Leonard Maltin

The Writers Guild Foundation will present writer-director John Sayles with its career achievement award for 1997 on Feb. 13 at the Writers Guild Theater. Hosted by Leonard Maltin of "Entertainment Tonight," the tribute will be followed by a screening of "Men With Guns," Sayles' forthcoming feature. In honor of Sayles' achievements, four of his early films will be shown. "Baby It's You" (1983) and "The Brother From Another Planet" (1984) will screen at 6:30 p.m. on Feb.

* Film. The American Cinematheque pays tribute to Marilyn Monroe in "Marilyn Monroe: Actress and Icon," a series featuring "Some Like It Hot," "The Misfits" and "Bus Stop" among other films, and a special seminar with Joyce Carol Oates and Leonard Maltin. Wednesday-April 30 at the Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. $7. (323) 466-3456. * Art.

Today was a good day for "District 9," "An Education," "Precious" and "Up in the Air," each of which pulled in a best picture nomination for the USC Libraries 22nd Annual Scripter Award just hours after receiving similar honors from the Producers Guild of America. The fifth Scripter nod went to the Jeff Bridges drama "Crazy Heart." The award honors both the author and screenwriter of the year's best book-to-film adaptation (or in the case of "District 9," a short film screenplay adaptation)

The American Cinematheque this weekend presents "Orson Welles: The Actor," composed of nine features, three of which Welles also directed. The retrospective begins tonight at 7 with "The Lady From Shanghai" (1948), to be followed at 9 by the double feature "Jane Eyre" (1944) and "The Stranger" (1946). "Prince of Foxes" (1949) and "The Third Man" (1949) will screen Saturday as a double feature commencing at 6 p.m., with "Touch of Evil" (1958) screening at 9:30.

The Los Angeles Conservancy's ninth annual "Last Remaining Seats" will present at 8 p.m. each Wednesday in June a vintage film program in a downtown movie palace, starting at the Orpheum, 842 S. Broadway, with "The General" (1927), which also marks the centennial of Buster Keaton's birth. It will be shown on a pristine print accompanied by a full orchestra, conducted by Robert Israel.

"Betty Boop Confidential," a new compilation of clips from cartoons of the beloved Boop-Boop-a-Doop Girl, will screen Aug. 7 at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 8949 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills. The clips, to be released by Kit Parker Films, will benefit the animation preservation projects of the International Animated Film Society. Proceeds will be donated to the UCLA Film and Television Archive.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present its sixth annual Marc Davis Lecture on Animation--named for the legendary Disney animator who was one of the studio's "Nine Old Men"--April 28 at 8 p.m. in the academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater. This year's lecture will be devoted to the work of its namesake, who died in January. Davis began working for Disney Studios in 1935 and created Disney characters including Bambi, Cinderella, Alice, Tinkerbell and Cruella De Vil.

So MY dad took a couple of days off, allowing me to "guest host" his column for him again, a task I rank right up there with scrubbing pond scum off a canoe. Gee, thanks. As my father himself would say: "Bartender!!!" "You know, this thing just isn't intuitive at all," he huffs. That's Gunga Dad now. He's in the den trying to rewind the DVD, so he can take it back to Blockbuster. I keep telling him that you don't need to rewind a DVD. In fact, you can't rewind a DVD even if you want to.