Best Bets / February 11-17, 2001

Movies

As a wannabe comedian who’s mistakenly dropped at heaven’s door, Chris Rock (flanked by Chazz Palminteri, far right, and Eugene Levy) is then zapped back “Down to Earth” as a Manhattan mogul whose wife had just tried to knock him off. The remake of Warren Beatty’s “Heaven Can Wait” opens Friday.

Theater

In “The Woman in Black,” a solicitor hires a professional actor to reenact and, he hopes, exorcise a ghostly event from his past. Adapted by Stephen Mallatratt from the book by Susan Hill, London’s long-running West End hit opens Thursday in the Old Globe Theatre in the Simon Edison Centre for the Performing Arts in San Diego.

Pop Music

The annual Bob Marley Day concerts at the Long Beach Arena have become one of the nation’s premier showcases of reggae music, and on the occasion of its 20th edition Saturday and next Sunday, the festival has something rare to celebrate--a hit album by a reggae-rooted singer, Shaggy, who joins Bunny Wailer, Ky-mani Marley and others at the event’s second day.

Music

Diva incarnate Kathleen Battle, below, appears with a chamber ensemble led by harpsichordist-conductor Anthony Newman at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, today at 2 p.m. The program reflects the American soprano’s renewed interest in baroque repertoire, including works by Handel, Bach, Dowland and Purcell.

Museums

“Rediscovering Caesarea Philippi: The Ancient City of Pan,” an exhibition of artifacts excavated at Banias (ancient Caesarea Philippi) in northern Israel, will go on view today at the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art at Pepperdine. The exhibition will include 120 objects discovered during student excavations over the past decade, including artifacts from the ancient palace of King Herod Agrippa II and pottery from the Byzantine and Arab periods.

Dance

The mighty, much honored Nederlands Dans Theatre I visits the Wiltern Theatre from Thursday to Saturday, dancing Jiri Kylian’s “Bella Figura,” “Petite Mort” and “No More Play,” along with Paul Lightfoot’s “Start to Finish.” Kylian and his Nederlands dancers recently swept the Nijinsky Awards in Monaco, winning for best choreographer, choreography and company.

Jazz

Louis Armstrong’s 100th birthday would have been this coming Aug. 4 and his musical legacy is being celebrated all year. At UCLA’s Royce Hall Thursday, a tribute to Satch will feature veteran drummer Roy Haynes’ quintet and trumpeter Nicholas Payton’s unusual modernized treatments of Armstrong songs.

Video

Summer sleeper “Bring It On” stars Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Bradford and Gabrielle Union in the story about a champion high school cheerleading squad who discover that the former team captain stole all their best routines from an inner-city school. Directed by Peyton Reed, the teen comedy arrives Tuesday on video and DVD.