West Revisited in ‘American Outlaws’

It’s been more than a decade since Charlie Sheen and Kiefer Sutherland shot up the big screen in the hottie gunslingers breakout hit “Young Guns,” but memories die hard.

Now Morgan Creek Productions, the same production company that struck gold with that earlier film, is attempting to resurrect the genre with “American Outlaws,” the tale of the Jesse James gang.

In this screen incarnation, the James brothers don’t just rob banks, they also fight the imperialistic urges of the evil railroad company and the dastardly Pinkerton Detective Agency.

“It’s inspired by a true story, but we go way off book,” says director Les Mayfield (“Blue Streak”) cheerfully from his car phone. “We don’t pretend to be historically accurate. We’re going more for the myth of Jesse James. It’s youth versus the establishment.”

The new bumper crop of lithe young cowboys includes Scott Caan (James Caan’s son), Gregory Smith, Will McCormack, Gabriel Macht and, most notably, Colin Farrell.

Farrell is one of Hollywood’s high hopes for the new season. With the indie “Tigerland” as his only American credit, the dark-haired neophyte stepped into Steven Spielberg’s “Minority Report” when Matt Damon passed and into “Hart’s War,” starring Bruce Willis, when Edward Norton dropped out. Although his name is hardly familiar to moviegoers across America, Farrell already makes more than $1 million per film.

Mayfield admits he was initially terrified of casting the Dublin native as the American icon. “The idea of an Irish person playing Jesse James didn’t seem right until I met Colin,” he says. “Then I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d rather have as the star of the movie. He personifies the spirit of the gentleman outlaw.” And the look of the Irish.

Is That the Isley Brothers--Again?

Who’s that hit group? Believe it or not, it’s the Isley Brothers--yes, the Isley Brothers-- poised this week to make a potent debut on the U.S. albums chart.

The Isleys have had numerous lineups since the group launched in Ohio in 1954, but they’ve had even more hits--”Shout,” “This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You),” “It’s Your Thing” and “Who’s That Lady” among them. Now add to the list “Contagious,” the single driving the aptly named album “Eternal,” which hits the charts Wednesday. “Contagious” is on Billboard’s list of the Top 40, meaning the group has had a hit single in six different decades.

The album features present-day star power--R&B; singer Jill Scott makes a guest turn, and hit producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are on board--but member Ernie Isley says it is still jolting to be vying for radio time against a new generation.

“This is the biggest thrill of all,” says Isley, who joined his elder brothers in the group in 1969 at age 7. “This is so out of left field in terms of the way the music industry thinks. We used to compete with Earth, Wind & Fire. Now it’s Lil’ Bow Wow and ‘N Sync.”

The group has been, as Isley puts it, “in the fine print” of hip-hop albums in recent years, with such artists as Public Enemy, the Notorious B.I.G. and Ice Cube weaving Isley Brothers songs into their music. Now, Isley says he and his sibling partner, Ronald, hope the new success will spark a veteran act’s renaissance, just as Carlos Santana enjoyed a few years ago. “We are,” Ernie says, “some kind of American success story.” He may be right: Retailers say the early sales of “Eternal” suggest it may debut in the Top 5.

Streaming Into a Workshop

“The Arts and Streaming Media,” a digital arts workshop to be held at AFI Thursday through Saturday, promises “three great days of wildly diverse ideas, opinions and exchanges about the fastest-growing arts pipeline and the medium of our times.” Scheduled as Siggraph, the annual digital graphics extravaganza, comes to an end, the workshop’s goal is to unveil the mysteries of piping video images and recorded or live sound through the Internet, says Julie Lazar, a former curator at L.A.’s Museum of Contemporary Art, who has organized the event.

Sponsored by the California Arts Council and the Rockefeller Foundation, the program will begin with two days of private workshops designed for artists and curators to learn more about integrating audio and video into text-based Web sites. The public is invited on Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., when a series of panel discussions will focus on everything from online theater to cell phone performance and youth-oriented projects.

Special evening events are also open to the public. Performances by New York artists Jeremy Bernstein and Kurt Ralske and Los Angeles artists Carole Kim and Jesse Gilbert will be presented at MOCA on Friday at 8 p.m. Short films by Lewis Klahr, Janie Geiser, Pat O’Neill, James Benning and Burt Barr will be screened at AFI on Saturday at 8 p.m. All events are free, but reservations are required: https://www.AFIonline.org/cdaw or (323) 986-7862.

‘Iyanla’ Joins Conversation in Progress

The fall TV season gets off to an early start today with the launch of “Iyanla,” a syndicated talk show hosted by best-selling self-help author Iyanla Vanzant.

Vanzant has been a frequent, popular guest on other daytime shows, including Oprah Winfrey’s; in fact, she came to the attention of her new program’s executive producers, Barbara Walters and Bill Geddie, when she appeared on their show, ABC’s “The View.”

Vanzant has got a challenge ahead of her as she competes for an audience. The talk field is crowded, with a new show featuring MTV and BET personality Ananda Lewis (another host who will be known by only one name) launching in September.

In addition, Vanzant’s non-pandering topics aren’t especially sexy. Today’s episode, for example, is “Money Vows,” with practical advice about money problems in marriages.

Other subjects on tap include how women age and one venturing into familiar daytime fare about finding the right mate but told from the viewpoint: “Would you date you?”

In Los Angeles, Walters isn’t quite sure how much to root for “Iyanla’s” success: The show airs on KNBC at 10 a.m., directly opposite “The View.” “We hope there is enough audience to go around,” Walters says.

Compiled by Times staff writers