BEST BETS: thursday 12/30

all day

Movies

“The Hurricane” stars Denzel Washington as middleweight fighter Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, wrongly convicted of a triple homicide in 1967. The film, directed by Norman Jewison (“Moonstruck”), traces the real-life story of how Carter’s conviction was finally overturned after an American teen living in Canada--who had read Carter’s autobiography, “The Sixteenth Round”--prompted his three adult guardians, social activists all, to delve into the original murder investigation and trial.

* “The Hurricane,” which is rated R for language and some violence, is playing at selected theaters.

7:30pm

Theater

Santa Monica Playhouse’s celebratory “2000 Years of Playhouse” serves up songs, dances, comedy and other excerpts from its past productions along with previews from upcoming world premiere shows, presented by its Actors Repertory Theatre members plus special guest artists. A buffet supper, champagne and other New Year’s treats are included.

* “2000 Years of Playhouse,” Santa Monica Playhouse, 1211 4th St., Santa Monica. Today, 7:30 p.m.; Friday, 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. $25 (today); $35 (Friday, 6:30 p.m.); $45 (Friday, 9:30 p.m.). (310) 394-9779, Ext. 1.

8pm

Dance

Watch for celebrity guests (singers, dancers, poets and actors) during the millennium edition of the Lula Washington Dance Theatre’s annual “Kwanzaa Celebration.” The performance also includes the African dance showpiece “Harambee!” and the gospel dance suite about children on Skid Row that the company presented on the televised “Holiday Celebration” at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in 1998. Plus kids galore--kids who earned raves in otherwise mixed reviews during seasons past. As our reviewer wrote last year, “Whenever the Dance Theatre students--ranging from 4-year-olds to teenagers--took to the stage, the atmosphere was charged with inspiration and hope.”

* Lula Washington Dance Theatre, “Kwanzaa Celebration,” Luckman Fine Arts Complex, Cal State L.A., 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles, 8 p.m. $15 (students, seniors) to $30. (323) 343-6600.

FREEBIE

Ricardo Lemvo and his band, Makina Loca, play soukous and Afro-Cuban music, noon-2 p.m. at Pershing Square, 532 S. Olive St., Los Angeles. (213) 847-4970.