Flashes: June 4, 1993

JAIL BAIT
Demi Moore is out to prove that she's more than just a pretty face. The actress recently purchased the film rights to Notes From the Country Club, the new novel by Rush author Kim Wozencraft. Although Meg Ryan was also interested in the book — a prison drama about a woman convicted of murdering her abusive husband — Moore convinced Wozencraft she was right for the role during a meeting at a Santa Monica restaurant last April. ''She was in the middle of a photo shoot for a magazine,'' says the writer, ''and she showed up with no eyebrows. It was very startling to look at her, but it was very refreshing to see that she wasn't all Hollywood glam glam.'' Moore will develop the project with Propaganda Films. — Meredith Berkman

THAT'S SHOE BIZ
Stephen Rea recently listened to The Crying Game while playing the buying game. When the actor, scheduled to begin shooting Angie, I Says, with Geena Davis this month, was spotted trying on suede lace-up shoes at New York's upscale clothing store Barney's, a salesman promptly popped Game's soundtrack into the store stereo. Rea didn't mind the soulful sounds. ''He lip-synched along with 'When a Man Loves a Woman,''' says an employee, and purchased the $310 shoes. — Bronwen Hruska

I WANNA MOSH YOUR HAND
''Back in the Hamburg days, the Beatles sounded like a grunge band,'' says producer Stephen Woolley (Scandal, A Rage in Harlem). That's why alternative rockers Pearl Jam, Sonic Youth, R.E.M., and Soul Asylum will be contributing versions of '50s rock classics to the soundtrack of Backbeat, Woolley's new Gramercy Pictures film about the early days of the Beatles — namely, the love triangle involving John Lennon, original bass player Stuart Sutcliffe (who died of a brain hemorrhage in 1962), and art student Astrid Kirchherr (the woman who created their style, including the mop-top haircuts). Stephen Dorff (The Power of One) plays Sutcliffe, Twin Peaks' Laura Palmer, Sheryl Lee, is Astrid, and Ian Hart, who portrayed John in the 1991 cult movie Hours and Times, will be Lennon again. — Richard Natale

A DIFFERENT WORLD
Turns out Bill Clinton isn't the only politico who tunes in to MTV. Former secretary of state Henry Kissinger is down with MTV's Doctor Dré. ''Hank K. told us he loved our show,'' says the Yo! MTV Raps host, who met Kissinger at a party announcing Dre and partner Ed Lover's appointments as ''Hip-Hop Ambassadors'' to a cultural festival in the Russian city of St. Petersburg June 17 through the 21. Doctor Dre, who talked ''polo and basketball'' with Dr. K, says, ''He just wants to keep up with the times.'' Alas, the same doesn't go for Kissinger's staff. When contacted for a comment, an employee replied, ''He's out of the country, and we haven't heard of those people.'' — Casey Davidson

HOUSE OF STYMIED
What ever happened to Fox-TV's efforts to turn Cindy Crawford into the Barbara Walters of the '90s? The network has scuttled plans to showcase the supermodel in a series of interview specials. ''Cindy wanted to do a hip, contemporary show,'' says a Crawford spokeswoman. ''They [Fox] wanted to do something we've all seen before.'' Crawford's concept — to interview celebs in the field, as she does on MTV's House of Style — is now being pitched to other networks. ''Fox is just not as hip as you'd think,'' says the spokeswoman. Fox executives could not be reached for comment. — CD