1015 Folsom. Tripoteca Psychedelic Film & Arts Festival: Nearly 50 brain-bending short films, music videos, and animations combine with a digital art exhibition, video installations, and live music by Portland experimental band Jackie-O Motherfucker in a quest to send your synapses blasting off on a metaphysical trip. Wed., Sept. 10, 7 p.m. $15. tripoteca.eventbrite.com. 1015 Folsom, San Francisco, 431-1200, 1015.com.
Artists' Television Access. Mission Eye & Ear #6: A night of experimental sound/video collaborations by Crystal Pascucci & Isabelle Harada, Zachary James Watkins & Rosario Sotelo, Lisa Mezzacappa & Janis Crystal Lipzin, and more. Fri., Sept. 12, 8 p.m. $10. missioneyeear.com. Other Cinema: Alumni Masters: For this special edition honoring ATA's 30th anniversary, Craig Baldwin showcases work by three "superstars" who grew out of ATA's rich avant-garde soil: Bryan Boyce, James Hong, and Sylvia Schedelbauer. Sat., Sept. 13, 8:30 p.m. $6. Paper Circus: Screening of Luca Dipierro's cut-paper animations set to a live soundtrack by the excellently eccentric Italian psych/occult duo Father Murphy. Sun., Sept. 14, 8 p.m. $7-$10. 992 Valencia, San Francisco, 824-3890, atasite.org.
Balboa Theatre. Duran Duran Unstaged: Cult filmmaker David Lynch and aging '80s pop stars Duran Duran collaborated for this concert film in which Lynch projects images onto the band while they perform. Wed., Sept. 10, 7:30 p.m. $7.50-$10. 3630 Balboa, San Francisco, 221-2184, balboamovies.com.
Clay Theatre. Magic in the Moonlight: Woody Allen's latest romantic comedy stars Colin Firth as a 1920s magician who tries to expose psychic medium Emma Stone as a phony, but she may have a few tricks of her own up her sleeve. Daily. My Old Lady: Israel Horovitz adapts his own stage play to make his directorial film debut in this drama about an American (Kevin Kline) who thinks he's inherited a Parisian apartment, only to find that an elderly mother and her daughter (Maggie Smith and Kristin Scott Thomas, respectively) are already living in it. Starting Sept. 12. Daily. The Room: Tommy Wiseau's cinematic bomb is every bit as bad as it's cracked up to be. You'll crack up as well at this riotous midnight screening with lots of Rocky Horror-style audience participation. Second Saturday of every month, 11:59 p.m. 2261 Fillmore, San Francisco, 267-4893, landmarktheatres.com.
Dark Room Theater. Bad Movie Night: Fast & Furious 6: Hosts Jim Fourniadis and Tim Kay get NOS-talgic for the good old days, when all the kids needed to get excited for a Fast & Furious movie was the promise of a little Tokyo driftin' action. Sun., Sept. 14, 8 p.m. $6.99. 2263 Mission, San Francisco, 401-7987, darkroomsf.com.
Embarcadero Center Cinema. Love Is Strange: When longtime lovers and cohabitants John Lithgow and Alfred Molina finally tie the knot after New York legalizes gay marriage, it paradoxically leads to them losing their Chelsea apartment and being forced to live apart in this new drama from director Ira Sachs. Daily. The Trip to Italy: Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon pack up their appetites and hit the road again for more droll dinner conversation in this sequel to Michael Winterbottom's 2011 comedy The Trip. Daily. Boyhood: Richard Linklater spent 12 years filming this universally acclaimed coming-of-age tale in which the actors grow up right before your eyes during the film's 165-minute running time. Daily. The Last of Robin Hood: An aging Errol Flynn (Kevin Kline) enters into a scandalous relationship with an underaged starlet (Dakota Fanning), albeit one aided and abetted by the girl's starstruck mother (Susan Sarandon), in this Hollywood drama from Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland. Daily. A Most Wanted Man: Anton Corbijn (Control) adapts John le Carré's espionage novel into a slow-fuse spy thriller, with the late Philip Seymour Hoffman leading a cast that also features Willem Dafoe, Rachel McAdams, and Robin Wright. Daily. Take Me to the River: Martin Shore's valentine to Memphis musical history is also a torch-passing project, a chronicle of sessions for a compilation album on which veteran Stax and Hi Records journeymen collaborate with rappers, school kids, and, for old times' sake, each other. Starting Sept. 12. Daily. tmttr.com. 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.
Multiple Bay Area Locations. 17th Annual California Independent Film Festival: Going strong since 1997, the California Independent Film Festival features not just indie films made in California, but mainstream and international pictures as well. Highlights include James Tooley's fan-funded documentary Starring Adam West about TV's original Batman, as well as the world premiere of Leslie Iwerks' Citizen Hearst, which looks at the past 125 years of William Randolph Hearst's media empire. Screenings take place at the Castro Theatre (429 Castro, S.F.), New Rheem Theatre (350 Park, Moraga), and Orinda Theatre (4 Orinda Theatre Square, Orinda). Sept. 11-14. caiff.org. Multiple addresses, San Francisco, N/A.
New People. Legacy Film Festival on Aging: Now four years old, the Legacy Film Festival on Aging continues to entertain and educate audiences about what it means to age, and how to go about doing it in a way that doesn't make you feel, well, old. For example, Sue Bourne's documentary Fabulous Fashionistas looks at six women who aren't letting being 80 years old keep them from being fashion-forward. Sept. 12-14. $10 per program. legacyfilmfestivalonaging.org. 1746 Post, San Francisco, 525-8630, newpeopleworld.com.
Opera Plaza Cinemas. Le Chef: French cuisine and comedy share the menu in Daniel Cohen's film starring Michaël Youn and Jean Reno. Daily. A Summer's Tale: Eric Rohmer's breezy beachside romance — which made waves in France back in 1996 — finally gets a Stateside theatrical release. Daily. The Notebook (Le Grand Cahier): Absolutely not to be confused with the 2004 Ryan Gosling romantic weeper, this grim Hungarian drama set at the end of WWII catalogs the self-degradation of two young boys, who attempt to inure themselves to the cruelty surrounding them by becoming as hard as the predatory adults in their midst. Daily. A Letter to Momo: A teenage girl befriends goblins and ghosts in this supernatural coming-of-age feature from Japanese anime director Hiroyuki Okiura (Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade). Daily. alettertomomo.com. Frank: Michael Fassbender is totally unrecognizable as the title character — not due to his acting, mind you, but because he wears a fake plastic head the whole time he's on the screen — in Lenny Abrahamson's oddball comedy about an absurdist art-rock band. Daily. The Man on Her Mind: A single woman and single man both have imaginary lovers — based on idealized versions of each other — that may conflict with any possible real-life romance in this independent film from Bruce Guthrie and Alan Hruska. Starting Sept. 12. Daily. themanonhermind.com. 601 Van Ness, San Francisco, 777-3456, landmarktheatres.com.
Roxie Theater. No No: A Dockumentary: Jeffrey Radice's entertaining film does justice to the complex legacy of Dock Ellis, the self-styled "Muhammad Ali of baseball" who threw a no-hitter for the Pittsburgh Pirates while tripping on LSD in 1970. Through Sept. 11. Forward 13: Waking Up the American Dream: Spurred on by his own home foreclosure, "accidental filmmaker/activist" Patrick Lovell made a DIY documentary about the corruption at the heart of America's collapsing socioeconomic system, a film that he presents in person at this free screening. Thu., Sept. 11, 5 p.m. Free. Metro Manila: Director Sean Ellis beams in via Skype for a Q&A session following this one-show-only presentation of his 2013 underdog crime film, which won the Audience Award for international drama at that year's Sundance Film Festival. Thu., Sept. 11, 7 p.m. God Help the Girl: Written and directed by Belle & Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch, God Help the Girl — starring Emily Browning as a young Glaswegian with psychiatric problems who can only properly express herself through music — is as emo as you'd expect from a musical by the Belle & Sebastian guy. But that's a good thing, and it's also kind of brilliant. Sept. 12-18. Second Opinion: Laetrile at Sloan-Kettering: Director Eric Merola's self-released documentary does not endorse any particular medical treatment, but its recounting of an alleged 1970s cover-up at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center — at which the anticancer benefits of a cheap drug may have been buried at the behest of Big Pharma's bottom line — may make you feel a little sick inside. Sept. 12-18. secondopinionfilm.com. All This Mayhem: Aussie documentary about sibling skateboarding superstars Tas and Ben Pappas, whose lives went from the top of the world rankings to a self-destructive abyss of drugs, crime, and mental illness. Sun., Sept. 14, 7 p.m. facebook.com/AllThisMayhem. 3117 16th St., San Francisco, 863-1087, roxie.com.
Salle Pianos & Events. Cinema Sirens: A Jazz Cabaret & Film Salon: Grant Levin, Shannon Wolfe, and Dean Reilly perform classic jazz alongside projections of B+W films from the 1920s to '40s. Thu., Sept. 11, 6:30 p.m. $5-$10. facebook.com/events/1469798986606530. 1632 Market, San Francisco, 240-2181.
Temescal Arts Center. Shapeshifters Cinema: Free monthly film series featuring experimental image manipulators and ambient sound shamans. Second Sunday of every month, 8 p.m. Free. shapeshifterscinema.com. 511 48th St., Oakland, 510-923-1074, temescalartscenter.org.
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Life Is an Opinion: Films by Mary Helena Clark & Karen Yasinsky: This surreal evening offers a selection of abstract films by Mary Helena Clark and Karen Yasinsky. Yasinsky's films such as The Lonely Life of Debby Adams and Life Is an Opinion, Fire a Fact use puppetry, animation, and even hints of narrative to trigger feelings of discomfort and empathy, while Clark's works, like After Writing and The Dragon Is the Frame, are permeated with mysterious associations and assembled with the logic of dreams. Presented by San Francisco Cinematheque. Sat., Sept. 13, 7:30 p.m. $8-$10. sfcinematheque.org. 701 Mission, San Francisco, 978-2787, ybca.org.
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