ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTS FROM THE TIMES, NEWS SERVICES AND THE NATION’S PRESS.

MOVIES

Another Vote for ‘Gods’: In one more possible indicator for this year’s wide-open Oscar race, the San Diego Film Critics chose “Gods and Monsters” as the year’s best film and cited its star, Ian McKellen, as best actor. The group of print, TV and Internet critics named John Madden best director for “Shakespeare in Love” and picked Susan Sarandon as best actress for “Stepmom.” In the screenwriting department, Peter Howitt was recognized for his original screenplay for “Sliding Doors,” while Scott Smith was honored for adapting his own novel for “A Simple Plan.” Kathy Bates was named best supporting actress for “Primary Colors,” Billy Bob Thornton took supporting actor honors for “A Simple Plan,” and Italy’s “Life Is Beautiful” was voted best foreign-language film. In addition, Gwyneth Paltrow was honored for “consistent acting excellence” for her work in 1998, including lead roles in “Shakespeare in Love” and “Sliding Doors.”

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On the Downside: With everyone weighing in on the “best” movies of the year, People magazine’s year-end issue will cite the magazine’s picks for the year’s 10 worst flicks: “Godzilla,” “The Avengers,” “BASEketball,” “The Replacement Killers,” “What Dreams May Come,” “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” “Small Soldiers,” “Hush,” “Lost in Space” and “American History X.”

POP MUSIC

Her Heart Still Goes On: The “Titanic” soundtrack, with more than 9.8 million copies sold in 1998, put the competition on ice to finish atop the year-end Billboard 200 Top Albums chart. And a major contributor to that soundtrack, Celine Dion, finished at No. 2 by selling 8.1 million copies of her solo album “Let’s Talk About Love.” The annual chart, compiled from SoundScan sales reports and radio airplay surveys, will appear in Billboard magazine’s final 1998 issue. The rest of the Top 5 albums are Garth Brooks’ “Sevens,” the self-titled album from teen group the Backstreet Boys and Shania Twain’s “Come on Over.” Meanwhile, the year’s Billboard Hot 100 singles are led by Next’s “Too Close” at No. 1, followed by “The Boy Is Mine” by Brandy & Monica and Twain’s “You’re Still the One.” Billboard also named Usher, with three songs among the Top 20 singles and the album “My Way” finishing at No. 11, as the year’s top pop artist.

RADIO

Minyard’s New Partner: Ken Minyard, the longtime morning host who was let go from KABC-AM (790) last month, will return to the airwaves on Jan. 4, hosting the 3 to 7 p.m. slot on KRLA-AM (1110). That’s the same day that another former KABC host, Michael Jackson, begins on KRLA. Minyard, known for his liberal viewpoints, will host the weekday show with his son, Rick, who’s said to have a particularly conservative point of view.

QUICK TAKES

CBS’ “The Young and the Restless” has notched its 520th consecutive week as the top-rated program in daytime TV, marking 10 straight years at No. 1. . . . Ballet Nacional de Cuba, led by General Director Alicia Alonso, will make its first L.A. appearance in 20 years with three performances of “Giselle” at the Wiltern Theatre on Feb. 5 and 6. It will mark the first full-length “Giselle” danced in Los Angeles by a major company in more than a decade. . . . DreamWorks’ “Prince of Egypt,” which opens in U.S. theaters today, has already made its mark on the international scene, setting a record Thursday for the biggest opening day for an animated film in Singapore history. The film also did well in its Wednesday opening in France, surpassing the first-day box office for other recent American releases including “Deep Impact,” “The Truman Show” and Disney’s “Mulan.” . . . Elizabeth Smith, a curator at L.A.’s Museum of Contemporary Art, has been named chief curator at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art, effective Feb. 15. Smith’s projects at MOCA have included “Cindy Sherman: Retrospective” and “At the End of the Century: One Hundred Years of Architecture.” . . . Donny Osmond will sign copies of his new album, “Christmas at Home,” tonight at 9:30 at Tower Records in Santa Monica. . . . A&E;’s “Biography” series will air “Saddam Hussein: Butcher of Baghdad” Saturday at 9 p.m. . . . Spanish-language station KVEA-TV raised $703,439 during last weekend’s “Navidad en el Barrio” telethon at Universal Studios Hollywood. The proceeds will provide food baskets for 20,000 needy families.