midnight-+ July 2

 Really, you have the new Harry Potter in your hot little hands don't you? Shouldn't you be reading that not this? Shouldn't you be abandoning all plans until you find out what JK has in store for our bespectacled boy? So, take that No-Doz, or ephedrine or whatever you kids use these days and  hit the couch and Potter on!  Or, well, check out some real world options below.

your couch

Wed. July 18

We missed the original Rat Pack by a few years. By the time we came of age any and all from the Pack were so loathed by the rock 'n' roll generation that we'd have nothing to do with those martini-swilling crooners and their lounge lizard mannerisms. Bah! Need we say, our world has now opened up to that music and lifestyle - no, not all the time, but occasionally. Ironically? Sure, maybe a little. Of course, we have no Rat Pack to kick around anymore. We have replicas and recreations and that's what Dick's Last Resort gives you the third Wednesday of every month - that's July 18 currently - with Steve Palumbo, a Dean Martin impersonator extraordinaire. He goes on at 7:30 and Dick's staff - just to get you there - will be dressed in their Vegas glory, which means fake gold chains, teased hair and polyester pantsuits. Since Dick's rationale is a cultivated tackiness, this makes perfect sense. It's called "Las Vegas Confidential." No cover.

Quincy Market, Faneuil Hall Marketplace, 627-267-8080 www.dickslastresort.com

Wed. July 18

Cellist Erik Friendlander is a composer, an improvisor and a longtime part of the New York downtown scene. He's worked with Laurie Anderson and John Zorn; he floats in a space between (or maybe above) jazz and classical music. His latest project is called "Block Ice & Propane" - the CD won't come out until August, but you can check parts out at www.blockiceandpropane.com and you can see him play a large part of Wednesday July 18, when he comes to the Lily Pad. Friedlander says "Black Ice" was informed by his experiences as a kid taking trips across America with his family in their Airstream trailer (how quintessentially American!). His father, Lee Friendlander, was a photographer who shot a lot of cover art for Atlantic soul/R&B/jazz acts in the '60s - Ray Charles, Aretha Frankline, McCoy Tyner. And his father took many pictures of this trip. So, Erik got back in touch with that trip, read Cormac McCarthy and William Faulkner, dug into the "Anthology of American Folk Music" and came up with this eclectic, sometimes eerie, sometimes warm, music. His show starts at 8 and it's a $10 cover.

1353 Cambridge St., Cambridge, 617-395-1394 www.ily-pad.net

ongoing

 Director Paul Verhoeven may go down in history as the director of an "Ishtar"-like disaster, "Showgirls." Which would be a shame because  "Black Book," which he co-wrote and directed, is one of the most powerful films we've seen in a while. It's set at the end of World War II, where Germany may know it's about to lose, but it - or certain greedy officers - are still playing the game for keeps. That game involves a Resistance group that attempts to smuggle Jews to safety via water, only to be foiled each and every time, mowed down by a boatload of SS. The protagoinist is a Jewish singer, Rachel (Carice van Houten, in photo), who is on one of those boats early in the movie, with her family. She escapes; they don't. The rest of the story is a series of gritty, sometimes horrifying adventures. There is a lot of moral ambiguity, a lot of duplicity, and we, truly, didn't know who the main villain was until near the end. (No, we won't reveal any spoilers here.) Verhoeven had been working on this script for 15 years with co-writer Gerard Soeteman, and he was lured back to his native Netherlands to finally get this done. They started in the summer of 2005. It was released last year over there, and grossed more than any other Dutch film. It was submitted for Oscar consideration by the Netherlands, but weirdly enough, not nominated. This film runs over two hours, has four different languages, and enough plot twists to scramble your brain. But it is well worth the trip back in time. Somehow, the Nazis - and the horror - never gets stale. We know the story and the scale of evil never fails to sadden and astound. And then when you add in those who are complicit in Hitler's scheme ... you can just shake your head, more than six decades down the road. It doesn't ruin anything to note that this film ends with bombs exploding in the distance, in 1956, just as the Suez Crisis has started. At the West Newton Cinema in West Newton at 8:50 p.m. Tickets: $9.

 1296 Washington St., W. Newton, 617-964-6060, www.westnewtoncinema.com

Sat. July 14 

 Jimmy Tingle's headed to that European festival of high repute, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. So Tingle's putting up his show, "Jimmy Tingle for President" show, directed by Larry Arrick up to get ready at Jimmy Tingle's Off Broadway. Tingle has been doing this show off and on throughout the past year and it has, as he says, "a beginning, a middle and an end." (That is, it's not just standup comedy.) "But there's always something topical. It might be about immigration, or Iraq, or the Middle East, marshmellow Fluff in the schools, the Big Dig catastrophe, Deval Patrick, the elections. It's always being updated with humor and insight, polished and tuned-up." That, Tingle will be doing it through July 21 before going to Scotland. Tickets: $35-$25. Most shows at 7:30 p.m., but check the website for details.

255 Elm St., Somerville, 617-591-1616 www.jtoffbroadway.com