By Belinda Luscombe

MEALS WITH MUSCLE IN MOSCOW

Muscovites, having suffered enough, are about to be introduced to the joy of the celebrity-themed restaurant. Action star and New Age author CHUCK NORRIS is converting a former gymnasium for military and secret-service personnel in the Red Square district into a high-class club. Chuck Norris' Supper Club and Casino will fill 54,000 sq. ft. with mucho adult entertainment, including restaurants, a casino, a health club and a "hostess club." Norris also has invested in the Fire-Bird Casino, a small but posh affair housed in a Stalin-era skyscraper, where it is embarrassing to stake less than $10,000. In addition, Russians will at last be at liberty to ogle STEVEN SEAGAL's military whites from Under Siege and taste Arnold Schwarzenegger's grandmother's apple strudel. Seagal, who has already done so much for the world by toughening up the image of the ponytail, is part of a consortium that has bought the franchise for Moscow's first Planet Hollywood.

THE VIDEO PITT STOP

In Melissa Etheridge's video for Come to My Window, JULIETTE LEWIS, an actress once linked to Brad Pitt, goes crazy over love. In Etheridge's video for I Want to Come Over, GWYNETH PALTROW, an actress now linked to Brad Pitt, goes crazy over love. Coincidence? Etheridge admits that she met the women through her friend Pitt, a.k.a. the Sexiest Man Alive. "But I went through all the proper channels to hire them," she says. "Personal relationships are so fragile in this business, I never want anyone to think I'm friends with them just to get something." What if Pitt decides Paltrow's forever? "I'm not going to use any more famous guys' girlfriends in my videos," says Etheridge. "And I'm crazy about Gwyneth."

SEX, LIES AND FREE SPEECH

MILOS FORMAN isn't sure yet whether his new film is going to attract lawsuits from the Moral Majority, porn king LARRY FLYNT or both. The Czech director, whose Amadeus changed a lot of views of Mozart, says the Supreme Court is the only hero in The People vs. Larry Flynt, the story of the Hustler publisher's battles with the law. "I lived 36 years of my life in a society where people like Flynt lost," says Forman. "I know the result is devastating." The film may have wide appeal, as such disparate civilians as Courtney Love and James Carville make appearances. And Flynt, who's played by WOODY HARRELSON, himself stars as the lower-court judge who sentences him to 25 years in prison. "He was a perfect judge," says Forman. "He has had so many chances to watch them."

SEEN & HEARD

Smart women never miss a chance for product placement. Elle Macpherson says she felt "very vulnerable" during her first ever foreplay scene, in If Lucy Fell. But she still had the presence of mind to wear her own brand of underwear, Elle Macpherson Intimates (alas, not available Stateside--yet). Says Elle modestly: "It just seemed appropriate."

The inevitable tennis puns about "scoring love" and a "perfect match" are circling around Brooke Shields and Andre Agassi. The two got engaged in Hawaii, with the aid of a diamond ring. "I think he thought the time was right," says Agassi's brother Phillip. The news surprises nobody; the two have been so close for the past two years that they already share a publicist.