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Movies

Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow and Luke Wilson play former child prodigies who’ve come unhinged in Wes Anderson’s comedy “The Royal Tenenbaums,” the tale of the title family’s unexpected reconnection with prodigal patriarch Gene Hackman. The film co-stars Anjelica Huston, Danny Glover, Bill Murray and co-writer Owen Wilson. It opens Friday. Above: Paltrow, left, and Huston.

Also: Reuniting Tom Cruise with “Jerry Maguire” director Cameron Crowe, “Vanilla Sky” is a remake of the Spanish mind-bender “Open Your Eyes.” Cruise plays a spoiled publishing heir whose disturbingly vivid dreams become increasingly disorienting. Penelope Cruz (who appeared in the original version), Kurt Russell and Cameron Diaz also star. Opens Friday.

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Music

Bringing his German Symphony Orchestra Berlin to L.A.’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Kent Nagano, who is also principal conductor of the Los Angeles Opera, leads a concert version of Arnold Schoenberg’s “Moses and Aron” tonight in honor of the 50th anniversary of the composer’s death. His cast includes Franz Mazura and Donald Kaasch.

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Dance

This may be the biggest “Nutcracker” weekend of the season. Among the many competing stagings, none is starrier than the American Ballet Theatre version, opening Friday at the new Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.

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Theater

Alfred Molina, below, who plays Diego Rivera in the upcoming Miramax film “Frida,” heads the cast with Kathleen Chalfant (“Wit”) in L.A. Theatre Works’ live radio production of James Goldman’s play “The Lion in Winter,” about a 12th century war of wills between King Henry II and his estranged wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine. Opening Wednesday at the Skirball Cultural Center, the performance will be recorded for later broadcast.

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Pop Music

Some of pop’s classic names ring the bell for their favorite causes as the holiday benefit season hits its peak. Elton John, above right, heads an AIDS benefit Wednesday at the Universal Amphitheatre in Universal City, joined by Sting, Alicia Keys and others, then he and Sting kick off the three-show Silverlining Silverlake event Thursday at the Paramour Estate for the Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic. On Saturday, Stevie Wonder hosts his sixth annual House Full of Toys concert at Inglewood’s Forum.

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Jazz

Diana Krall continues her Southland tour with dates at the Kavli Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza today and at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido on Tuesday, the same day pianist McCoy Tyner begins a six-nighter at the Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood.

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Video

Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker return in “Rush Hour 2,” the sequel to their 1998 hit. In this fast-paced comedy, Chan’s straight-arrow Hong Kong inspector squires Tucker’s wisecracking LAPD detective around Hong Kong when a bomb goes off in the U.S. consulate. The movie, which grossed more than $200 million domestically, arrives Tuesday on DVD and VHS.

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