Best Bets / JULY 16-22, 2000

Movies

Robert Zemeckis’ suspense-thriller “What Lies Beneath” stars Harrison Ford as a doctor who has a fling, unknown to his wife (Michelle Pfeiffer). His life returns happily to normal--until his wife starts hearing voices and seeing the wraith-like image of a young woman. Opens wide Friday.

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Also: “Pokemon the Movie 2000,” the second animated adventure feature from the Pokemon universe of Kids WB!, tells of a terrible force threatening the universe. The film marks the debut of six new Pokemon. Opening in general release Friday.

Music

Paul Daniel, music director of the English National Opera, conducts the L.A. Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl on Tuesday and Thursday in programs featuring pianists. Robert Levin plays Mozart’s Concerto in C, K. 503, Tuesday; on Thursday, Ursula Oppens offers Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto. Daniel also conducts Richard Strauss’ “Ein Heldenleben” and Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra.

Jazz

Bill Henderson, one of Los Angeles’ top jazz singers, has been performing fresh and expressive versions of standards and ballads since the late 1950s. He teams up with veteran pianist Mike Melvoin for three nights of duets at the Jazz Bakery in Culver City, starting Friday.

Museums

Large-scale drawings by artist and scholar Donna McClelland re-create elaborate scenes of daily life that were painted on the ceramic vessels of the little-known Moche people (AD 100-800) in “Moche Fineline Painting of Ancient Peru,” opening today at the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History in Westwood.

Pop Music

Brit pop’s recent rebound from its low ebb seems to be stalling again, but along with such letdowns as Oasis’ latest and Richard Ashcroft’s post-Verve debut are some promising embers, including the upcoming returns of Elastica and Radiohead. Meantime, the bright hope is the young Scottish band Travis, which headlines L.A.’s Wiltern Theatre on Thursday. Above, from left, Travis’ Andy Dunlop, fran Healy, Neil Primrose and Dougie Payne.

Dance

Dancers who talk and talkers who dance join forces in the West Coast premiere of “The Horse’s Mouth Greets the New Millennium” when the annual Dance Kaleidoscope series moves to the Japan America Theatre in downtown L.A. on Saturday. Scheduled to speak and move: everyone from show-dance luminaries to leaders of the folkloric community--plus ballet and modern specialists. Maybe even a critic or two. Above, James Cunningham, Paul Matteson and Tina Croce.

Theater

A revival of “The Good Doctor,” Neil Simon’s comedy about a raft of characters based on stories by Chekhov, opens today at the Pasadena Playhouse. It teams up three-time Tony nominee and TV veteran Harry Groener with Michael Learned, the classically trained stage actress who endeared herself to millions as the stalwart mom on TV’s “The Waltons.”

Video

Bruce Willis plays a high-powered hit man who moves next door to a henpecked dentist (Matthew Perry) in the comedy hit, “The Whole Nine Yards.” Directed by Jonathan Lynn, the farce also features Michael Clarke Duncan (“The Green Mile”) as Willis’ right-hand man and Amanda Peet in a star turn as a dental assistant bent on becoming a hit woman. The comedy makes its video and DVD debut Tuesday.