Wednesday Happenings

Image of James Ellroy by Mark Coggins.

Dark and disturbing crime fiction writer James Ellroy reads from Blood's a Rover, his newest novel, today at the Brattle. Stick around to find out if the man is as twisted as his protagonists and catch the film adaptation of L.A. Confidential (1997), one of the best crime films of the 90s. Tickets to the Ellroy reading are available from Harvard Book Store. Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St., Cambridge, 6 p.m. (Film starts at 8 p.m.) More information.

Men, Cameras

If you've never caught film studies staple Man with a Movie Camera (1929), it's time. Dziga Vertov's movie about the movies started a trend in self-reflexivity that has yet to die out among art filmmakers, for better or worse. Harvard Film Archive, Carpenter Center, 24 Quincy St., Cambridge, 7 p.m. Free.

Gender Bending

Trannies take the stage for Traniwreck, the Boston' area's only all-gender, all-genre burlesque variety show. The show abandons its former home in JP, hops across the river, and debuts in its new digs tonight. Middle East Downstairs, 472 Mass. Ave., Cambridge, 9 p.m. $10.

Cabaret

Between local stalwarts Walter Sickert and his Army of Broken Toys and songstress Zoe Beokbinder, there's quite a lot of cabaret in Cambridge tonight. Add Mali Sasti, from Jaggery, and Clara Engel, "a multi-faceted artist whose musical voice is guided by the likes of Jacques Brel and Robert Johnson," and you have nearly three hours of twisted love songs. Lily Pad, 1353 Cambridge St., Cambridge, 10 p.m. $7.