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Movies

Guy Pearce, above, embarks on a quest to change the past but winds up in a catastrophically altered distant future in “The Time Machine.” Samantha Mumba, Jeremy Irons and Mark Addy co-star in the latest screen version of H.G. Wells’ book, directed by his great-grandson, Simon Wells. Opens Friday.

Circus

Cirque du Soleil pitches its blue-and-yellow tent on the parking lot next to the Queen Mary for “Dralion,” below, the first show from the French Canadian circus to play Long Beach. “Dralion”--the title character is a fanciful combination of a dragon and a lion--was seen in Santa Monica and Irvine in 1999, but this rendition features new acts. Opens Wednesday.

Music

At L.A.’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, guest conductor Daniel Harding leads a colorful Los Angeles Philharmonic program built around the U.S. premiere of H.K. Gruber’s “Aerial,” and including Charles Ives’ “Central Park in the Dark” and Richard Strauss’ “Ein Heldenleben.” Soloist in the premiere is Swedish trumpeter Hakan Hardenberger.

Dance

An independent nation only since 1975, Mozambique fuses Portuguese, Arab and sub-Saharan African traditions in a rich cultural stew. Based in the capital city of Maputo, the 25-member National Song and Dance Company of Mozambique will perform a program of warrior dances, celebration rituals, wedding dances and a cappella singing Thursday in Campbell Hall at UC Santa Barbara and Friday in Marsee Auditorium at El Camino College in Torrance.

Pop Music

The title of Mary J. Blige’s latest album is “No More Drama,” but don’t take it too literally when it comes to her live performances. The Queen of Hip-Hop Soul has been in typically volcanic form on her current concert tour, which comes to L.A.’s Shrine Auditorium on Wednesday and Thursday.

Jazz

In a concert originally scheduled for last September but postponed because of the terrorist attacks, Tom Scott and Mitch Glickman today will lead the Symphonic Jazz Orchestra in a program that will also feature vocalist Phil Perry and the Yellowjackets at UCLA’s Royce Hall. Violinist Lesa Terry will also premiere a commissioned work.

Video

Steven Spielberg’s “A.I. Artificial Intelligence” sparked mixed reactions from critics and audiences alike. Originally a project of the late Stanley Kubrick, “A.I.” is a dark, futuristic drama about an artificial child (Haley Joel Osment) who is abandoned by his human family and embarks on a perilous, obsessive journey to find his mother. Arrives Tuesday on VHS and DVD.

Photography

An exhibition of more than 80 rare photographs from the 1850s through the late 1900s explores the simultaneous development of railroads and photography and their effect on society in “Railroad Vision,” opening Tuesday at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Brentwood. Below, “Roundhouse for 32 Locomotives at Nevers on the Bourbonnais Railway” (1860-63) by Hippolyte-Auguste Collard.