Friday Happenings

Americana

America is home to the most terrifying high school students in the world, and Red Dawn (1984) shows why. The Reaganite fantasy picture once held the record for being the most violent film ever made—with a thrilling 2.23 acts of violence per minute. The best part of the movie is when the Communists use gun registration paperwork to round up all the patriotic Americans and put them into concentration camps because it proves that gun control makes America weak. Bostonist recommends watching this movie before going to a health care town hall meeting so that you can capture the correct tenor of rhetoric. Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St., Cambridge, 9:30 p.m. (also screening Saturday). $9.50.

Commie Movies

If you are a lefty and your stores of irony are running thin (who has ever heard of a person like that?), you might prefer Your Mommy Kills Animals (2007), a documentary about the FBI's claim that animal rights activists are a greater threat to the United States than Al Queda. Better yet, catch this film and then hop across the river and watch Red Dawn; it would be a point-counterpoint in the elegantly rational dialogue that is American politics. The Lucy Parsons Center, 549 Columbus Ave., South End, 6 p.m. Free.

Somerville's Dirty Laundry

Somerville in Shorts is a showcase of short films—both live action and animated—made by and about Somervillains. Presented by Somerville Community Access Television and the Somerville Arts Council. Union Square Plaza, Somerville, 7 p.m. Free.

Machine Cuisine

Providence spazz rock synthesizer band Six Finger Satellite left a cyborg shaped hole in our hearts when it dissolved in 2001, but the Juan MacLean's former bandmates have since reunited with a new line-up. We only hope that they still play "Send in the Clones." With Devil Music, the Big Disappointments, and Kohoutek. TT the Bear's Place, 10 Brookline St., Cambridge, 9 p.m. $10/$12.

Afrobeat

NOMO is a band from Ann Arbor, Michigan that plays a very 21st century version of Afrobeat. Influenced equally by Brian Eno and Fela Kuti, NOMO's compositions drift out of the pocket into formless ambiance only to return twice as funky. Performing with Dutty Artz and Jahdan Blakkamoore. Institute of Contemporary Art, South Boston, 7:30 p.m. $25.

Collective Action

Jamaica Plain's Whitehaus Collective hoofs it across the river for Weirdstock, "three days of experimental music and art." Featuring everything from new music compositions for toy piano to "samplerdelica" and "the self-proclaimed doctor of organomics." Cambridge YMCA Theatre, 820 Mass. Ave., Cambridge, 6 p.m. (through Sunday). Ticket prices and more information.