4-Star Theatre. Little Accidents: Sara Colangelo's debut feature elaborates on her 2010 short of the same name, but the full-length version of Little Accidents is its own story, about how the aftershocks of a fatal coal mine accident radiate along small-town socioeconomic fault lines, and it allows for a great breakout performance by relative newcomer Boyd Holbrook as the disaster's only survivor. Daily. The Search for General Tso: Ian Cheney's entertaining documentary about General Tso's Chicken, a staple on Chinese menus across America, asks the inherent question behind the sweet-and-spicy dish — General Who, now? And is this really, like, his chicken? — and is also a history of the Chinese immigrant experience in America, as the way into the hearts of xenophobic white Americans was through their stomachs, especially their love of deep-fried meat drenched in sauce. Daily. 2200 Clement, San Francisco, 666-3488, lntsf.com/4-star-theatre.html.
Balboa Theatre. Big Eyes: Beautifully photographed and emotionally compelling, Big Eyes is Tim Burton's best film since Ed Wood, telling the story of Margaret Keane (Amy Adams), the artist behind those paintings of saucer-eyed waifs that you've probably seen without knowing quite who made them. Daily. It's Gonna Blow!!!: Documentary about San Diego's independent/punk music scene from 1986-'96, including such killer bands as Drive Like Jehu, Rocket from the Crypt, The Locust, Heavy Vegetable, Crash Worship, Heroin, Antioch Arrow, Swing Kids, and more. Wed., Jan. 28, 7:30 p.m. $7.50-$10. sdmusicdoc.com. 3630 Balboa, San Francisco, 221-2184, balboamovies.com.
The California Theatre. Changing Boundaries: The History of San Jose: Film premiere of a new documentary narrated by Peter Coyote. Thu., Jan. 22, 7 p.m. $25-$50. 345 S. First St., San Jose, 408-792-4111, californiatheatre.sanjose.org.
Castro Theatre. Noir City 13: 'Til Death Do Us Part: Thirteen is the unluckiest number of them all, as the protagonists in San Francisco's 13th annual film noir festival will find out over the course of 25 movies, all of which prove that marriage doesn't always end happily ever after. Through Jan. 25. $120 for festival passport. noircity.com. But I'm a Cheerleader: The cult satire about gay conversion therapy gets the Peaches Christ treatment with star Natasha Lyonne joining drag queen cheerleaders onstage for a Sketchfest special event. Tue., Jan. 27, 7:30 p.m. $25. peacheschrist.com. 429 Castro, San Francisco, 621-6120, castrotheatre.com.
Clay Theatre. Still Alice: Julianne Moore's performance as a well-to-do woman stricken with Alzheimer's before her time redeems Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland's cringe-drama, which otherwise doesn't say anything new about the disease (though some seriously tacky product placement does imply that Pinkberry may be somehow related). Daily. 2261 Fillmore, San Francisco, 267-4893, landmarktheatres.com.
Dark Room Theater. Bad Movie Night: Manos – The Hands of Fate: Hosts Sherilyn Connelly, Alexia Staniotes, and Tim Kay get fancy with the recently restored high-definition edition of this head-scratching old MST3K fave. Sun., Jan. 25, 8 p.m. $6.99. 2263 Mission, San Francisco, 401-7987, darkroomsf.com.
Embarcadero Center Cinema. Birdman: In Alejandro González Iñárritu's bold comment on the uncertain new frontier of performing arts, Michael Keaton plays the wounded, ambitious, has-been star of a superhero-movie franchise, now mounting his own Raymond Carver adaptation on Broadway. Daily. The Theory of Everything: In director James Marsh's gauzy and chastely reverential movie, Eddie Redmayne relishes the physically challenging role of young astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, bending himself through a progression of wheelchairs from 1960s Cambridge toward the gnarled, impish, computer-voiced transglobal keynoter we all know and love today. Daily. The Imitation Game: After breaking Nazi codes, basically winning World War II, and pretty much inventing the computer and modern-day artificial intelligence, British mathematician Alan Turing was then chemically castrated for being gay and poisoned to death with cyanide. Last year the Queen granted Turing a posthumous pardon, but nothing really says "we're sorry" like Benedict Cumberbatch playing him in a posh, Oscar-hungry historical thriller. Daily. A Most Violent Year: A 1981 NYC period piece with the word "violent" right there in its title, writer-director J.C. Chandor's A Most Violent Year might disappoint some viewers by stoking unfair expectations. Instead of an over-cranked opera, it's really just a subtle character study about a would-be heating oil tycoon, and a reiteration of the perceptive question Chandor has been asking for three films now: With his self-made world maybe inevitably coming apart, what's a man to do? Daily. Mr. Turner: Mike Leigh directs Timothy Spall as the prolific 19th-century English painter J.M.W. Turner, whose work became a sublime segue from Romantic landscapes to Modernist abstractions, and whose personal life — as robustly inhabited by Spall — apparently contained multitudes of gropes and grunts. Daily. 1 Embarcadero Center, San Francisco, 267-4893, landmarktheatres.com.
Exploratorium. Saturday Cinema: Weekly thematic film screenings presented in the Kanbar Forum by the Exploratorium's Cinema Arts program. Saturdays. Free with museum admission. Pier 15, San Francisco, 528-4444, exploratorium.edu.
Jewish Community Center of San Francisco. Woman in the Moon: Seminal Detroit techno DJ Jeff Mills brings his sci-fi obsessions to bear upon a live "Cinemix" soundtrack to Fritz Lang's 1929 silent science fiction film, in which German scientists plan a rocket expedition auf dem Mond in order to claim the Moon's precious gold. Fri., Jan. 23, 8 p.m. Sold out. 3200 California, San Francisco, 292-1200, jccsf.org.
Opera Plaza Cinemas. Citizenfour: The centerpiece of Laura Poitras' new documentary about Edward Snowden is Poitras and journalist Glenn Greenwald interviewing Snowden in June of 2013, where Snowden explains just how thoroughly our government violates the world's privacy. Though he disappears for much of the second half to go into exile, his presence remains — and if the film ends abruptly, that's only because the real-life story is still far from over. Daily. Human Capital: Paolo Virzì's drama follows a group of interconnected upper-class individuals during the events of a particularly joyless Christmastime, and when a server is accidentally killed after a fancy-pants event, nobody gets away clean — though having money sure helps, especially if you know how much a human life is worth. Daily. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night: There's nothing not to get excited about in this feature-length debut by Ana Lily Amirpour. Not only is it shot in glorious black and white, it's also an Iranian (!) vampire (!!) western (!!!), complete with Ennio Morricone-style music. If that doesn't turn you on, you may already be dead. Daily. 601 Van Ness, San Francisco, 777-3456, landmarktheatres.com.
Presidio Theatre. Match: Few things are more entertaining than Patrick Stewart playing to the cheap seats, and since most of us will probably never get to see him in a live performance, Match — a nice little character piece starring Stewart as a flamboyant (if not necessarily out-of-the-closet) ballet instructor at Juilliard — may be the next best thing. Starting Jan. 23. Daily. 2340 Chestnut, San Francisco, 776-2388, lntsf.com.
Roxie Theater. Appropriate Behavior: Probably the first breakup movie told from the perspective of a Persian bisexual in Brooklyn, writer and director Desiree Akhavan's very funny film captures, among other things, the terror of trying to get back into the dating scene when you don't really fit it into any scene — beware of falling swingers — as well as the desperation of going ahead with a skeezy OkCupid hookup, just because it's better than letting your life slip by. Through Jan. 22. Loitering with Intent: Adam Rapp's comedy is about a number of things, including some deeper themes about both the creative process and the business of show, but Loitering with Intent tends to lose them in favor of a Southern Gothic tribute in which nearly everyone's a Faulknerian idiot man-child. Jan. 23-29. Shot for Shot: The Lexington Club on Film: Put together by local film teacher Elena Oxman, this program offers clips from the movies that Lex owner Lila Thirkield has allowed to be shot in her bar, including Oxman's own urban adventure Lit and Jackie Strano & Shar Rednour's pitch-perfect How to Pick Up Girls. Sun., Jan. 25, 7 p.m. $10. 3117 16th St., San Francisco, 863-1087, roxie.com.
Sundance Kabuki Cinemas. Song of the Sea: Folklore is life in Tomm Moore's animated masterpiece, a stunning visual tapestry and a simple story about how any family's grief for a lost loved one can be as deep and vast as a national mythology. It demonstrates, as maybe only a great animated film can, how ordinary life teems with wonder. Starting Jan. 23. Daily. 1881 Post, San Francisco, 346-3243, sundancecinemas.com/kabuki.html.
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. New Anime!: The exclamation point is theirs, but it's appropriate, as the YBCA features some of last year's best anime films — including Koji Masunari's Welcome to the Space Show (Jan. 8, 10, and 11), Yasuhiro Yoshiura's Patema Inverted (Jan. 15, 17, and 18), and Isao Takahata's The Tale of Princess Kaguya (Jan. 22, 24, and 25) — plus Mami Sunada's rare peek inside anime powerhouse Studio Ghibli, The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness (Jan. 31). Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays. Continues through Jan. 31. $8-$10. ybca.org/new-anime. 701 Mission, San Francisco, 978-2787, ybca.org.
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