Thursday (4/12): Take one part Hitchcockian thriller, one part traditional family drama and one part wickedly funny ghost story and you have one of the best films of the last year, “Volver.” This offering from Spanish auteur Pedro Almod–var features Penelope Cruz as a woman dealing with her dead mother’s ghost, her dead husband’s body and her very much alive sister, aunt and daughter – and it’s hilarious, touching, warm-hearted and worth seeing. Check it out at Campbell Hall at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 for UCSB students.

Friday (4/13): It’s Friday the 13th, so why not check out something on the scary side tonight? The dark dystopian drama “Children of Men” is screening at I.V. Theater, courtesy of Magic Lantern Films. This critic and fan favorite features Clive Owen as the reluctant hero charged with safeguarding the last woman on earth capable of conceiving a child. Showings start at 7 and 9:30 p.m., and tickets are just $4 for UCSB students.

Saturday (4/14): In the mood for something multicultural? The MultiCultural Drama Company and local multicultural theater troupe Hail To The Piece are hosting “Kiss My Dark Place” tonight – a retrospective show in honor of the 10-year anniversary of the first performance by the MultiCultural Drama Company at UCSB’s MultiCultural Center. This retrospective will feature highlights from the company’s past performances, including sketches, one-acts and films. The show starts at 8 p.m.

Sunday (4/15): Celebrate spring with Theatre UCSB’s annual dance performance, featuring the choreography of UCSB’s most advanced dance students as well as dance faculty and special guests. The show is in Hatlen Theatre 1201 at 2 p.m., and tickets are $13 for students.

Monday (4/16): Head over to “Whose Renaissance? The Peripatetic Life of Objects in the Era of Globalization” and find out how extra-European art has influenced European culture since the first era of globalization back in the 16th century. Topics in this 4 p.m. talk include Mexican painted manuscripts, European religious prints and featherwork mosaics. The event is happening at the McCune Conference Room.

Tuesday (4/17): Takashi Murakami fans should go check out “Flat Boy vs. Skinny: Takashi Murakami and The Battle For ‘Japan’ – Part II The Protocols of Sado-Cute” at the McCune Conference Room today. This talk by contemporary film theory hero and UCSB faculty member Dick Hebdige will focus on societal, cultural and sexual normative shifts in contemporary Japanese art and society, and specifically on the propagation of porn in the public sphere via the Internet. The talk starts at 12 p.m., and more information is available at (805) 893-5446.

Wednesday (4/18): Pop country-crooning duo Michelle Branch and Jessica Harp are appearing at The Roxy tonight, with their new band The Wreckers. Doors open at 7 p.m. and tickets are $20. More information about the band is available at www.myspace.com/thewreckers.