Best Bets / JUNE 18-24, 2000

Movies

Jim Carrey teams with the Farrelly brothers for “Me, Myself & Irene,” an outrageous comedy about a woman who falls in love with a man with multiple-personality disorder. Opens wide Friday.

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The Oscar-winning “Wallace & Gromit” hatches the truly high-concept “Chicken Run,” which re-imagines “The Great Escape” as a clay-animated poultry caper with Mel Gibson voicing the Steve McQueen character’s part. Opens Wednesday.

Pop Music

Veterans and newcomers mingle at Urbanfest L.A., the concert component of a two-day music conference on the USC campus sponsored by the nonprofit organization Urban Focus Music Foundation. Among the acts performing on Saturday and next Sunday: DJ Quik, Boyz II Men, Common, Mary Mary, Avant, Yolanda Adams, De La Soul and Slum Village.

Theater

International City Theatre presents “The Deal,” Matt Witten’s drama about an FBI sting operation involving a small-time politician, opens Friday at the Center Theatre of the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. Staged by multi-award-winning director Allan Miller, the political thriller explores the moral questions raised when suspects are lured into incriminating themselves.

Jazz

Pianist-singer Jeannie Cheatham and bass trombonist-arranger Jimmy Cheatham have long led the Sweet Baby Blues Band, an exciting group that combines Kansas City swing with blues, bop and ballads. This Thursday the spirited ensemble will be appearing at a free concert at MOCA.

Music

A 20th anniversary season arrives for the Baroque Music Festival in Corona del Mar today, when founder Burton Karson conducts the festival orchestra in a concerto program. Subsequent events are Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights; the series closes next Sunday. Among those featured: organist Daniel Kerr, violinists Elizabeth Blumenstock and Clayton Haslop and flutist David Shostac.

Dance

Dance idioms from India and Spain invade Cahuenga Pass next Sunday when Anjani Ambegaokar adds classical Indian kathak dancing to the “Fiery Flamenco!” program in Hollywood Bowl. Headlining this opening event of World Festival 2000: the Noche Flamenca ensemble and the husband-and-wife team of guitarist Adam del Monte and flamenco dancer Laila del Monte.

Video

Award-winning, uncompromising British director Mike Leigh is best known for such dark, contemporary examinations of the human psyche as “Naked” and “Secrets & Lies.” But Leigh offers a real change of pace in his latest film, “Topsy-Turvy,” a colorful look at the life and careers of composers Gilbert & Sullivan. Winner of four Oscars, including best costume design.

Art

Dreamlike images of deserted Paris streets from 1897 to 1927 offer a view of Paris little seen by tourists or the rich in “The Man in the Street: Eugene Atget in Paris” opening Tuesday at the Getty Center’s J. Paul Getty Museum. Producing what he called “documents for artists,” Atget began his career by taking studies of plants, animals and landscapes to be used by artists. His photographs developed into scenes from daily life, eventually giving birth to the genre of documentary photography, and recording Paris forever. Left, “Chiffonier (Rag Picker),” 1901.