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

MOVIES

Not Crying for Madonna: Argentine police tightened security at theaters showing Madonna’s “Evita” on Friday after pesticide attacks forced the evacuation of three Buenos Aires movie houses when the musical opened in the country Thursday. At one of the cinemas, Peronist Youth demonstrators loudly protested the film’s portrayal of Eva Peron as a woman who used her sex appeal to gain political power, and in the province of Mendoza, two movie theaters screening “Evita” were sprayed overnight with paint. Despite Vice President Carlos Ruckauf’s calls for a boycott, however, the state news agency Telam said that “Evita” drew more viewers than normally attend movies on Thursdays, and local media said audiences clapped at the film’s end.

Boone’s Vote of Confidence: He may have irked Trinity Broadcasting Network, but apparently not all Christian groups are upset by Pat Boone’s chest-baring, leather-clad appearance at the American Music Awards. The singer has been named host of the Christian Film and Television Commission’s fifth annual MovieGuide Awards March 19 at the Beverly Hills Hotel honoring feature films with “redeeming social and spiritual values.” Trinity Broadcasting, a religious network, dropped Boone’s show this week after receiving thousands of complaints about his heavy metal rock garb at last month’s American Music Awards.

DGA to Honor Parks: The Directors Guild of America will honor photographer and director Gordon Parks (“The Learning Tree,” “Shaft”) Thursday with a tribute at the DGA headquarters in Hollywood hosted by actor-director Ted Lange. “Every African American director who has any sense of history owes a great debt to Gordon Parks,” said Bob Reid, co-chair of the DGA’s African American Steering Committee, which is hosting the event. “We would all benefit greatly if we sought to emulate his work.

RADIO

Grice Leaves KKGO: Bonnie Grice, the controversial classical music deejay whose departure from KUSC-FM (91.5) last year provoked an outpouring of response from fans and critics, has quietly resigned from the job she took after that--as host of a Sunday night opera program at KKGO-FM (105.1). Saul Levine, KKGO’s general manager, said that Grice quit last week without explanation. He said he had been pleased with her work since she joined the station in November and was surprised by her abrupt departure. “All we can gather is that she decided to move on to other things,” Levine said. “Because of the restrictions we have [on talk] here at KKGO, she couldn’t open up and do the things that she wants to do.” Grice could not be reached for comment. “Sunday Evening Opera” will be hosted by other KKGO personnel until a full-time replacement can be hired, Levine said.

New York Philharmonic Broadcasts: Speaking of KKGO, the station today will air a live broadcast of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra’s performance of Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto--the explosive work showcased in the Academy Award-nominated film “Shine.” The work is part of the initial broadcast of “Time Warner Presents: The New York Philharmonic Live!”--a monthly radio series started by the orchestra in response to “the current crisis in arts education in American schools.” The broadcasts will air on KKGO at 5 p.m. on the final Saturday of each month, except April, when the orchestra plays on April 19.

ART

‘Biennial’ Lineup: Several Los Angeles-area artists, including painters Lari Pittman and Ed Ruscha, video artist Diana Thater and installation artist Chris Burden, have made the roster for the Whitney Museum of American Art’s prestigious “1997 Biennial Exhibition,” scheduled for March 20-June 1 in New York. Other Angelenos among the 70 selected participants include Martin Kersels, Sharon Lockhart, Paul McCarthy, Jennifer Pastor, Raymond Pettibon, Charles Ray, Jason Rhoades and Kara Walker.

QUICK TAKES

Fellow directors Joe Dante, Carl Franklin, Peter Bogdanovich and Quentin Tarantino are among those scheduled to toast prolific horror movie director Roger Corman tonight at 7:30 during “A Tribute to Roger Corman” at the L.A. County Museum of Art. Corman will also receive the American Cinema Editors’ ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award on March 15 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. . . . New father Michael Jackson has parted with one of his animal pals, having donated his African elephant, Ali, to the Jacksonville Zoological Gardens in Florida. The 4,500-pound male pachyderm arrived by truck Thursday after a four-day ride from Jackson’s Neverland Zoo near Solvang. . . . Paramount Pictures Chair Sherry Lansing and Motion Picture Assn. of America President Jack Valenti have formed the Creative Community Task Force on Cancer after a meeting Wednesday with Vice President Al Gore. The task force’s goal is to “communicate key messages about cancer research and prevention to the public.” . . . The Film Information Council has named 20th Century Fox’s “Independence Day” as the “best marketed motion picture of 1996.”

Quotable: “I’m doing good.”--Depeche Mode lead singer Dave Gahan, following a Los Angeles Municipal Court hearing Friday to determine his progress in a court-ordered drug treatment outpatient program. Gahan’s next hearing is scheduled for October.