Commentary by Gregg Rickman (greggr2006@yahoo.com). Times compiled from information available Tuesday; it's always advisable to call for confirmation. Price given is standard adult admission; discounts often apply for students, seniors, and members.
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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 (May 11): A program of nine short optically printed films that "reveal psychosomatic illnesses of American culture" by Tony Gault includes Not Too Much Remember (2004) 8 p.m.
SATURDAY (May 13): The CounterCorp Festival screens corporate promo films from the 1950s-60s and later, including Philco/Ford's Year 1999, Coronet's What Is Capitalism? and Oscar Meyer's Because We Care. See www.othercinema.com for more info. $5-$20 sliding scale 8:30 p.m.
SUNDAY (May 14): The 10th Annual Mission Creek Music and Film Festival presents "The West May Save Us Yet," a program of "DIY visual kinesis" that includes Martha Colburn's Wrong Time Capsule, with Deerhoof and Nicolas Amato's Bloody Begonias with Ariel Pink 8 p.m.
TUESDAY (May 16): Mission Creek — Michael Musika's the myth of Obo Martin (2005) looks at creative music making in San Francisco 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: Rang de Basanti (Rakeysh Mehra, India, 2005) noon, 3:20, 7:30 p.m. On the Balboa's second screen, a double-bill of I Am A Sex Addict (Caveh Zahedi, 2005; 2:05, 5:40, 9:15 p.m. ) and Mountain Patrol: Kekexili (Lu Chuan, China, 2004; 12:20, 3:55, 7:30 p.m.).
STARTS FRIDAY: Yang Ban Xi: The 8 Model Works (Yan-Ting Yuen , China, 2005). See Opening for review noon, 1:50, 3:40, 5:30, 7:20, 9:10 p.m.
CASTRO
429 Castro (near Market), 621-6120, www.thecastrotheatre.com; 866-9559 and www.sffs.org for the San Francisco International Film Festival. $9 save as noted; $11 save as noted for SFIFF programs (Wednesday through Friday). 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: A Year Without Love (Anahi Berneri, Spain, 2005) 7, 9:30 p.m.; also Sat, Sun, Wed 2, 4:30 p.m.
FRIDAY: The Castro's new schedule opens with a Jacques Demy series, starting with his ever popular, candy-coated musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (France, 1964) 7, 9 p.m.
SATURDAY: Anouk Aimee stars twice as Demy's cabaret performer Lola, in France for the ultra-romantic Lola (1961; noon, 3:40p, 7:15 p.m.) and disillusioned and living in Los Angeles, working in a Model Shop (1969; 1:45, 5:20, 9 p.m.).
SUNDAY: Two lavishly mounted fairy tales by Demy, Donkey Skin (France, 1970; noon, 3:30, 7 p.m.), with Catherine Deneuve, and The Piped Piper (U.K., 1972; 1:45, 5:10, 8:45 p.m.), with Donovan as the titular rat charmer.
MONDAY: Closed for private event.
TUESDAY: Two musicals with Liza Minnelli, Cabaret (Bob Fosse, 1972; 12:30, 6 p.m.) and New York, New York (Martin Scorsese, 1977; 2:45, 8:20 p.m.).
CLAY
2261 Fillmore (at Clay), 267-4893, www.landmarktheatres.com for venue; www.8tales.com for this series. This gemlike box is one of the city's last remaining single screens.
FRIDAY & SATURDAY (May 12 & 13): An "8 Tales" midnight movie series screening of a very guilty pleasure, Death to Smoochy (Danny DeVito, 2002). $7 midnight.
DELANCEY SCREENING ROOM
600 Embarcadero (at Brannan), 957-9800 for venue; 775-7755 for reservations to this program and www.afsf.com for more information. $9 SFFS members, $12 others.
SATURDAY (May 13): Alliance Française sponsors author Amélie Nothomb, in person with the film adaptation of her best-selling autobiographical novel, Fear and Trembling (Alain Corneau, 2003), with Sylvie Testud as an unhappy Belgian woman lost as a translator for a Japanese corporation 5 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.
NIGHTLY: Federico Fellini exposes the sour side of the sweet life in La Dolce Vita (Italy, 1959), screening through May 28 "Starts at dusk."
TUESDAY (May 16): In Foreign Cinema's Gallery, an Art, Film, & Book Party Benefit that celebrates San Francisco's historic movie theaters features a slide show of images from the Castro, Coronet, Harding, Bridge, Roxie, New Mission, Balboa, and other cinemas, drawn from R.A. McBride and Julie Lindow's Left in the Dark, and a preview of Christian Bruno's documentary Strand: A Natural History of Cinema (2006), on San Francisco's movie theater culture. Also live music, a mini-auction and food. For more info see www.ramcbride.com and www.naturalhistoryofcinema.net. $10-40 7-11 p.m.
LARK
549 Magnolia (at Post), Larkspur, 924-5111, www.larktheater.net. This single-screen art deco theater has reopened with a policy mixing new and repertory programming. $8.
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: Stick It (Jessica Bendinger, 2006) 7, 9:15 p.m.; also Wed 4:30 p.m.
STARTS FRIDAY: Call for films and times.
MECHANICS' INSTITUTE LIBRARY
57 Post (near Market), 393-0100 and www.milibrary.org for information; phone or e-mail rsvp@milibrary.org for reservations. $7. This cultural asset of long standing continues a spring film series, hosted by Michael Fox. Shown on projected video, with salon-style discussions to follow.
FRIDAY (May 12): A John Huston series screens his filmed-in-Stockton saga of downbeat boxers, Fat City (1972), with Stacy Keach advising younger pug Jeff Bridges to hang in there. Dark city expert Eddie Muller in person 6:30 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: The Beauty Academy of Kabul (Liz Mermin, U.K., 2004) 1:40, 3:40, 5:40, 7:40, 9:40 p.m.
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY (May 12-18): Take My Eyes (Icar Bollan, Spain, 2003). See Opening for review. Call for times.
PARKWAY
1834 Park (at Lake Merritt), Oakland, (510) 814-2400, www.picturepubpizza.com. $5 save as noted. Pizza, beer, and movies on two screens. 21 and older only. Call theater for programs, booked a week in advance. The Parkway also offers occasional scheduled special programs.
THURSDAY (May 11): A Thrillville screening of a "South of the Border Sickie," Night of the Bloody Apes (Mexico, 1969), featuring gorilla brain transplants, female masked wrestling bouts, and more. Plus a live performance by the "guerilla burlesque" troupe Diamond Daggers and "that swingin' simian," Gorilla X 9:15 p.m.
SATURDAY (May 13): Good Vibes commemorates National Masturbation Month with Dr. Betty Dodson in person with her film Orgasmic Women: 13 Selfloving Divas (2005). See www.sexandculture.org for more. $7 5:30 p.m.
TUESDAY (May 16): It's Back to the Future (Robert Zemeckis, 1985), screening as a benefit for the volunteer organization Hands On Bay Area. $7 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. $9.50 save as noted. This three-screen repertory theater, 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: Water (Deepa Mehta, India, 2005) 6:30, 9 p.m. The Promise (Chen Kaige, China, 2006) 6:45, 9:10 p.m. The Beauty Academy of Kabul (Liz Mermin) 7, 8:45 p.m.
STARTS FRIDAY: All three features continue; call for times.
SUNDAY (May 14): Beyond Borders, and International Family Film series, screens Mitra Sen's Just a Little Red Dot, a short film about accepting differences that screens with similar films from Columbia, Guatemala, Sweden, and Scotland. Earphones provided for live translation. Ages 8 up 4 p.m.
RED VIC
1727 Haight (at Cole), 668-3994, www.redvicmoviehouse.com. $8 save as noted. There's a spot on the couch for you at this collectively owned rep house.
WEDNESDAY: Felicity Huffman flies the American way in Transamerica (Duncan Tucker, 2005) 2, 7:15, 9:25 p.m.
THURSDAY: A young, HIV-positive mother struggles to raise a family in the South African film Yesterday (Darrell Roodt, 2005), screening as a benefit for IDEX (International Development Exchange). $15-$50 donation recommended. Reception 6:30 p.m. Film 7:15 p.m.
FRIDAY & SATURDAY: Ang Lee climbs the highest Brokeback Mountain (2005) 7:15, 9:15 p.m.; also Sat & Sun 2, 4 p.m.
MONDAY & TUESDAY: Twenty high-risk Baltimore kids are sent to the Baraka School in Kenya in the documentary The Boys of Baraka (Heidi Ewing and Rachal Gray, 2005) 7:15, 9:15 p.m.; also Sun 2, 4 p.m.
TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY (May 16 & 17): A mysterious videotape appears on a happy family's doorstep in Michael Haneke's Caché (France, 2005) 7, 9:25 p.m.; also Wed 2 p.m.
ROXIE FILM CENTER
3117 and 3125 16th St. (at Valencia), 863-1087 and www.roxie.com for regular programs, http://www.sfindie.com for S.F. DocFest (starting Friday). $8 for regular programs, $10 for S.F. DocFest. Short-run repertory on two screens, separated by a bar, in this reconstituted affiliate of New College.
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: On Screen One, Working Man's Death (Michael Glawogger, U.K., 2006) 7 p.m.; also Wed 2 p.m. Game 6 (Michael Hoffman, 2006) 9:15 p.m.; also Wed 4:30 p.m. Separate admission.
WEDNESDAY: On Screen Two, "The Edge of Identity," a week long presentation of New College's Graduate Psychology program, takes on the topic of slavery with Sankofa (Haile Gerima, Burkina Faso, 1993) 7 p.m.
THURSDAY: "The Edge" comes to an end with segments drawn from Bill Moyers' interviews with myth scholar Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth (1988), with discussions to follow 7 p.m.
STARTS FRIDAY: Call theater for Screen One programs.
FRIDAY: On Screen Two, DocFest, the 5th Annual San Francisco Documentary Festival, opens with Class Act (Sackner) 5 p.m. The Treasures of Long Gone John (Gibbs) 7 p.m. Diameter of a Bomb (Silver and Quigley) 9 p.m.
MONDAY: DocFest — Class Act 7 p.m. Diameter of a Bomb 9 p.m.
TUESDAY: DocFest — Letters From the Other Side (Courtney) 7 p.m. Muskrat Lovely (Nicholson) 9 p.m.
SAN FRANCISCO LGBT COMMUNITY CENTER
1800 Market (at Octa via), 865-5555; www.frameline.org for this program. "Frameline at the Center," a free monthly film series, continues.
THURSDAY (May 11): "Not your average group of butch lesbians, the six dykes portrayed in this engaging coming-of-age documentary live by their own code of ethics — those of" The Aggressives (Daniel Peddle, 2005). Co-presented by Butch-Femme Socials of San Francisco & Oakland 7:30 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 Wednesdays): "Early Films of San Francisco: Before and After the Great Earthquake and Fire, 1896-1915" 2 p.m. American Masters: Alexander Calder (Roger Sherman, 1998) 4 p.m.; also Thurs 7:30 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 (May 11): An "Asian in America" screens Snow Falling on Cedars (Scott Hicks, 1999), a forbidden love story with Ethan Hawke and Youki Kudoh noon.
SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY
Coppola Theater, Fine Arts Building, Room 101, 1600 Holloway (at 19th Avenue), 338-1629. Free; $3 donation requested.
FRIDAY (May 12): STUFF, the Senior Thesis Undergraduate Film Festival, screens student films including Jeff Kent's Down Hill, Juan Alcazar's Peruvian Girl and Tyler Wintermute's The 50 6 p.m.
SHATTUCK
2230 Shattuck (at Kittredge), Berkeley, (510) 843-3456, www.landmarktheatres.com. $9. This venerable theater assigns one of its eight screens to repertory programming.
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: The Beauty Academy of Kabul (Liz Mermin, U.K., 2004) 2:15, 4:45, 7:30, 9:40 p.m.
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY (May 12-18): Take My Eyes (Icar Bollan, Spain, 2003). See Opening for review. Call for times.
STANFORD
221 University (at Emerson), Palo Alto, (650) 324-3700, www.stanfordtheatre.org. $6. This handsomely restored neighborhood palace usually (but not always) screens pre-1960 Hollywood fare in the best available prints, with excellent projection. This spring's series includes tributes to stylish director Vincente Minnelli and suave actor Ronald Colman.
WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY: Ronald Colman plays Sinclair Lewis' noble doctor Arrowsmith (John Ford, 1931; 7:30 p.m. ) in a prestige production more Sam Goldwyn than Ford. It screens with Colman as a gentleman thief in Raffles (Harry D'Arrast and George Fitzmaurice, 1930; 6:05, 9:30 p.m.).
SATURDAY: Raffles 10:15 p.m.
SATURDAY & SUNDAY: A silent double feature offers Colman as a kilted Scottish doctor wooing Blanche Sweet in The Sporting Venus (Marshall Neilan, 1927; Sat 7:30 p.m., Sun 2 p.m.). Colman then plays the son of millionaire George Arliss, who decides to live on Twenty Dollars a Week (F. Harmon Weight, 1924; Sat 8:55 p.m., Sun 3:25 p.m.). Live organ accompaniment by Clark Wilson.
SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY: Minnelli's thoughtful psychiatric drama The Cobweb (1955; 7:30 p.m.) — it's the one about the drapes — screens with the entertaining marital comedy Designing Woman (1957; 5:20, 9:45 p.m.).
WOMEN'S BUILDING
3543 18th St. (at Guerrero), 621-4969 and www.sfindie.com for S.F. Doc Fest programming. $10.
FRIDAY (May 13): DocFest, the 5th Annual San Francisco Documentary Festival, screens here this weekend and next. Today, Mind Over Matter (Gerow) 3 p.m. Pizza! The Movie (Dorian) 5 p.m. Unauthorized and Proud of It (Davidov) 7 p.m. Punk Like Me (Merck) 9:30 p.m.
SUNDAY (May 14): Letters From the Other Side (Courtney) 1 p.m. "Snapshosts" (shorts) 3 p.m. Cracked But Not Broken (Perrier) 5 p.m. The Future of Pinball (Maletic) 7 p.m. The comedian discusses extra-terrestrials in Dan Aykroyd Unplugged on UFOs (Sereda) 9 p.m.
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 (May 10): Four youths try to crack the national lottery in Imunga Ivanga's Dlé (Gabon, 2001). $7 7:30 p.m.
THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY (May 11-13): Flashback to the 1960s with a selection of "Legendary Light Shows" returning to San Francisco screens images that once graced Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and other shows. It's a great night for spotting gray-haired men in ponytails! 7:30 p.m.
SUNDAY (May 14): S.F. Cinematheque presents "Questions Concerning Technology?," a program of experimental work including Kerry Laitala's Orbit, Caspar Stracke's Zuse Strip, Gibbs Chapman's Push Button: A History of Idleness & Ignorance, and more. Artists in person 7:30 p.m. Red Label Rice Wine (Mia Chen) and Farewell 1999 (Nana Wu) 7:30 p.m.
FILM NOTES
The Pacific Film Archive is on hiatus through May 24.
