WED 3.23

Opening Night! Boston Underground Film Festival @ Brattle Theatre

Every year the freak flag flies during BUFF, the official unofficially coolest film fest around. Kicking off this year is a love story of mayhem and suspense with The Lure, a slightly vampiric and occasionally mermaid tale of sisters that get all wet in their own special way. The list of films this year is a dizzy mix of brilliance and bungle, but don’t waste too much time letting us explain that here. Our own film guru, Jake Mulligan, goes into great detail in this week’s issue, describing the ins and outs of this year’s festival lineup. Save some dates as the fest runs through Sunday, and read up on all the goodness that’s just a few pages away.

Brattle Theatre. 40 Brattle St., Cambridge. 7pm/18+/$12. bostonunderground.org

THU 3.24

Fucking Sea Turtles @ New England Aquarium

You gotta love those goddamn sea creatures. All the fishes and crustaceans and crazy ass bitches like starfish and fucking octupussies and holy crap so many other weird shit freaky things swimming around in that huge fucking tank! And turtles. Man. Fucking sea turtles. Those are the the most badass little beasts around. Big ol’ beaks or hard lips or whatever they are, just crushing little kids’ fingers and kelp like there’s no tomorrow. And they don’t give a fuck about you. They float around and flap those funky wing arms they got, bobbing to the top for a fresh breath of air or just chilling on a rock thinking, “Look at my ass?! I’m a fucking sea turtle.” Leave work early and go say hi to those rockstar beasts!

New England Aquarium. 1 Central Wharf, Boston. 9am-5pm/all ages/$26.95. neaq.org

FRI 3.25

Anime Boston @ Hynes Convention Center

Japanese animation and the pop culture around it is an acquired taste, like any subculture. However, with over 20,000 attendees expected this weekend, anime has become mainstream and a passion for the young and old. While you might immediately think of Hello Kitty, and there should be no shortage of that, Anime Boston goes deep into the well with J-pop and J-rock, as well as Japanese history and culture in general. Pre-registration is preferred and there’s a limited number of day-of registration and tickets available, so sign up early if you still can or show up early Friday for day-of. And please don’t show up dressed like Dora. That’s just awkward.

Hynes Convention Center. 900 Boylston St., Boston. 9am/all ages/$65. animeboston.com

SAT 3.26

Cocktail/Magic @ The Castle at Park Plaza

Alcohol is best served with a side of illusion, good food, and some funky shit playing on the ray-dee-oh! Tied together with a charitable component, the Well Dunn Foundation, as well as a host of local restaurants and the best bartenders in town, this is a mini Taste of the Cocktail without the boozy stench of Bourbon Street. Not that anyone has a problem with that. Pull out your Saturday best, throw some tickets on your credit card, and gather a friend or three for a night of pulling rabbits out of hats and other drink names you thought possible.

The Castle at Park Plaza. 130 Columbus Ave., Boston. 5pm/21+/$124. cocktailmagic.com

TUE 3.29

Dudley Dough @ Haley House

Did you read “The Thirsty Games,” our double feature on the history of liquor licensing in Boston? It’s the first journalistic attempt ever to understand why some neighborhoods have lots of bars and restaurants while others don’t. Next week join the Dig, as well as the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism and Epicenter Community, for a discussion about this phenomenon at Dudley Dough in Roxbury. No such conversation could have taken place in Dudley Square at this time last year, so there have been some wins in terms of getting new beer bars. As for the future of liquor licensing in Boston, you can count on the issue being front and center.

Dudley Dough. 2302 Washington St., Roxbury. 7pm/all ages/FREE. medium.com/@BINJ

TUE 3.29

Jazz & Contemporary Improvisation Depts. Performance @ Jordan Hall

Student exhibits and performances at area colleges can sometimes leave you with a yearning… for more talent. It’s not as if we could do better, but rather it can be unpolished, raw, or just complete shit. The students at the New England Conservatory do not suffer from that, thankfully, and as such the annual performance of incredibly talented musicians is a must for anyone seriously interested in music or trying to raise their lowbrow image. Improvisational jazz and music as a whole can be strained and unlistenable to the untrained (or severely sober) ear, but to those in the know, it’s pure harmony.

NEC’s Jordan Hall, 30 Gainsborough St., Boston. 7:30pm/all ages/FREE. cantab-lounge.com