Getting Up Guide: Films, Fall Fringe and Future Islands

What are your plans tonight? The Getting Up Guide is here to help you answer that question. Here's what's happening Thursday:

Future Islands
Baltimore's reliably exciting art-pop trio plays jittery songs with winning vocals by frontman Sam Herring. The band takes over the Black Cat's backstage at 9 p.m.

AFI European Union Film Showcase
This gathering of 41 films from the 27 members of the European Union should really be called "A Sneak Preview of Films You'll Soon Be Hearing More About." Who are the best bets to become this year's "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" or "The Young Victoria"? An early favorite is the opening night selection, the Oscar-nominated Belgian offering "Illegal," which explores immigration from a European perspective, tonight at 7 p.m.

Fall Fringe Theatre Festival
The Capital Fringe Festival has become an alt-theatrical staple of summer in Washington. Hold yourself over until the 2011 festival with FallFringe, a supplemental dose of Fringe's greatest hits from the past year. November's slate of nine offerings begins tonight and promises everything from robots and drugs to pachyderms and psychology. What more could you want on a cold November night?

-- Alex Baldinger and David Malitz