4-Star Theatre. Shanghai: This period drama concerns an American (John Cusack) in Shanghai who, through the investigation of the death of a friend, ends up falling in love while stumbling upon a political conspiracy. 1408 helmer Mikael Håfström directs. Gong Li and Ken Watanabe co-star in the production, from a script supplied by Hossein Amini. Daily. Lost in Hong Kong: Xu Lai had dreams once. To be an artist and marry the girl of his dreams. 15 years later, he's sick of designing bras, humoring his baby-crazy wife, and catering to loopy in-laws. But his upcoming family vacation, now including his DVD-pirating, aspiring-documentarian brother-in-law, has a hidden agenda: a chance meetup with his old flame. But ditching his clan for a clandestine hookup might be the least of his worries. There's been a murder, and his new hot pursuit might be from the cops who want a word with him. Daily. Momentum: When Alex, an infiltration expert with a secret past, accidentally reveals her identity during what should have been a routine heist, she quickly finds herself mixed up in a government conspiracy and entangled in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with a master assassin and his team of killers. Armed with her own set of lethal skills, Alex looks to exact revenge for her murdered friends while uncovering the truth. Starting Oct. 16. Daily. 2200 Clement, San Francisco, 666-3488, lntsf.com/4-star-theatre.html.
Castro Theatre. The Benson Movie Interruption: Back to the Future Part II: After you've finished guzzling your $50 bottle of Pepsi Perfect at Cafe '80s, join comedian Doug Benson to see just how prescient the second movie in the Back to the Future trilogy was at predicting the year 2015. Wed., Oct. 21, 8 p.m. $20. sfsketchfest.com. 429 Castro, San Francisco, 621-6120, castrotheatre.com.
Clay Theatre. The Lost Boys: New to town, a teenager quickly falls in with the town's bad kids: a bike-riding, Jim Morrison-worshipping gang of blood-sucking vampires. Oct. 16-17, 11:55 p.m. The Rocky Horror Picture Show: The Bawdy Caste performs onstage while the ultimate cult film plays in the background. Last Saturday of every month, 11:59 p.m. $9-$10. Labyrinth of Lies: Frankfurt 1958: nobody wants to look back to the time of the National Socialist regime. Young public prosecutor Johann Radmann comes across some documents that help initiate the trial against some members of the SS who served in Auschwitz. But both the horrors of the past and the hostility shown towards his work bring Johann close to a meltdown. It is nearly impossible for him to find his way through this maze; everybody seems to have been involved or guilty. (German with English subtitles) Daily. 2261 Fillmore, San Francisco, 267-4893, www.landmarktheatres.com/san-francisco/clay-theatre.
Embarcadero Center Cinema. Heart Like A Hand Grenade: More than 10 years after the release of American Idiot, 2015 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Green Day present Heart Like a Hand Grenade. This time capsule rock documentary takes us inside the songwriting and recording process of their Grammy Award-winning punk rock opera. Thu., Oct. 15, 7 & 9 p.m. Freeheld: The true love story of Laurel Hester (Julianne Moore) and Stacie Andree (Ellen Page) and their fight for justice. A decorated New Jersey police detective, Laurel is diagnosed with cancer and wants to leave her hard-earned pension to her domestic partner, Stacie. However, the county officials—Freeholders—conspire to prevent Laurel from doing this. Hard-nosed detective Dane Wells (Michael Shannon) and activist Steven Goldstein (Steve Carell) unite in Laurel and Stacie's defense, rallying police officers and ordinary citizens to support their struggle for equality. Daily. Goodnight Mommy: The psychological horror film Goodnight Mommy is a twisted and fantastical take on the home invasion thriller. In the heat of the summer lays an isolated house in the Austrian countryside, where nine-year-old twin brothers await their mother's return after cosmetic surgery. She's recovering from an accident that has left her face covered in bandages, unrecognizable to her precocious sons. During her recovery her temper runs short with the boys, her behavior is domineering and her punishments turn harsh. The boys begin to suspect she isn't really their mother and they go about finding out for certain. What ensues is an atmospheric, terrifying observational struggle with fatal consequences on par with The Shining and Dead Ringers. Written and directed by Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz (writer of Dog Days and the Paradise trilogy). (Fully subtitled) Daily. Meet the Patels: A laugh-out-loud, real-life romantic comedy about Ravi Patel, an almost-30-year-old Indian-American who enters a love triangle between the woman of his dreams... and his parents. Filmed by Ravi's sister in what started as a family vacation video, this hilarious and heartbreaking film reveals how love is a family affair. Fresh out of a breakup with his secret white girlfriend, who his parents knew nothing about, and freaked out that he's almost 30 and single, Ravi goes on a family vacation to India with his head and heart spinning. Ravi is willing to do whatever it takes to find love—but there's one tricky detail to consider: In his family, everyone has the last name Patel. Patels marry other Patels. It's not incest, it means they are from the same 50-square mile radius in India. Struck with how overwhelmingly happy the marriages are of his Patel family and friends, Ravi enters a fool-proof Patel matchmaking system and embarks on a worldwide search for another American Patel just like him. Witty and brutally honest, this comedy explores the questions with which we all struggle: What is love? How do we find it? And even then, how do we keep it? (Partially subtitled) Daily. 1 Embarcadero Center, San Francisco, 267-4893, www.landmarktheatres.com/san-francisco/embarcadero-center-cinema.
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.
McCoppin Plaza. Free Screening in the Plaza: Beetlejuice: Thu., Oct. 15, 8 p.m. Free. sfindie.com. San Francisco Bicycle Rte 30, San Francisco.
Opera Plaza Cinema. Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine: In his signature black turtleneck and blue jeans, Steve Jobs' image was ubiquitous. Perhaps the most publicly revered corporate figure of the technology age, Jobs' untimely death at the age of 56 in 2011 set off a worldwide outpouring of grief from consumers who worshiped his signature products such as the iPhone and the iMac. As the co-founder and CEO of Apple, his name and image had become synonymous with the sleek, high-tech personal devices that came to define and transform the first two decades of the 21st century. But who was the man on the stage under the giant iPhones? Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room) presents a critical examination of Jobs, revered both as a prophetic, iconoclastic genius and denounced as a barbed-tongued tyrant. The film is a candid telling of the Apple legend through interviews with a handful of those close to Jobs at different stages in his life. It unravels the larger-than-life myth he so deliberately crafted, and examines the enduring legacy of his values which continue to shape the culture of Silicon Valley to this day. Oct. 16-22. The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution: Change was coming to America and the fault lines could no longer be ignored—cities were burning, Vietnam was exploding, and disputes raged over equality and civil rights. A new revolutionary culture was emerging and it sought to drastically transform the system. The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense would, for a short time, put itself at the vanguard of that change. The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution is the first feature length documentary to explore the Black Panther Party, its significance to the broader American culture, its cultural and political awakening for black people, and the painful lessons wrought when a movement derails. Master documentarian Stanley Nelson (Freedom Riders, Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple) goes straight to the source, weaving a treasure trove of rare archival footage with the voices of the people who were there: police, FBI informants, journalists, white supporters and detractors, and Black Panthers who remained loyal to the party and those who left it. Daily. Phoenix: A spellbinding mystery of identity, illusion and deception unfolds against the turmoil of post-World War II Germany in the stunning new film from acclaimed writer/director Christian Petzold (Barbara, Jerichow). Berlin, 1945: Nelly (Nina Hoss, A Most Wanted Man), a German-Jewish, ex-nightclub singer, has survived a concentration camp. But, like her country, she is scarred, her face disfigured by a bullet wound. After undergoing reconstructive surgery, Nelly emerges with a new face, one similar but different enough that her former husband, Johnny (Ronald Zehrfeld), doesn't recognize her. Rather than reveal herself, Nelly walks into a dangerous game of duplicity and disguise as she tries to figure out if the man she loves may have been the one who betrayed her to the Nazis. Submerged in shadowy atmosphere and the haunted mood of post-war Berlin, Phoenix weaves a complex, Hitchcockian tale of a nation's tragedy and a woman's search for answers as it builds towards an unforgettable, heart-stopping climax. (Partially subtitled) Daily. 601 Van Ness, San Francisco, 267-4893, www.landmarktheatres.com/market/SanFrancisco/OperaPlazaCinema.htm.
Roxie Theater. SF Shorts Film Festival: This year's festival marks the 10th Anniversary of the SF Shorts Film Festival. Six programs of mixed-genre short films and music videos will be featured, with over half of them from outside of the U.S., representing 18 countries. Oct. 15-17. 3 Still Standing: For one bright, shining moment, three San Francisco standup comics seemed poised for the big time. Will Durst, Johnny Steele, and Larry "Bubbles" Brown were killing audiences in the Holy City Zoo, the Punch Line, and all the other packed, brick-walled venues that made San Francisco the country's best, most radical comedy scene in the 1980s. Agents–and Vegas–came calling, and why not? Robin Williams, Dana Carvey, Paula Poundstone, Bobcat Goldthwait, and numerous others were honing their unique talents beneath the same spotlights and becoming stars. Then, as the '90s dawned, the local comedy scene died, and SF's era of cutting-edge, no-holds-barred humor faded into legend. What did these three comics do? They kept telling jokes however they could–and they still do. This loving, lively documentary–packed with hilarious vintage footage, intimate interviews, rat-a-tat editing, and a jazzy score–captures the triumphs and struggles, the art and dedication, of three indomitable performers who still bring it every time. Through Oct. 15. The 90s Video Sing A Long Show: Halloween Special: There's a chill in the air, so it must be Fall, which as any 90s TV watcher knows means it's Halloween Special time on your favorite shows: Saved by the Bell, My So Called Life, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and of course The Simpsons. So this version of our insanely popular 90s Music Video Sing A Long Show will feature all the fly video hits and one hit wonders you jammed to in school plus some seasonal extras. Fri., Oct. 23, 9-11:30 p.m. 10/advance, 12/door. 820-3907. info@sfindie.com. sfindie.com/?p=2863. Japanese Horror Week: This Halloween, the Roxie brings San Francisco a whole week of modern Japanese horror classics. Since the late '80s, American audiences have been increasingly spooked by stories of surreal spirits, malevolent technological forces and sadistic torture from across the Pacific. While films like Kairo (Pulse) and Ju-On: The Grudge were remade by Hollywood with limited success, the Roxie is pleased to bring you the scares of the original Japanese movies, alongside artistically intense works by acclaimed directors such as Takashi Miike and Sion Sono. Oct. 25-31. 3117 16th St., San Francisco, 863-1087, roxie.com.
The Walt Disney Family Museum. Tomorrowland: Walt's Vision For Today: Through animated sequences, musical compositions, sound bites, graphics, audio visuals, vintage posters, and more, Tomorrowland: Walt's Vision for Today will immerse visitors in the story of Walt's hopes and vision for the future, as reflected in his creation of the 1967 version of Tomorrowland at Disneyland. This exhibition allows visitors to experience Walt's perception of this beautiful tomorrow in a robust and vibrant way. Mondays, Wednesdays-Sundays. Continues through Dec. 7. 104 Montgomery, San Francisco, 345-6800, waltdisney.org.
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Architecture & Design Films Showcase 2015: In our second Architecture and Design Film series, we present a showcase of 14 films and more than 20 screenings that cover architecture and design from every angle and aspect. Come and discover the DIY graphic arts scene in the UK, a history of land art, tiny houses, contemporary women architects, the battle to renovate the Rijksmuseum, and much more. Through Nov. 8. 701 Mission, San Francisco, 978-2787, ybca.org.
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