Best Bets: Thursday 1/7

7:30 pm: Movies

The much-anticipated exhibition “Van Gogh’s Van Goghs: Masterpieces From the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam” doesn’t open at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art until Jan. 17, but the museum has put together “Van Gogh on Film,” a three-day series of biographical films about the complicated Dutch artist by such diverse directors as Robert Altman, Vincente Minnelli and Maurice Pialat. Call or see movie listings for a complete schedule, Page TK.

* “Van Gogh on Film,” Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Bing Theater, 5905 Wilshire Blvd. Tonight, “Van Gogh” (1992), 7:30 p.m.; Friday, “Vincent & Theo” (1990) and “Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams,” 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, “Lust for Life (1956), 7:30 p.m. $5-$7. (323) 857-6010.

8 pm: Dance

A heady dose of Argentine passion launches the dance year when the 12 dancers and nine musicians of “Tango Buenos Aires” arrive on two Southland stages in a chronological history of tango tradition. With its origins in the brothels of Buenos Aires--and its initial form a duet for men--the tango went through many, many changes before becoming a potent symbol of hetero-courtship. The evidence is here, starting with the original march version of the classic “La Cumparsita.” The show was created by composer-conductor Osvaldo Requena for a cabaret festival and has since toured internationally as part of the unstoppable tango revival.

* “Tango Buenos Aires,” Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, 12700 Center Court Drive, Cerritos. 8 p.m. Also Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 2 and 8 p.m. $27-$42. (562) 916-8500. And Sunday in the Fred Kavli Theatre, Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd. 2 p.m. $15-$35. (805) 583-8700.

8 pm: Theater

Diahann Carroll, Tony Award winner and star of the groundbreaking TV series “Julia,” headlines in the nationally touring “Almost Like Being in Love--the Lerner & Loewe Songbook” at three Southern California stages. The evening of romantic stage music will also feature other veteran Broadway performers and onstage musicians.

* “Almost Like Being in Love--the Lerner & Loewe Songbook,” Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Today, 8 p.m. $26-$46. Also at McCallum Theatre, 73000 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert. Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 2 and 8 p.m. $30-$60. (760) 340-ARTS, (760) 220-TIXS. And at Haugh Performing Arts Center, Citrus College, 1000 W. Foothill Blvd., Glendora. Sunday, 2 p.m. $30. (626) 963-9411.

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FREEBIE: The Southern Christian Leadership Conference kicks off King Week Festival ’99 with a ceremony at Bradley Court of the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, 3650 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Los Angeles, 10 a.m. (213) 920-0438.