Best Bets/ JULY 23-29, 2000

Movies

Eddie Murphy reprises his role as the corpulent academic Sherman Klump--as well as all the members of his immediate family--in “Nutty Professor II: The Klumps.” Janet Jackson costars in the sequel to the 1996 hit, which opens wide Friday.

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Also: : Director Michael Winterbottom frames a grittily realistic London drama around three adult sisters and their unhappily married parents in “Wonderland,” which opens Friday in selected theaters.

Art

The first retrospective exhibition devoted to the art of children’s book writer and illustrator Allen Say will be featured in “Allen Say’s Journey: The Art and Words of a Children’s Book Author,” opening Friday at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo. The survey will feature 55 original watercolor paintings and pen-and-ink drawings, including works from Say’s Caldecott Award-winning book “Grandfather’s Journey” and the book “The Sign Painter,” due out in the fall.

Museums

A new exhibition exploring the history of the Chinese in America from the 1790s to the present provides a detailed look at how the Chinese in America became Chinese Americans in “On Gold Mountain: A Chinese American Experience,” opening today at the Autry Museum of Western Heritage in Griffith Park. Inspired by the acclaimed book “On Gold Mountain” by Lisa See, the exhibition will include objects and materials from 50 local and national collections, and will also examine the evolution of Los Angeles’ Chinatown.

Pop Music

The big stars of dance music have come from such electro-meccas as New York (Moby) and London (Fatboy Slim). Could Maryland possibly qualify? That’s the home state of Brian Transeau, better known as BT to a growing base of fans. With the hit single “Never Gonna Come Back Down” spreading the word, BT performs at Giant in Hollywood on Saturday.

Music

Veteran and neophyte pianists play with the L.A. Philharmonic and conductor Junichi Hirokami at the Hollywood Bowl this week. Tuesday night the celebrated American musician Andre Watts returns to the Cahuenga Pass for familiar masterpieces by Franck and Liszt. Thursday the 17-year-old Chinese virtuoso, Lang Lang, makes his debut in Rachmaninoff’s fearsome Piano Concerto No. 3.

Jazz

One of the high points of last year’s Jazz West Coast II festival was Stephanie Nakasian’s tribute to June Christy. The versatile and always-swinging singer, accompanied by pianist Hod O’Brian, has a rare local one-nighter Tuesday at the Jazz Bakery in Culver City.

Theater

David Grimm’s dark and comic portrait of 18th century playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan, “Sheridan, or Schooled in Scandal,” tells a tale of blackmail, political intrigue and forbidden romance. In the decadent London of mad King George III, Sheridan’s worlds of theater and politics become a web of scandal. Opens today at La Jolla Playhouse.

Video

Paul Thomas Anderson followed up his 1997 hit, “Boogie Nights,” with “Magnolia,” a three-hour ensemble drama set in the San Fernando Valley. The terrific cast includes William H. Macy, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jason Robards. But it’s Tom Cruise’s Oscar-nominated performance as a sexy motivational speaker that steals the movie. The drama arrives Tuesday on video.