JOHN DIGWEED. Superstar DJ and all around nice guy John Digweed hits the Avalon Ballroom with his well-known blend of progressive house. Friday, Jan. 10 at 10 p.m. Tickets: $20. Avalon, 15 Landsdowne St., (617) 262-2424. (RJK)

dance

Choreographers Group. Four world premiere works performed by Lillian Carter, Kelley Donovan, Nicola Hawkins, Margaux Skalecki and Artistic Director Perla Joy Furr, in a program that includes more than twenty outstanding dancers and features diverse, innovative styles and impressive work. Friday, Jan. 10 and Saturday, Jan. 11 at 8 p.m.; Sunday, Jan. 12 at 3 p.m. Tickets $15. Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second St., (617) 577-1400. (TIH)

Les Percussions de Guinee. This 16-member company of drummers, dancers, and musicians presents magnificent performances of authentic West African music and dance. Wednesday, Jan. 15 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets $20-$30, available at the Harvard Box Office or by phone (617) 496-2222. Sanders Theater. (TIH)

film

Fleurs de Sang, with actor/writer/director Myriam Mézières in person. The film features Mézières as a bohemian cabaret performer attempting to elevate herself and her daughter from the dregs of society. French with English subtitles. Friday, Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. Tickets $7, $5 students and seniors. Harvard Film Archive, Carpenter Center, 24 Quincy St., (617) 495-4700. (TIH)

HARVARD SQUARE LOEWS

10 CHURCH ST., (617) 864-4580

ABOUT SCHMIDT. About Schmidt, in a bizarrely somber, comedic fashion, is possibly the most depressing film of Jack Nicholson’s long career. His performance as a retired insurance executive is a deeply complex and hilariously tragic portrayal of the most banal aspects of one man’s post-mid-life crisis. Director Alexander Payne, famous for his digressions on suburban angst in films such as Election and Citizen Ruth, keeps the tone light and the characters archetypally and delicously bizarre. About Schmidt screens at 12:15, 3:15, 7 and 10 p.m. (CJF)

ADAPTATION. At its core, Adaptation is an analysis of the intellectual diseases that plague every writer, from editorial pressure to sibling rivalry to unrequited love. But its narrative edges make it a unique experience. Nicolas Cage plays writer Charlie Kaufman (the real-life writer of the film), who becomes consumed by his assignment to adapt Susan Orlean’s meditative nonfiction novel The Orchid Thief and his own personal eccentricities. Like Kaufman and director Spike Jonze’s previous film Being John Malkovich, several plots overlap and intertwine with surprising dramatic twists, creating a frustrating, complex film that is infinitely insightful and weirdly moving. Adaptation screens at 12:45, 3:30, 6:30 and 9:15 p.m. (CJF)

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN. Steven Spielberg takes a breather from sci-fi/adventure romps and historical morality plays to dust off his moribund ‘lost boy’ conceit, reigniting it to power this breezy, rambling 1960s-set caper. Leonardo DiCaprio spends the movie perpetrating a richly entertaining string of identity cons and check fraud that Spielberg tempers with rather obvious meditations on the state of the nuclear family. Amidst the mischief and philosophizing, Tom Hanks, as the dry, wry FBI man tailing DiCaprio, ends up stealing the movie by internalizing his ‘decent everyman’ persona. Hanks begins the film with a lid on his personality, but gradually relaxes enough to reveal a remarkable warmth. Catch Me If You Can screens at 12:00, 3:00, 4:00, 6:15, 9:30 and 10:15 p.m. (BJS)

CHICAGO. The potential revival of the Hollywood musical is upon us with Chicago—for better or worse. Ignoring its politicized ramifications as a genre revival, Chicago on its own is a pretty wild ride, showcasing once and for all that the new school of glitzy film stars can sing better than Jennifer Lopez. Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renee Zellweger, and especially John C. Reilly are surprisingly watchable in this furiously edited, expensive adaptation of the murderous Broadway classic. Die-hard Bob Fosse fans may leave screaming in disgust, but fortunately for the rest of us director Rob Marshall knows the difference between film and theater, and milks it with remarkable excess. Chicago screens at 12:30, 1:15, 3:45, 6:45, 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. (CJF)

KENDALL SQUARE CINEMA

ONE KENDALL SQ., (617) 494-9800

25TH HOUR. Spike Lee’s latest film isn’t much of a narrative departure from his previous efforts. Money and shattered dreams rule this story of drug dealer Monty Brogan’s (Edward Norton) last day of freedom before his seven-year jail sentence begins. The final act packs a phenomonal punch, but its dealer-with-a-heart-of-gold premise is predictable and derivative, typical of Lee’s long-time filmic obsession with the soft side of seemingly reprehensible humanity. 25th Hour screens at 2:55, 6:35 and 9:30 p.m. (CJF)