MOVIES - March 7, 1996

Let the Voting Begin: Final ballots for the 68th Academy Awards were mailed Wednesday and must be returned by March 19. But moviegoers who aren’t eligible for real Oscar voting can pick their favorites for best picture, actor, actress and director through a nationwide poll conducted by MovieFone, the movie listings service reached locally by dialing 777-FILM (in the 213, 310, 714 and 909 area codes) or 444-FILM (in the 818 area). In what is being called the American Moviegoer Awards, as many as 4 million callers are expected to register their votes through midnight of March 21. The results will be announced March 24, one night before the March 25 Oscars.

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Demi Diverted: Actress Demi Moore personally telephoned President Clinton recently to seek his help in a film project but was shuffled off to an aide, the White House said Wednesday. Moore was apparently calling to try to get the Pentagon--which often provides equipment, logistical and other support to films on a reimbursable basis--to cooperate with her new movie, “G.I. Jane,” in which she plans to play a Navy SEAL. The Pentagon’s reluctance to help with the Ridley Scott-directed film may be due to the fact that there are no women in the elite special warfare unit. White House spokeswoman Mike McCurry said that the president was unaware of the actress’s call and that it was treated as “routine.”

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Cinematheque to Go Egyptian: The Los Angeles City Council approved a $2-million Community Redevelopment Agency loan-grant package Wednesday for the American Cinematheque to restore Hollywood Boulevard’s Egyptian Theater, one of Hollywood’s “golden age” movie houses. The Art Deco theater, which has been shut down for years, will be restored and turned into a new headquarters for the nonprofit American Cinematheque, which will also screen films there. The theater was built in 1922 by Sid Grauman, who built Hollywood’s elaborate Chinese Theater five years later. The American Cinematheque’s current headquarters is at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood.