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

MOVIES

‘Avengers’ Have Some Avenging to Do: British critics on Friday condemned the new film “The Avengers” as a poor imitation of the ‘60s British cult television series, panning the film’s script as well as its actors, Uma Thurman and Ralph Fiennes. “Both [are] so unconvincing that it is sometimes hard to tell which of them is pretending to be English,” wrote the Guardian’s Richard Williams. “The chemistry between Fiennes and Thurman wouldn’t be enough to start a fire in a petrol tank.” Meanwhile, the London Evening Standard advised, “Don’t send your worst enemy to see it”; the London Times called the flick “such a terrible bore”; and the Sun tabloid termed it “appalling.” As in the United States, distributor Warner Bros. refused to hold advance press screenings in Britain, where the film opened Thursday. The Los Angeles Times’ review will appear Monday.

*

Oscar Bound?: Could Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic win an Academy Award? The conductor and the orchestra went into the studio Friday to commit the music for the animated short “1001 Nights” to tape. The movie-music collaboration--commissioned by the Philharmonic from composer David Newman, artist Yoshitaka Amano and director Mike Smith--kicked off the orchestra’s Filmharmonic series in April. But in order to be submitted for Academy Award consideration, it has to be screenable sans live accompaniment. No word yet on where and when it will be released.

TELEVISION

New & Old ‘SNL’: NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” is getting three new cast members this season: former Groundlings members Jimmy Fallon and Chris Parnell, and Horatio Sanz, a member of Chicago’s Second City troupe. They will take up the slack left by the departure of Jim Breuer (“Goat Boy”), who plans to pursue film work. Meanwhile, “SNL” gears up for the new season tonight when it airs “The Best of John Belushi,” featuring a compilation of “SNL” clips from the late comedian who was one of the show’s original cast members (1975-79). “SNL” will air a compilation show each week until the show’s Sept. 26. season premiere, including “The Best of Eddie Murphy” (Aug. 22), “The Best of Dan Aykroyd” (Sept. 5) and “The Best of Gilda Radner” (Sept. 12). “SNL” will also air repeats of its tributes to the former “SNL” stars who died in the last year: Chris Farley (Aug. 29) and Phil Hartman (Sept. 19).

POP/ROCK

What Airline Does He Fly?: A Virginia judge issued three simultaneous arrest warrants for Wu-Tang Clan member Ol’ Dirty Bastard on Thursday after the rapper missed a third consecutive court date on a shoplifting charge. ODB, 29, is accused of stealing a $50 pair of Nike shoes from a Virginia Beach store on July 4. His initial court hearing had been scheduled for July 28, and he also skipped hearings both Tuesday and Thursday. Each of the failure-to-appear warrants carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail--the same as the original shoplifting charge. The rapper’s lawyer said ODB was bumped from his flight on Tuesday and then missed two separate planes from New York on Thursday. “He’s very sorry for this happening,” the attorney said. “He wants to get these matters addressed.”

THE ARTS

Canceled Whitney Show Picked Up: Connecticut’s Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art will stage a scaled-down version of an exhibition on the nude in 20th century art that provoked rumblings about censorship when it was canceled by New York’s Whitney Museum last month. Included in the exhibition, scheduled for June, will be an installation by Karen Finley featuring a drawing class in which she and others pose as nude models. The installation was first presented at Los Angeles’ Museum of Contemporary Art last year. The Whitney show, meanwhile, was canceled days after a controversial Supreme Court decision in which Finley and three other performance artists (the so-called “NEA Four”) lost their case challenging a decency test for federal arts grants. Though Finley characterized the Whitney cancellation as a form of censorship, the museum termed it a cost-cutting move. Finley told the New York Times this week that although she was pleased about the Aldrich’s agreement to mount the exhibition, the Whitney’s decision had left her discouraged. “I have to transform myself and leave the museum world for a while,” said Finley, who will soon be directing her first feature film, “Creating Kali.”

QUICK TAKES

Although its season premiere isn’t until Sept. 20, Fox’s “The Simpsons” will air an original episode--featuring a guest voice by “Friends” star Lisa Kudrow--at 8 p.m. on Aug. 23. That’s the night that Fox premieres two new series: “Holding the Baby” (7:30) and “That ‘70s Show” (8:30). . . . In case four hours of the regular Emmy Awards (airing Sept. 13 on NBC) isn’t enough for viewers, cable’s TV Land will air a one-hour special highlighting Emmys in technical categories on Sept. 11 at 5 and 9 p.m. It will be the first time any portion of the Creative Arts Emmys will be televised. . . . Cable’s C-SPAN will air live simulcasts of three Los Angeles talk radio shows on Monday, starting with KABC-AM’s (790) Dennis Prager from noon to 3 p.m., followed by KLSX-FM (97.1) host Tom Leykis from 3 to 5 p.m. and KABC’s Larry Elder from 5 to 7 p.m. Clintongate, of course, is the expected topic du jour.