Steve Oedekerk

In what could prove to be a more momentous disappearing act--certainly for the filmmakers--than any magic conjured up on screen by the wizard Gandalf in New Line Cinema's "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," the four credited producers of the film have agreed to let arbitrators decide which one of the four will not get to step up on stage at the Kodak Theatre next month should the film be named best picture at the Academy Awards.

Who's hot in Hollywood? Box-office grosses and media buzz are strong indicators. Another barometer is the direct-to-video rental market and the determined excavation of an actor's early films, career curios or recent projects that did not have the benefit of theatrical release. Watching a favorite actor's first film is like paging through a high-school yearbook.

September marked the start of the 20th TV season for movie reviewers Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert--an impressive achievement in the capricious world of television, especially for a show whose format has remained basically unchanged over two decades: two newspaper guys sitting around talking about the movies and showing film clips. Of course, these aren't just any two guys.

TV personality and Revlon model DAISY FUENTES, the first video jockey to appear on both the Spanish language MTV and the original MTV, has leased a condo on the Wilshire Corridor for about $7,000 a month, sources say. Fuentes is in town to take over as host of "America's Funniest Home Videos" on ABC, a source said.

After eating people's brains in "Hannibal," Anthony Hop- kins plays a much more benevolent character who may possess unique powers in the nostalgic drama "Hearts in Atlantis," which arrived this week on DVD (Warner, $25). Based on a story by Stephen King, the intimate drama directed by Scott Hicks ("Shine") finds Hopkins as a sweet stranger who befriends a fatherless 11-year-old boy (Anton Yelchin).

May 9 Etoiles: Dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet Documentary First Run The idea: Weaves together footage of the troupe, founded in 1713 by Louis XIV, on the road, in rehearsal and in scenes from classic ballets. Director: Nils Tavernier. So? Tavernier is son of French cineaste-turned-filmmaker Bertrand. A Family Affair Comedy Small Planet With: Helen Lesnick, Arlene Golonka, Barbara Stuart, Michelle Greene. The idea: Woman returns home to San Diego from New York, seeks new girlfriend.

In "The Player," Griffin Mill is a studio executive on the run from the law after he's killed a bothersome screenwriter. Hoping to distract himself from his problems, he slips off to a Hollywood desert hideaway where he explains to his new lover--the screenwriter's girlfriend--the ingredients of a successful movie. It needs "suspense, laughter, violence, hope, heart and sex," he says. "And happy endings. Mainly happy endings."

Opening Friday The Decline of Western Civilization Part III. Youth pulse-taker Penelope Spheeris turns her documentary eye on the homeless "gutter-punks" of Hollywood. (Spheeris Films) Hard Core Logo. A legendary Vancouver punk band undertakes a reunion tour that brings its members up against some hard truths. (Rolling Thunder) I'll Be Home for Christmas. Jonathan Taylor Thomas must hitchhike across the country in a Santa get-up or lose the Porsche his dad has promised him.

Three years after graduating, they meet again. They had been master of fine arts students in my class, a few months out of school and mostly out of work, when The Times first ran a feature on them. Since then, six other classes have gone through my course in writing episodic television drama at the USC School of Cinema-Television, each with its own angst and triumphs.

Just when it seemed that the Hollywood action film had reached its nadir, a victim of one too many car crashes and explosions, it has been reborn--with a decidedly Asian flavor. The prevalence of martial arts and Hong Kong-style balletic choreography in American movies over the past few years has not only refreshed the genre but also made it more accessible to a wider audience, because the violence is less graphic and therefore more ratings-friendly.