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111 MINNA GALLERY
111 Minna (between New Montgomery and Second streets), 864-0660 and www.microcinema.com for information on this program. $6.
MONDAY (Jan. 30): The eleventh season of the monthly "Independent Exposure Screening Series" opens with Dave Griffith's smoking Epic Drag (U.K.), Boris Despodov's collaboration with famed Danish documentarian Jørgen Leth, Schindler's Lift (Bulgaria), and Lizzie Akana's Marvelous, Keen Loony Bin (Berkeley, USA), among others 8 p.m.
ACT I & II
2128 Center (at Shattuck), Berkeley, (510) 464-5980, www.landmarktheatres.com. $9.25 save as noted. One of this venue's two screens is a "calendar house" for Landmark Theatres. For additional screenings, see our Showtimes page.
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: After Innocence (Jessica Sanders, 2006) 7:15, 9:30 p.m.
STARTS FRIDAY: Bubble (Steven Soderbergh, 2006). See Opening for review. Call for times.
ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE
345 Bush (at Polk), 775-7755, www.afsf.com. French-language films shown on projected video. $6 donation save as noted.
WEDNESDAY (Jan. 25): A philosopher proves you Kant take it with you in Philippe Collins' low-key look at The Last Days of Immanuel Kant (1993) 6 p.m.
ARTISTS' TELEVISION ACCESS
992 Valencia (at 21st Street), 824-3890, www.atasite.org. $5 save as noted. This venue offers all manner of strange and unusual video and film.
THURSDAY (Jan. 26): ATA's monthly "Open Screening" of your film epics, with advance submissions recommended. E-mail openscreening@atasite.org for submission info 8 p.m.
BALBOA
3630 Balboa (at 38th Avenue), 221-8484, www.balboamovies.com. $8.50 save as noted. This great neighborhood house shows films of all sorts.
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: The Balboa revives the hugely popular, six-hour Italian epic The Best of Youth (Marco Giordana, 2003). Separate admission. Part 1 Wed 3:45 p.m.; Thurs noon, 7:30 p.m. Part 2 Wed noon, 7:30 p.m.; Thurs 3:45 p.m.
WEDNESDAY: A "Noir City" series continues with the third of four evenings devoted to films from 1946. Today, lovesick widower Dan Duryea investigates his wife's death in the very good Black Angel (Roy William Neill; 2, 5:25, 9:10 p.m.) while Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake pluck Raymond Chandler dialogue out of The Blue Dahlia (George Marshall; 3:55, 7 p.m.).
THURSDAY: "Noir City" -- From 1946, two hardcore noir classics. Rita Hayworth suggests putting the blame on Mame in Gilda (Charles Vidor; 1, 5:10, 9:30 p.m.) as flashbacks pile upon flashbacks in The Killers (Robert Siodmak; 3:10, 7:20 p.m.).
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY (Jan. 27-Feb. 2): A "Photographers Double Feature" screens William Eggleston in the Real World (Michael Almereyda, 2005). See Opening for review 2:15, 5:20, 8:25 p.m. Also, Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Impassioned Eye (Heinz Bütler, Germany, 2003) 12:50, 3:55, 7 p.m.
CASTRO
429 Castro (near Market), 621-6120, www.thecastrotheatre.com; www.goethe.de/sanfrancisco for Berlin & Beyond. $9 regular admission, save as noted. Short-run rep in a spectacular 1922 Greco-Roman-themed palace designed by Timothy L. Pflueger. Evening intermissions feature David Hegarty on the Mighty Wurlitzer.
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: Gay Sex in the '70s (Joseph Lovett, 2005) 12:30, 2:15, 4, 6, 8, 9:45 p.m.
FRIDAY: A "Disco Roller Skating Extravaganza" offers not one, not two, but three relics of the glitter ball era, Roller Boogie (Mark Lester, 1979; 7:30 p.m.), with Linda Blair fighting to save her roller rink; Xanadu (Robert Greenwald, 1980; 9:45 p.m.), with Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly (!) in this musical from the future anti-WalMart crusading documentarian; and Skatetown, U.S.A. (William A. Levey, 1979; midnight), with Scott Baio, and Patrick Swayze as his arch-rival. Two for $8.50; all three for $12.
SATURDAY: A double feature of the SCTV spinoff comedy for hosers, Strange Brew (Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis, Canada, 1983; 1:45, 5:15, 8:45 p.m.), plus Cheech and Chong in the non-alcoholic Up in Smoke ( Lou Adler, 1978; 3:30, 7, 10:30 p.m.).
SUNDAY: Another chemically dependent double-bill, Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas (Terry Gilliam, 1998; 12:30, 4:35, 9 p.m. ) and Trainspotting (Danny Boyle, U.K., 1996; 2:45, 7 p.m.).
MONDAY: Al Pacino skis the slopes as Scarface (Brian DePalma, 1983) 8 p.m.
TUESDAY: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman and Steve Buscemi are the bowling alley cats of The Big Lebowski (Joel Coen, 1998) 7, 9:30 p.m.
FOREIGN CINEMA
2534 Mission (between 21st and 22nd streets), 648-7600, www.foreigncinema.com. Free with meal. This restaurant screens foreign films, usually in 35mm, on the back wall of its outdoor patio, with drive-in speakers available for the tables of those who want to watch while they dine.
DAILY: Thwarted lover Dirk Bogarde melts in the sun in Luchino Visconti's Death in Venice (Italy, 1971), screening through Feb. 26 Starts at dusk.
LA PEÑA CULTURAL CENTER
3105 Shattuck (at Prince), Berkeley, (510) 849-2568, www.lapena.org. This cafe for activists offers occasional film screenings. $5-10 sliding scale.
SATURDAY (Jan. 28): Cinemasports gives would-be filmmakers ten hours to write, film and edit a three minute film. If interested in joining, visit the www.cinemasports website and meet this morning in Berkeley at 9 a.m. To view the results, come here tonight. Admission $10 8 p.m.
LARK
549 Magnolia (at Post), Larkspur, 924-5111, www.larktheater.net. This single-screen art deco theater mixes new and repertory programming. $9 save as noted.
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: Tristan and Isolde (Kevin Reynolds, 2005) 7, 9:30 p.m.
STARTS FRIDAY: Johnny Cash learns to Walk the Line (James Mangold, 2005) Fri & Sat 6:45, 9:30 p.m.; Sun 1:15, 4 p.m.; Mon & Tues 7 p.m.
SUNDAY (Jan. 29): Today is Second Annual World Indigo Day, it says here, and The Indigo Evolution (James Twyman and Kent Romney, 2005) assembles "some of the most profound children in the world" -- "a new type of human being coming into our world" -- and the message of peace these "Indigo," "Crystal" or "Star Children" offer. $12 7 p.m.
NILES ESSANAY SILENT FILM MUSEUM
Edison Theater, 37395 Niles (near G Street), Fremont, (510) 494-1411 and www.nilesfilmmuseum.org. A weekly "Saturday Night at the Movies" series screens silent films in this historic theater. $5.
SATURDAY (Jan. 28): Richard Talmadge anticipates Donnie Brasco as a policeman infiltrating a gang in The Night Patrol (Noel Smith, 1926), which features Terry the Rat and co-stars the pleasantly named Rose Blossom. It screens with the shorts Caught in the Rain (Charles Chaplin, 1914) and Buster Keaton as Convict 13 (Keaton and Eddie Cline, 1920), 7:30 p.m.
OPERA PLAZA
601 Van Ness (at Golden Gate), 352-0810, www.landmarktheatres.com. This multiplex is only partly a "calendar house" rep theater. For the rest of the Opera Plaza's schedule, see our Showtimes page. $8.75.
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: After Innocence (Jessica Sanders, 2006) 1:30, 4:15, 7, 9:20 p.m.
PACIFIC FILM ARCHIVE
2575 Bancroft (at Bowditch), Berkeley, (510) 642-1124, www.bampfa.berkeley.edu. $8, second show $2. The East Bay mecca for film scholars, part of UC Berkeley's Art Museum, thrives at its on-campus location, up the steps on Bancroft between Telegraph Avenue and the Hearst Gym.
WEDNESDAY: A UCB film history class open to the public and taught by Russell Merritt presents "Movies in the Nickelodeon Era" with films including Gertie the Dinosaur (Winsor McCay, 1914), The Dancing Pig (1907) and a seldom-screened D.W. Griffith short, The Informer (1912) with Mary Pickford 3 p.m. A "Weird America" series screens La Lucha: The Struggle (Duncan Macleod, 2003), on the world of Mexican- American masked pro wrestling 7:30 p.m.
THURSDAY: The PFA's Mikio Naruse series of films by this Japanese master continues with Hideko Takamine as a marriageable daughter and family pawn in Lightning (1952) 7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY: An African Film Festival opens with Delwende (S. Pierre Yaméogo, Burkina Faso, 2005), recording the phenomenon of "witch villages" where outcast women dwell 7, 8:50 p.m.
SATURDAY: Two by Naruse -- Ken Uehara and Yoko Sugi are a Husband and Wife (1953) who suffer when forced to live in a rented room 7 p.m. Hideko Takamine is a troublesome Wife (1953) to Ken Uehara 8:45 p.m.
SUNDAY: Another dark Naruse family tale, Older Brother, Younger Sister (Naruse, 1953) 4:30 p.m. Four aging women confront life's disappointments in Late Chrysanthemums (Naruse, 1954) 6:15 p.m.
MONDAY: Theater closed.
TUESDAY: Scholar Jeffrey Skoller lectures on "Making History in Avant-Garde Film" and screens Ernie Gehr's Eureka (1974), a rephotographing of a 1900s film record of San Francisco's Market Street, and Leandro Katz's El Dia Que Me Quieras (The Day You'll Love Me) (1998), an essay on Che Guevara's deathbed photograph 7:30 p.m.
PARKWAY
1834 Park (at Lake Merritt), Oakland, (510) 814-2400, www.picturepubpizza.com. $5 save as noted. Pizza, beer, and movies on two screens. Call theater for programs, booked a week in advance. The Parkway also offers occasional scheduled special programs.
TUESDAY (Jan. 26): A new cult movie series hosted by Shannon Lark, "The Chainsaw Mafia Night of Mayhem," screens Cannibal Holocaust (Ruggero Deodato, Italy, 1980), which uses a Blair Witch-type set-up as a springboard for its events. Supposedly the filmmaker had to prove to an Italian court that his cast hadn't actually been eaten. Trivia contests, prizes, and meat round out the evening. $6 9:15 p.m.
MIDNIGHT SHOW (Saturday): The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Jim Sharman, 1975), with live performance by Barely Legal. $6.
RAFAEL FILM CENTER
1118 Fourth St. (at A Street), San Rafael, 454-1222, www.cafilm.org. $9 save as noted. This three-screen repertory theater, now officially the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center, is operated by the California Film Institute. Programs are complex; check carefully and call for confirmation.
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: "For Your Consideration," a selection of Oscar submissions from various nations, screens Ahead of Time (Gudmundsson, Iceland) Wed 6:30 p.m.; Thurs 9:30 p.m. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (Puiu, Romania) Wed 8:15 p.m.; Thurs 6:30 p.m. Call for other films and times.
STARTS FRIDAY: The Real Dirt on Farmer John (Taggart Siegel, 2005). See Opening for review. Call for other films and times.
RED VIC
1727 Haight (at Cole), 668-3994, www.redvicmoviehouse.com. $7 save as noted. There's a spot on the couch for you at this collectively owned rep house.
WEDNESDAY: Tanzanian fishermen suffer Darwin's Nightmare (Hubert Sauper, Austria/Belgium, 2004) and soon we all will 2, 7, 9:15 p.m.
THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY: Dramatic accounts of surfer adventures comprise Big Waves and Tall Tales (Grant Washburn, 2005) 7:15, 9:15 p.m.; also Sat & Sun 2, 4 p.m.
STARTS TUESDAY: Call theater for program.
ROXIE FILM CENTER
3117 and 3125 16th St. (at Valencia), 863-1087, www.roxie.com. $8 save as noted. Short-run repertory on two screens, separated by a bar, in this newly reconstituted affiliate of New College.
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: Coachella (Drew Thomas, 2005) 9 p.m.; also Wed 4:30 p.m. A History of Violence (David Cronenberg, 2005) 9 p.m.
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY (Jan. 27-Feb. 2): Gay Sex in the '70s (Joseph Lovett, 2005) 6:30, 8, 9:45 p.m.; also Sat & Sun 2, 3:30, 5 p.m. A History of Violence 7 p.m.; also Sat, Sun, Wed 2 p.m. Coachella 9 p.m.; also Sat & Sun 4:30 p.m.
SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
Koret Visitor Education Center (unless otherwise noted), 151 Third St. (between Mission and Howard), 357-4000, www.sfmoma.org. Screenings are free with museum admission of $12.50 save as noted.
DAILY (Closed Wednesday): Chuck Close: A Portrait in Progress (Marian Cajori, 1997) through Feb. 28 4 p.m.; also Thurs 7:30 p.m.
THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY: A Kiki Smith exhibit offers Art:21:Stories (PBS, 2003) 2 p.m.
STARTS TUESDAY: Stones and Flies: Richard Long in the Sahara (Philip Haas, 1988) screens daily, Jan. 30-March 2 2 p.m.
SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY
Koret Auditorium, Lower Level, 100 Larkin (at Grove), 557-4400, http://sfpl.lib.ca.us. A weekly video program screens on Thursdays and occasional other days. Free.
THURSDAY (Jan. 26): A film series devoted to "The Beats" screens a film announced as Jack Kerouac: King of the Beats (1985), narrated by Peter Coyote, which is probably Kerouac the Movie (John Antonelli, 1985), narrated by Peter Coyote, and not What Happened to Kerouac?, also 1985, but not narrated by Peter Coyote. Got that? noon.
YERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS
701 Mission (at Third Street, in Yerba Buena Gardens), 978-2787, www.ybca.org. $8 save as noted. This venue's Screening Room is a home for film and video programs of all sorts.
WEDNESDAY (Jan. 25): The S.F. Jewish Film Festival screens Melting Siberia (Ido Haar, Israel, 2005), documenting the director's mother's reunion with her father, who had abandoned her many years ago in the former Soviet Union. $7 7:30 p.m.
THURSDAY (Jan. 26): "mind, body, tea," a two-week series that opens the YBCA's new year, screens Tea (Franz Scheffer, 2005), based on Chinese composer Tan Dun's Tea Opera, on tea as a metaphor for the right way of life 7:30, 9:15 p.m.
