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

MOVIES

And They’re Off!: The pre-Oscar awards season kicked off in earnest Tuesday with the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures selecting Ian McKellen’s “Gods and Monsters” as best film and McKellen as the year’s best actor. The review board--the first of several critics groups to announce their year-end picks--also cited Brazil’s “Central Station” as best foreign film (beating out Roberto Benigni’s much-lauded “Life Is Beautiful”--though writer-director-star Benigni was cited for a Special Achievement in Filmmaking honor) and “Central Station’s” Fernanda Montenegro as best actress. Shekhar Kapur took best director honors for “Elizabeth,” Ed Harris was named best supporting actor for both “The Truman Show” and “Stepmom,” and Christina Ricci won best supporting actress for “The Opposite of Sex,” “Buffalo 66” and “Pecker.” In addition, “Wild Man Blues” was selected as best documentary, and “Happiness” was tapped for best ensemble performance. The rest of the critics group’s Top 10 films, in descending order: “Saving Private Ryan,” “Elizabeth,” “Happiness,” “Shakespeare in Love,” “Butcher Boy,” “Lolita,” “Thin Red Line,” “A Simple Plan” and “Dancing at Lughnasa.”

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Also on the Oscar Hunt: Fox Searchlight will re-release James Toback’s “Two Girls and a Guy,” which opened in April, for an exclusive two-week run at Santa Monica’s Laemmle Monica, starting Friday. The studio hopes to boost the film’s Oscar chances and is pushing especially for a best actor nod for Robert Downey Jr. Heather Graham and Natasha Gregson Wagner also star.

TELEVISION

Fox Goes Archeological: In what is said to be an unprecedented alliance with the Egyptian government, Fox will broadcast “Opening the Lost Tombs: Live From Egypt,” a two-hour broadcast from an archeological excavation on the Giza Plateau, on March 2. The special, hosted by journalist Arthur Kent, will mark the first exploration of Egypt’s Old Kingdom monuments, which date back more than 4,600 years, conducted on camera. Scheduled events include the opening of the sealed Tomb of the Unknown and the pyramid of Queen Khamerernebty II, wife of the pharaoh who built Giza’s Third Pyramid.

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Crying Foul: Media critics William Bennett and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D.-Conn.) have cited CBS with a “Silver Sewer Award” for airing Howard Stern’s show and for a “60 Minutes” report showing Jack Kevorkian giving a lethal injection to a terminally ill man. “The truth is that the network that once gave us Edward R. Murrow and Jack Benny, and more recently gave us Dan Rather and ‘Dr. Quinn,’ chose this year to dump Dr. Death and Dr. Depravity into the public square,” Lieberman said. The duo’s first Silver Sewers went to Seagram Inc., for supporting Jerry Springer’s syndicated talk show, and to shock-rocker Marilyn Manson.

POP/ROCK

Chatting With Paul About Linda: Paul McCartney will go on the Internet Dec. 17 to talk with fans about his late wife, Linda McCartney, who died of breast cancer in April. The 11 a.m. chat (at https://chat.yahoo.com or https://webevents.broadcast.com/mccartney) will include previously unreleased music, home videos and photos, and McCartney will answer both live and presubmitted (to the Yahoo site) questions. The former Beatle is calling the chat “McCartney’s ‘Wide Prairie’ Show,” referring to the title of the recent album of Linda McCartney’s songs.

STAGE

Star Turns: “Scream” star David Arquette will play Dr. Frank N. Furter in a new stage production of Richard O’Brien’s “Rocky Horror Show,” Jan. 8 through March 28 at West Hollywood’s Tiffany Theater. . . . TV’s Dharma, Jenna Elfman, will star with Miguel Ferrer in the world premiere of director Milton Kateselas’ new work, “Visions and Lovers: Variations of a Theme,” Jan. 22 through April 11 at the Skylight Theater in Los Feliz.

QUICK TAKES

Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Greg Kinnear and Parker Posey, stars of the upcoming movie “You’ve Got Mail,” will chat with Rosie O’Donnell this morning at 8 on America Online (Keyword: ROSIE). The stars will also take questions from Internet users. . . . Craig Kilborn’s final broadcast on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” will be broadcast Dec. 17. Kilborn is leaving the cable network to replace Tom Snyder on CBS’ “Late Late Show” starting in the spring; Jon Stewart will take over “The Daily Show” beginning Jan. 11. . . . Cable’s Nickelodeon has slated five new animated and live-action series for premiere in 1999 and has approved 50 series for development, including an animated “Rugrats” spinoff, “The Carmichaels,” focusing on Susie Carmichael, Angelica Pickles’ friend and foil. . . . ABC has ordered three additional episodes of its first-year drama, “Vengeance Unlimited,” which returns to the network’s schedule Thursday at 8 p.m. However, the series is still several episodes shy of a full-season order. . . . Long Beach Symphony Assn. music director JoAnn Falletta, who was recently named music director for the Buffalo Philharmonic, has agreed to serve as music advisor to the Long Beach orchestra during the 2000-2001 season, while the group searches for a new music director.