BENEFIT: The victims of the Mt. Pleasant fire will benefit from a show put on by local bands Kitty Hawk, Sugarcane Crawl, Fever, Wild Fictions, U.S. Royalty, The Coats and Ra Ra Rasputin at La Casa, 3166 Mt. Pleasant Street NW. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. and the first band will go on at 8 p.m. Check out our preview. MOVIE: If you’ve never seen the original Cape Fear, starring Robert Mitchum and Gregory…

MUSIC: Mark Eitzel and Vudi are all that remains of the original American Music Club line-up, but they’re out touring again with a new album, The Golden Age, and reviews from earlier concerts indicate they’re playing a healthy mix of all the songs you want to hear, plus a few new ones. With Seth Rothschild (of Gingersol/Quarry Hill) at Iota, 8:30 p.m., $15, probably a good idea to get there early. MOVIE: Have you…

MOVIE: Filmfest DC continues its run tonight with 12 different features playing around town. We’ve heard great things about Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame, the first dramatic feature from young Iranian documentary filmmaker Hana Makhmalbaf, set under the end of the Taliban’s regime in Afghanistan. 6:30 p.m. at the Avalon Theater. FOOD & DRINK: Via donrockwell, Pete’s Apizza opens today in Columbia Heights, right at the intersection of 14th and Irving. The new spot…

FRIDAY: >> Dan Bejar is in town with his band, Destroyer, at the Black Cat. Andre Ethier opens. 9 p.m., Tickets are still available for $12. >> Check out one of the highlights of Filmfest DC tonight: Patti Smith: Dream of Life, an impressionistic take on the punk legend filmed over the course of more than a decade by fashion photographer Steven Sebring, narrated by the singer/artist/poet herself, and featuring both live footage and…

UNBUCKLED: We cannot in good conscience recommend you do anything tonight other than come to DC9 at 9 p.m. for Unbuckled 7, featuring up and coming hip-hop/electronic star Muhsinah, with jazz/hip-hop outfit Motel opening, led by bassist Matt Grason, and special guest DJ v:shal kanwar. Make sure you don’t miss out on unbridled Unbuckled awesomeness tonight. Only $8. The listed events were chosen by the editors of DCist and brought to you by the…

MUSIC: Locals Bellflur are at the Black Cat’s backstage tonight, with Hundred Hundred and Seamonster. 9 p.m., $8. READING: Jhumpa Lahiri, author of The Namesake and The Interpreter of Maladies, is at the Sixth and I Historic Synagogue tonight to read from her new short story collection, Unaccustomed Earth, at 7 p.m. $6, tickets are totally sold out, but we suppose you can skulk around outside and see if there end up being empty…

MOVIE: The AFI Silver Theater is screening a 70 mm print of 2001: A Space Odyssey all next week to celebrate the film’s 40th anniversary. But they’ve got two less well publicized screenings, tonight and tomorrow night at 9 p.m., also on the calendar, so get in while the getting’s good. SPORTS: The Washington Capitals host their first game 7 playoff match since 1992 tonight at the Verizon Center. You can take your chances…

MUSIC: Jump in the way back machine and spend an evening with Colin Hay from Men At Work, performing solo tonight at the Birchmere. 7:30 p.m., $20. READING: Keith Gessen of n+1 will be at Politics and Prose to discuss his novel, All the Sad Young Literary Men, which follows the lives of three post-Ivy League young New Yorkers as they wade through trying to make careers out of writing. 7 p.m. MUSIC: Canada’s…

FRIDAY: >> Dutch-born producer Nicolay first made a name for himself after producing an album completely over the internet with Little Brother’s Phonte for a group they called Foreign Exchange. Now he’s teamed up with another MC, Houston’s Kay, for a new release titled Time:Line. They’ll be at the Black Cat along with two D.C. acts: Panacea and Unbuckled 7 headliner, Muhsinah. $15, 9 p.m. >> Jazz saxophone legend Sonny Rollins’s 8 p.m. show…

ART: The newly renovated Ippaku-tei teahouse at the Embassy of Japan will host its first art exhibition with artist Shinji Turner-Yamamoto’s installation, Three Windows: Sun, Moon, Star, organized by the Japanese Information & Culture Center. The piece was actually created in 1960 to celebrate relations between Japan and the United States, and was just brought to the Embassy from Kyoto. Go see the three rooms of the exhibit (along with their Japanese garden) at…