by the Seoul government on the grounds that it would reflect badly on the new civilian government’s policies. Jackson’s contracted fee is $2.2 million and is arranged by South Korea’s Taewon Entertainment Co. Jackson’s U.S. representatives could not immediately be reached for comment.

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Lack of Communication?: Warner Music Group called meetings Tuesday to address concern over 3,000 post cards featuring male genitalia that were mailed out announcing a club event promoting the British pop group Pet Shop Boys, which releases music through Warner’s Atlantic Records. Sources at Atlantic said that the firm’s gay marketing division neither approved nor paid for the invitations, which were sent out Friday to announce an upcoming party at the Roxy that would heavily feature music by the Pet Shop Boys (who will not attend or perform). The invitation was designed, manufactured and paid for by New York club guru Chip Duckett, who promotes weekly dance parties at the Roxy, and is paid by the record company whose act is promoted that week. “I don’t know what all the fuss is about,” Duckett said Tuesday, noting that Atlantic was not aware of the image until it received a post card in the mail. “I’ve done more outrageous things to promote other shows in the past.” An Atlantic spokesman said on Tuesday: “We never would have authorized this to have been done and are extremely sorry it came out and apologize to any person who it has offended.”

QUICK TAKES

And the Date Is: The 69th Annual Academy Awards, to be broadcast live on ABC, will be held March 24 at the Shrine Auditorium. Nominations will be announced on Feb. 11. . . . Comedian Sinbad will star in and co-executive produce the HBO Pictures movie “The Cherokee Kid,” planned to air in December. Billed as a “western comedy,” the movie’s co-stars include James Coburn, Gregory Hines, A Martinez, Vanessa Bell Calloway and Burt Reynolds. . . . Country star Garth Brooks’ wife, Sandy, gave birth to the couple’s third daughter, Allie Colleen Brooks, on Sunday at a Nashville hospital.