Six Picks: Our experts pick their favorites for the week

'Rock of Ages'

If you live to rock, you don't let a little thing like Christmas get in your way (Christmas Eve, maybe). Not only can you be the first on your block to see the "Nothin' But a Good Time" '80s musical "Rock of Ages," but it's actually up and running today and Saturday at 7 and 10 p.m. and at 8 p.m. Sunday and Tuesday at The Venetian. Tickets are $57-$134; call 414-9000.

- Mike Weatherford

Arsis

It may not be the end of the world, but it will sound like it. Virginia's Arsis come hard with vertiginous, highly technical thrash metal with all the fury of doomsday, if not the locust showers. See them at 8 p.m. today at the Cheyenne Saloon, 3103 N. Rancho Drive. Tickets are $10; call 645-4139.

- Jason Bracelin

'Django Unchained'

Christmas and Quentin Tarantino movies go together like peanut butter and blood-spattered, foul-mouthed jelly. But "Django Unchained," his Spaghetti Western/blaxploitation mash-up opening Tuesday, is the perfect gift for his fans. Don Johnson gets the John Travolta treatment this time around, but it's Leonardo DiCaprio who seems to be having the time of his life as sadistic plantation owner Calvin Candie.

- Christopher Lawrence

'Nutcracker'

If visions of sugar-plums are dancing in your head, catch the Sugar Plum Fairy onstage - along with the wonderstruck Clara, the dashing Nutcracker Prince and more than a hundred dancing kids - in Nevada Ballet Theatre's new "Nutcracker," which continues at 7:30 tonight, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 1 and 5 p.m. Sunday at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, 361 Symphony Park Ave. For tickets ($29-158), call 749-2000.

- Carol Cling

End of world

Will the Mayan apocalypse predictions come true? That's a sucker's bet, but you can still party like it's the end of the world today at Ri Ra at Mandalay Place, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. South. There will be two toasts - one to Ireland's survival at 4:01 p.m. and one to Las Vegas' survival at 12:01 a.m. So what's on the Last Meal dinner menu? PBJ & Milk ($9.95) if you need comfort food, or Beef Wellington ($23.95) or rack of lamb ($24.95) if you want to indulge.

- Heidi Knapp Rinella

Sander van Doorn

The excellent DJ-producer Sander van Doorn performs Saturday at Marquee nightclub, along with Nada Ali. The Dutch DJ-producer told DJ Mag this year he fought with a sheik in a Vegas club when the sheik walked into his DJ booth. But then the sheik "treated me and my team to a cabana the next morning."

- Doug Elfman