MOVIE: A soon-to-be holiday classic, Christmas on Mars, is screening for free tonight in Brooklyn. "The Flaming Lips present a fantastical film freakout" which follows the colonization of Mars during Christmastime, but "when an oxygen generator and a gravity control pod malfunction, Major Syrtis and his team fear the worst. Syrtis also hallucinates about the birth of a baby, and many other strange things. Meanwhile, a compassionate alien superbeing (Wayne Coyne) arrives, inspiring and helping the isolated astronauts." Expect original music by the Flaming Lips, with acting performances by all band members.

7 p.m. // Barbès [376 9th St, Park Slope] // Free

THEATER: Sure, play readings can be boring, but let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Tonight's free reading at Ars Nova has a lot going for it, besides just being free and taking place at the delightful Ars Nova, (whose amenities include a full bar). Tonight's your chance to pop some more Alison Pill, the Tony-nominated young actor known, among other things, for her recent spunky performance in Milk and Neil LaBute's reasons to be pretty. Tonight she joins five others for a reading of Victor Kaufold's new play Social Services, which concerns Emma, "a young person of privilege, who finds work at an urban community center. She hopes the new job will give her life direction. Then the sex scandal happens." – John Del Signore

7 p.m. // Ars Nova [511 West 54th Street] // Free, but RSVP recommended

BENEFIT: Arts for Art, Inc. is throwing their Gala Fundraiser tonight. Tickets will be available at the door (and are still online) for you last minute do-gooders; the foundation notes that "nurturing imagination and inspiration in New York City is a vital necessity!" The proceeds will go to create the Innovative Arts Center ("A Place for Innovation in Music, Arts and Thinking"), and the gala will include dinner, an open bar and performances (including a set by Citizen Cope). Bonus: it's at the beautiful Angel Orensanz Foundation.

7:30 p.m. // Angel Orensanz Foundation [172 Norfolk St] // Prices range from $35 to $2000