Short Cuts -- Boston's Film Race begins tonight. Teams will have 24 hours to complete an original short film that will screen at the Brattle at the end of the month. The best film will win $35,000. Film dropoff location is The Otherside Cafe, 407 Newbury St. Contest begins tonight at 10:00pm, but registration is due by 5:00pm. [More information] Movies -- Danger Diabolik (1968) is Italian horror master Mario Brava's rarely screened heist......

Openings -- LUMAS Gallery, which already has outlets in New York, Melbourne, Paris, Zurich, and throughout Germany, opens its Boston storefront tonight. The gallery, which prices its wares for the novice (or poor) art collector, features photos and prints by young artists, unknown and well-known. Expect work from Howard Schatz, Alison Shaw, H.G. Esch, David Armstrong, and Edward Steichen. Free chocolate from Lindt. LUMAS Gallery, 141B Newbury St., 6:00pm-8:00pm. Free. Harbor Sounds -- Tantankuy, an......

Portuguese Jams -- Somerville has loud and proud Portuguese and Brazilian communities, and anthropologist Andrea Allen has been studying them. She presents highlights of her ethnography; her subjects sing and dance. It's the Brazilian & Portuguese Cultural Festival. Expect to hear choro, samba, bossa nova, and Portuguese folkloric music. No word on Portuguese Elvis's plans for the evening. Somerville Museum, 1 Westwood Rd., Somerville, 6:30pm. Free. High School Jazz -- Berklee ends its outdoor jazz......

R&B, Courtesy Menino -- Local R&B groups Ahmir and Casey Desmond play a free waterfront show, courtesy ONEin3 Boston and the Mayor's Office of Arts, Tourism and Special Events. Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park, Atlantic Avenue & Richmond Street, 7:00pm. Free. Comedy -- The Bigg Nez's Comedy Jam features a clutch of comedians and musicians. Middle East, 472 Mass. Ave., Cambridge, 10:00pm. Books -- Steve Almond, who made a lot of friends with Candyfreak might lose......

Progressive Book Clubbing -- Susan Quinn's new book Furious Improvisations examines the Federal Theatre Project, a New Deal program that brought federal funding to unemployed actors. The result, Quinn argues, was a uniquely American theatre: a mixing pot of languages and politics, high art and low. Quinn reads tonight with an introduction by Howard Zinn. Presented by Brookline Booksmith. Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St., Brookline, 7:00pm. $5/$3. -- Drinking Liberally, the group devoted......

Blindfolded Greeks -- People across the world have started playing the so-called "lost sport" of the Greek Olympics, known as "the Labyrinth." It's a game, created by video game designer Jane McGonigal, in which a blindfolded player tries to make his or her way through a human labyrinth. The sport, which is part of a viral marketing campaign for McDonald's and the 2008 Olympics, has achieved some popularity on YouTube. The Boston team practices this......

Roller Derby -- Boston Massacre, the Derby Dames' traveling team, takes on Ohio Rollergirls. Bostonist is a big fan of the Dames and would attend every bout if they were held in town. Ohio Rollergirls, with a 1-6 record on the year, might just be mincemeat for the home team. Shriner's Auditorium, Wilmington, 5:00pm. $14/$16. Local Music Local boy John Paul is no pope, but he does sing divinely. Garnering comparisons to Ryan Adams......

Masters of Art -- The Boston Young Contemporaries Exhibition is an annual juried show featuring work from students in MFA programs across New England. This year, the show was curated by Roger White, Jackie Gendel, and Tom McGrath, and includes 159 works from 94 artists, representing MFA programs at BU, MassArt, SMFA, Brandeis, RISD, and more. 808 Gallery, 808 Comm. Ave., 6:00pm-9:00pm (through August 22). Free. Common Theatre -- Boston's beloved Shakespeare in the Park......

Outdoor Movies -- Bostonist can think of no finer movie than Casablanca (1942) to watch outdoors in the sweltering summer heat. Devotion School Playground, 345 Harvard St., Brookline, 8:00pm. Free. -- Before she became famous for her vagina-flashing coke binges, Lindsay Lohan was a serviceable comedic actress. Mean Girls (2004) doesn't require you to think too much; a virtue when you are sweating and outside. Seven Hills Park, Somerville, 8:00pm. Free. Lantern Processions -- Swiping......

Benefits -- Boston jazz mainstay Either/Orchestra returned from its last European tour a man down. Longtime percussionist Vicente Lebron had been detained by Homeland Security. The Dominican native has lived in the United States for the past 38 years, collecting a wife, children, grandchildren, and a livelihood. Few details have emerged regarding his status, and he remains imprisoned at the South Bay Correctional Center. An impressive array of Boston musicians host a benefit tonight to......

Dancing Hipsters -- Milwaukee's Juiceboxxx is a little bit Darby Crash, a little bit Biz Markie. He's a skinny white boy with a clutch of party raps up his sleeve. Sounds like a joke, but the dude is intense. His spasmodic onstage antics are legendary, and his jams are real enough to have commanded remixes from DJ Technics and Farley Jackmaster Funk. He performs with Boston's Hearthrob crew, including Baltimoroder, who is always lights-out......

French 4 Life -- If you didn't celebrate Bastille Day yesterday, sip wine tonight with the Boston French Library. The event features live music from 8-10pm, and a DJ spinning French pop from 10pm-2am. The Beehive, 541 Tremont St., 5:00pm. Free. (KS) No Room for Jihadis -- Jihadis queuing to answer the fatwa calling for Salman Rushdie's death need not bother; his reading is sold out. Is it because Midnight's Children was recently named the......

Bastille Day -- Get an early jump on Bastille day in Cambridge today. Celebrate France's National Holiday all day long in Harvard Square, with a beer garden, waiters' race, and lots of live music. Harvard Square, 3-10pm, free. (KS) Sleaze -- Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School sounds like what it is: an opportunity to draw scantily clad burlesque performers who are posing for you. Past event pics show a sharp disparity between the attractiveness of models......

Books -- Photographer and excellent Bostonist Flickr pool contributor Chris Seufert signs copies of his new book, Chatham Views: A Photographic Journal from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, at the grand opening of his gallery. 3:30-6:30pm, 2469 Main Street, Chatham. (KS) Movies -- Celebrate the recent Supreme Court decision in District of Columbia v. Heller by catching Gun Crazy (1949), the ur-text for all lust-fueled crime spree dramas to come. Presented as part of the Elements of......

Taste Test -- ICA's Talking Taste brings Boston's chefs to the South Boston waterfront to talk about their trade. Acclaimed chef Jody Adams of Rialto restaurant takes the dais tonight to discuss her approach to regional Italian cuisine. Institute of Contemporary Art, South Boston, 6:30pm. Free with admission; limited space. Trunk Sales Bias Design, a screenprinting shop in JP, hosts a trunk sale to clear out its warehouse for Fall. Expect everything from ironic slogans......

Dirty Pictures -- Unsuitable Content, opening tonight, is an exhibition of work by young artists that aims at outlandish vulgarity. Featuring art in a variety of media, it promises to be childish, obscene, and invigorating. Don't go if you don't like seeing pictures of private parts. Atlantic Works Gallery, 80 Border St., East Boston, 6:00pm-9:00pm (through July 25th). Free. Books White People Like -- Christian Lander writes the satirical website stuffwhitepeoplelike.com, and there are few......

Freaking Out -- Dengue Fever, a band based in Los Angeles, fuses Cambodian pop music with old fashioned California stoner rock. Featuring the captivating vocals of Chhom Nimol, who joined the band after a stint as an actual Cambodian pop star. She's performed for the king and queen of Cambodia; her voice is no joke. The band's music recalls past psychedelic fusion acts, from Os Mutantes to Calexico. Museum of Fine Arts, 7:30pm. $25/$20. Movies......

Afrobeat Legacy -- Egypt 80 is the band Fela Kuti formed in the wake of his ill-fated 1979 bid for the Nigerian presidency. It would be the last ensemble he assembled before his illness and death from AIDS. It's been decades since the band played in the United States, but Egypt 80 has returned under the leadership of Fela's remarkably talented son Seun Kuti. Seun Kuti and Egypt 80, which was just released, offers all......

Movies -- John Ford movies don't always get the same critics excited, but The Quiet Man (1952), Ford's movie about Ireland, puts nearly everyone in fulsome territory. Starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, with crack cinematography from Winton C. Hoch, it's what a color picture about the Emerald Isle should look like. Slightly Scarlet (1956), which may be the only Technicolor film noir, also screens. Harvard Film Archive, Carpenter Center, 24 Quincy St., Cambridge, 7:00pm.......

Magic Lanterns -- The MFA presents the first in its series of two magic lantern performances. The Spirit of '76 is a modern reenactment of a 1890s touring magic lantern show about the founding of the United States. Presented by Terry Borton, a scholar and fourth-generation magic lanternist. Remis Auditorium, Museum of Fine Arts, 3:00pm. $10/$8. Chinese Rock -- Chinese Stars, a Providence supergroup composed of former members of noise rock bands Six Finger Satellite......

Ice Cream Socials -- WFNX hosts an ice cream eating contest. It's not necessarily Independence Day themed, but we suggest combining strawberry, vanilla, and (if they have it) blueberry. 2-5pm, Cherry Farm Creamery, 210 Conant Street, Danvers. (KS) Drone Night -- You can pretend that it's 1998 all over again with a showcase of bands playing what folks used to call "postrock." Cantabrigian Howard Steltzer makes cascading, bouncy electronic droney music, whereas Somervillian Brendan Murray......

Jock Jams -- The Euro Cup is over, so Jamaica Plain residents might be puzzled to hear Zombie Nation's "Kernkraft 400" wafting over Centre Street. More euro than trash, Zombie Nation makes throbbing dance music that isn't entirely moronic but is unafraid to be popular. Royalties must work differently in the EU; we thought Zombie Nation would be landing at the Acropolis in a golden helicopter, not rocking a Boston basement. With DJs Baltimoroder and......

Movies -- A Jihad for Love documents the inner struggle of gay and lesbian Muslims in 12 countries. The film broadens our notion of "jihad" and presents a queer Islam that we rarely encounter on screen. Filmmakers Parvez Sharma and Sandi DuBowski introduce the film. Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St., Brookline, 7:15pm (also screening tomorrow). Parking Lot Circuses -- The Universoul Circus might be the only touring black circus in the country. Started as......

Play Girls -- Ladytron, a Liverpool, England electro-pop quartet, is notoriously hit-or-miss. The consolation is that all the hits are direct ones. Playing with Datarock. Paradise Rock Club, 967 Comm. Ave., 7:00pm. $25. Weird Sounds -- Somerville's Weird Records presents a showcase of bizarro music sure to leave you scratching your head, wondering why your ears are bleeding. The highlights include Warmer Milk, a Lexington, KY band that recalls the atonal shambles of the......

Hippie Dancing -- Bostonist has never seen more atrocious dancing than we did when we stood outside of Cambridge City Hall last year and watched the slowly flailing arms of a thousand hippies moving in whatever the opposite of unison might be. Tons of fun for people watching. Cambridge City Dance Party, Central Square, 7:00pm-11:00pm. Free. Bicycle Art -- Bicycle art is having some sort of renaissance across the country, and you would be remiss......

Wiily Nilly Art -- The Wiimote makes its fine arts debut, in Jamaica Plain, at least. WiiWhorld, a project developed by Chris Korda, Jeff Mission, and Jen Rosselli uses the device, and a few megs of open source software, to create digital art out of human movement. Preceded by Explorations within Electronic Sound, a collaboration between Frank W. Carroccino and Brian Dudak. Axiom Gallery, 141 Green St., Jamaica Plain, 8:00pm. $7. Talking about Sex, Baby......

Latin Funk -- Austin, TX ten-piece Grupo Fantasma has chops strong enough to make you think that its Latin funk comes with a 1973 vintage without sounding corny or derivative. Nonetheless, the Grupo mixes things up with unexpected shots of dubby rhythm that makes its sound unmistakably 21st century. Museum of Fine Arts, 7:30pm. $25/$20. Latin Jazz -- The music of Sérgio Mendes actually does come with a vintage: 1961, the year he released his......

Something in Worcester -- Nothing says "tasty" like Shrewsbury--or Worcester! Worcester's Shrewsbury Street comes alive tonight with live music, artwork, and of course delicious food from local restaurants. Tickets are $30 and proceeds benefit the nonprofit Champions for Children designee YouthGROW and the non-profit SSAMA. (KS) Wine Colleges -- Bostonist's friends at The Second Glass present a series of wine tasting workshops that they are calling Wine College. The first installment introduces the wines of......

Oscillations -- Silver Apples, who released two albums between 1967 and 1969, were what happened when hippies got their hands on synthesizers: droney, loopy swirls of electronic pop. Since then, the duo reunited and suffered from tragedy (original drummer Danny Taylor died in 2005 and Simeon, the synthesizer player, broke his neck in 2004). Simeon now plays a limited schedule of shows as a single Apple. TT the Bear's Place, 10 Brookline St., Cambridge, 9:00pm.......

Parades -- We love a parade! Practice for Independence Day parades and show your appreciation for Portuguese culture by attending the Day of Portugal Parade. Part of the multi-month Boston Portuguese Festival, the parade starts in Portuguese Square (Concord Ave.) in Somerville at 2pm and progresses to the King Open School. (KS) Lions, Menino, and Tai Chi -- The annual Chinatown Main Street Festival features lion dancing, Chinese folk dancing, martial arts, tons of food,......