all day: Movies

“Eyes Wide Shut,” the hotly anticipated final film from director Stanley Kubrick, who died at his London home earlier this year (but after the film was completed), finally hits theaters Friday. The movie, which has been called a tale of jealousy and sexual obsession, stars husband-and-wife team Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman (their third film together) as a sexy and successful Manhattan couple. Warner Bros., which is distributing the film, has been handling the project with kid gloves, and details about the plot have been scarce, but according to early reports, the film is just as steamy as has been rumored and very much in line with Kubrick’s distinguished but quirky body of work.

* “Eyes Wide Shut,” rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, language and some drug-related material, opens Friday in general release.

8 pm: Pop Music

Stepping off the major-label merry-go-round, Cowboy Junkies have turned to a more intimate, grass-roots scale, focusing on their own Web site (https://www.cowboyjunkies.com) and preparing an album of rarities for release on their own label. With a song on the new Gram Parsons tribute album, the Canadian group comes to Cerritos as part of its summer tour.

* Cowboy Junkies, with Leo Kottke, Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, 12700 Center Court Drive, Cerritos, 8 p.m. $35 to $45. (800) 300-4345.

6:30 pm: Pop Music

Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre isn’t too far from the Orange County neighborhoods that inspired the punk-rocking observations of the Offspring’s “Americana” album. That zinging portrayal of a middle-class culture losing its drive and bearings has struck a chord with the kids, to the tune of nearly 4 million sold, and the momentum keeps rolling with two Irvine Meadows dates.

* The Offspring, with the Dickies and Lit, Friday and Saturday at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, 8800 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine. 6:30 p.m. $22. (949) 855-2863.

8 pm: Theater

Charles Busch headlines in his ‘60s horror film spoof, “Die! Mommy! Die!,” teaming with director Kenneth Elliott. Busch plays Angela Andrews, an aging recording and film star who murders her Hollywood producer husband.

* “Die! Mommy! Die!,” Coast Playhouse, 8325 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood. Thursdays-Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 7 and 10 p.m.; Sundays at 4 and 7 p.m. through Aug. 8. $25. (323) 665-8587; (323) 650-8587.

8 pm: Dance

The annual Dance Kaleidoscope festival of local achievement kicks off with two weekend programs in the Luckman Fine Arts Complex at Cal State L.A. The big news comes at the Friday opening with an evening of commissioned premieres: nouveau folklorico from Gema Sandoval, tap from Fred Strickler, butoh from Oguri, ballet from Raiford Rogers and modernism courtesy of Lula Washington. On Saturday, more familiar repertory holds the stage--pieces created by Hae Kyung Lee, Aida Amirkhanian, Shel Wagner and Stefan Fabry, Kiha Lee, Susan Rose, Robert Sund, Amrapali Ambegaokar, Madeleine Dahm and Stephanie Gilliland.

* “Dance Kaleidoscope,” Luckman Fine Arts Complex, Cal State L.A., 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles. Different programs on Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m. $12 (students, seniors) to $18. (323) 343-MOVE.

all day: Movies

It stars no one you’ve ever heard of. Its budget is below low, and it’s shot in grainy black-and-white film and video. It’s also one of the year’s most popular and talked about independent films on the festival circuit. “The Blair Witch Project,” which premiered at Sundance and was picked up by Artisan Entertainment, is about three college students who hike into a storied Maryland forest in the fall of 1994 to make a documentary on a local legend--the Blair Witch. The students disappear. A year later their video footage, equipment and a diary are recovered, possible keys to the mystery.

* “The Blair Witch Project,” rated R for language, opens Friday at selected theaters.

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FREEBIE: Modern-day troubadour Loudon Wainwright III performs twice at the Watercourt at California Plaza, 350 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. Noon and 8 p.m. (213) 687-2159.

Widely traveled guitarist Mundell Lowe plays the courtyard of the UCLA/Armand Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood. 6:30 p.m. (310) 824-6365.