MOVIES
Edward Zwick’s “Blood Diamond,” about Africa’s illicit and brutal diamond trade, is not a perfect gem. But it is a compelling Hollywood treatment of a serious topic: the horrors of a civil war financed by “conflict diamonds.” As Leonardo DiCaprio’s mercenary tells an American journalist (Jennifer Connelly): “In America it’s bling-bling, here it’s bling-bang.” Djimon Hounsou brings moral ballast as a father searching for a son conscripted by rebel forces. Director Zwick has become heir to “message movie” great Stanley Kramer. DiCaprio and Hounsou’s characters are like an update of the two in Kramer’s “The Defiant Ones.” Only these men are bound not by chains but by a colonial past and a place where cynics and opportunists explain away mayhem with “TIA – This is Africa.” | Lisa Kennedy
CLASSICAL MUSIC
Two masterful choral works, Arvo Pärt’s “Magnificat” and Giovanni Palestrina’s “Hodie Christus Natus Est,” highlight “Nativity,” Kantorei’s annual Christmas program. The 45-voice ensemble also will perform John Rutter’s arrangements of such favorites as “Deck the Halls” and “Somerset Wassail.” Performances are set for 8 p.m. Saturday at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 1600 Grant St., and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 17 at Bethany Lutheran Church, 4500 E. Hampden Ave. Tickets are $15 for the general public and $10 for seniors and students. 303-316-0356 or kantorei.org | Kyle MacMillan
STAGE
Sometimes in theater, the things you can’t quite grab on to are the very things that grab on to you and won’t let go. In Dan Dietz’s imaginative and ephemeral new “tempOdyssey,” there’s a lot to try to grab onto: the Big Bang vs. the black hole, the infinite vs. the infinitesimal, to kill or not kill. These are some of the competing forces at odds throughout Curious Theatre’s strange and weirdly intoxicating staging. Final performances 2 p.m. today, 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday at the Acoma Center, 1080 Acoma St. ($28-$32 (2-for-1 Thursday); call 303-623-0524 or go to curioustheatre.org. | John Moore
TELEVISION
TV Land offers another addictive clip show, “100 Greatest TV Quotes & Catchphrases,” debuting at 10 p.m. Monday and running all week. Yes, five nights of quotable television. From Fred Flintstone’s “Yabba dabba do” to Walter Cronkite’s “And that’s the way it is,” from Tattoo’s “De plane! De plane!” to Alka Seltzer’s “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing,” the jargon that has emerged from the small screen is “part of baby boomers’ DNA,” the network believes. | Joanne Ostrow
VISUAL ARTS
For much of the time that the Denver Art Museum’s Hamilton Building was under construction, its titanium exterior was covered in protective sheeting known as “Nitto.” Some of that material was saved, and, as a kind of homage to the project, the Invisible Museum asked 14 area artists, including Rachel Hawthorn, Mark Lunning and Mark Sink, to create works imprinted on it in some way. What resulted is an exhibition titled The Nitto Files: An Artistic Conspiracy, which continues through Friday at 910 Santa Fe Drive. 303-832-2413 | Kyle MacMillan
POPULAR MUSIC
You might not know the name Dan the Automator, but chances are you’re familiar with his beats. Not only did he produce the Gorillaz’ debut in 2001, he’s also one of the men behind Handsome Boy Modeling School, Deltron 3030 and Lovage. He was born Dan Nakamura, but his alias is one of the most inspired independent producers out there. His most recent outing is the 2K Sports Bounce Tour, which has the Automator rocking it with Chali 2na of Jurassic 5, Casual of Hieroglyphics and A.G. of D.I.T.C. Common Market opens the show. Information: foxtheatre.com. | Ricardo Baca
NIGHT LIFE
San Francisco native and one-of-a-kind artist Dan Hicks, pictured below, has been rocking his signature “folk jazz” for nigh on 40 years, blending music, humor and dance in an expressive live show. He’s touring the holiday-tailored set “Holidaze in Hicksville” with longtime band the Hot Licks. Titles including “Somebody Stole My Santa Claus Suit” and “Rudolph the Bald-Headed Reindeer” ought to give you a sense of the set’s tenor. Saturday at Quixotes True Blue, 2637 Welton St. 9 p.m. $25. 303-297-1772 or quixotes.com. | John Wenzel
