By Belinda Luscombe

YES, BUT IS IT FILM?

That wig, those glasses, that cadaverous pallor, it's . it's . DAVID BOWIE. The singer, whose own efforts at painting have not yet been accorded the critical attention Andy Warhol's drew, is playing the pop icon in a film about painter Jean Michel Basquiat, a Warhol protaga. And what an art-ridden affair it is. The film was written and is being directed by painter Julian Schnabel. Art collector DENNIS HOPPER plays collector-dealer Bruno Bischofberger, who marketed Basquiat to the world. Only Jeffrey Wright, who plays Basquiat, has no art-world ties. "This is the first nondocumentary film about an American artist," says Hopper, who owns paintings by both Basquiat and Schnabel. "It's important, and it's going to be a breakthrough."

SEEN&HEARD

In heartening news for young actors with goatees who have always dreamed of playing Shaggy, Turner Pictures is working on a live action screen version of Scooby Doo. No actors (or dogs) have been signed, but a script is definitely in the works. Does Marmaduke know?

When Jane Pratt, former Sassy editor, was 29, she told the New York Times she was "really, like, 19, you know." So now she's 32-just the right age to date Ethan ("Speaking of Goatees") Hawke, 24. Appropriately, the two were introduced by Richard Linklater, director of Slacker, and were last seen together at a party for Douglas Coupland, author of Generation X.

THE LADY IS A GEEZER

The Miss Universe contest has no math component. Perhaps that's why the beauty pageant became embroiled in an ugly fight that has Miss Washington, STACI BALDWIN, suing to keep her banner and tiara. Baldwin was asked to return them when officials discovered that by next February she will be 27, too old for the Miss USA contest (and way too mature to be Miss Universe). Baldwin, whose birth date on her registration form was apparently overlooked, is taking the matter to a different sort of judging contest: court. "The pageant is an important opportunity for an aspiring actress," says Baldwin's lawyer, Jeff Smyth. "She was a contender in every way. We'll be looking for seven to eight figures."

MAD LOVE

It's definitely not the best way to meet women, but hey, it works. Among the many letters Oklahoma City bombing suspect TIMOTHY MCVEIGH has received are three or four marriage proposals. "I suspect most are from women who want fame or to write a book," says McVeigh's lawyer, Stephen Jones, "but some want to look after him." He says McVeigh has also received Bibles and crucifixes, "and one of them was quite nice."