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WEDNESDAY: A two-month series of campy takes on immorality, "Excess of Evil," screens Luis Buñuel's Simon of the Desert (Mexico, 1965), a mockery of St. Simon Stylites and his struggles with satanic Silvia Pinal; and Zelma Carroll's little-known exposé of a cult that practiced flagellation, The Lash of the Penitentes (1936) 7:30 p.m.
THURSDAY: The concluding episodes (8-10) of a newly restored melodramatic serial, La Maison du mystère (Alexandre Volkoff, France, 1923), the title of whose final episode, "The Triumph of Love," gives a clue as to how it all comes out 7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY: Newly restored prints of Burgess Meredith's Parisian-set thriller The Man on the Eiffel Tower (1949; 7 p.m. ), with Charles Laughton as Inspector Maigret; and Joseph Mankiewicz's shaggy Hollywood tale The Barefoot Contessa (1954; 9:20 p.m. ).
SATURDAY: UCLA archivist Robert Gitt hosts "Charles Laughton Directs The Night of the Hunter," a program of outtakes from the classic Gothic drama, selected to show filmmaker Laughton coaxing performances from Robert Mitchum, Lillian Gish, et al. (The completed film screens next Wednesday.) 7 p.m.
SUNDAY: A restored print of Leo McCarey's screwball romance 'tween divorcees, The Awful Truth (1937), with Cary Grant and Irene Dunne 7:30 p.m.
MONDAY: Theater closed.
TUESDAY: A series of the films of Lithuania's Sarunas Bartas concludes with Freedom (France, 2000), about two men and a woman cast ashore in a desert, with none of them having a clue as to how to escape. (And their names are George, Don, and Condoleezza) 7:30 p.m.
PARAMOUNT
2025 Broadway (at 20th Street), Oakland, (510) 465-6400, www.paramounttheatre.com. $5. This beautifully restored picture palace's ongoing "Movie Classics Series" regularly includes a feature plus a newsreel, cartoon, previews, and a few spins of the Dec-O-Win prize wheel.
FRIDAY (July 25): Audrey Hepburn and "ageless Cary Grant" (as he was known at the time) star in the aged-gracefully Charade (Stanley Donen, 1963), ultra-cleverly scripted by the late Peter Stone. Doors open at 7 p.m. , film at 8 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.
THURSDAY (July 24): The dub beautiful collective presents "couched," an evening of live ambient music accompanying movie-screen visuals. $8 8 p.m.
TUESDAY (July 29): Goldie the Poet's Heavy in the Game (2003), about a feud between two Oakland macks. "Guess appearance" (it says here) by JT the Bigga Figga 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), 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: A spelling bee leaves kids Spellbound (Jeff Blitz, 2003) 6:30, 8:40 p.m. Jacques Perrin's Winged Migration (France, 2002) 7, 9 p.m. Rivers and Tides (Thomas Reidelsheimer, U.K., 2001) 6:45, 8:50 p.m. See Ongoing for reviews.
STARTS FRIDAY: Capturing the Friedmans (Andrew Jarecki, 2003); see Ongoing for review. Spellbound, Winged Migration, and Rivers and Tides continue. Call for times.
RED VIC
1727 Haight (at Cole), 668-3994, www.redvicmoviehouse.com. $6.50 save as noted. There's a spot on the couch for you at this collectively owned rep house.
WEDNESDAY: Stanley Kubrick's atomic satire Dr. Strangelove (1964) stars Peter Sellers in three roles 2, 7:15, 9:15 p.m.
THURSDAY: Hal Ashby's political satire Being There (1979) highlights Sellers' last great performance 7:15, 9:15 p.m.
FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY: The Red Vic celebrates a birthday with Ashby's bittersweet comedy Harold and Maude (1971) 7:15, 9:15 p.m.; also Sat & Sun 2, 4 p.m.
TUESDAY: Alan J. Pakula's hip-paranoid The Parallax View (1974) 7:15, 9:25 p.m.
ROXIE
3117 16th St. (at Valencia), 863-1087, www.roxie.com. $8. Short-run repertory in one of the most adventurously programmed theaters in the USA.
WEDNESDAY: A two-day program of "Illegal Art Exhibit Film & Video Screenings" spotlights media that defy copyright law and use "found footage, unauthorized music, or shots of copyrighted or trademarked material." Program A includes Ed Fensler's GI Joe PSAs, Phil Patiris' Iraq Campaign 1991, and Brian Springer's presentation of 1992 live cable feeds of presidential candidates, Spin 2, 10 p.m. Craig Baldwin's Sonic Outlaws documents U2's war on Negativland 4 p.m. Lawrence Lessig's Willful Infringement 6 p.m. Keith Sanborn's The Artwork in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction and other shorts, including films by Paul Harvey Oswald and Todd Haynes 8 p.m.
THURSDAY: "Illegal Art" -- Sonic Outlaws 6 p.m. Sanborn's The Artwork and other shorts 8 p.m. Fellowship of the Ring of Free Trade and other shorts 10 p.m.
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY (July 25-31): A drama set in a restaurant, Bolivia (Israel Adrián Caetano, Argentina, 2001); see cinematropical.com for more info 6:30, 8, 9:45 p.m.
SPANGENBERG THEATRE
Gunn High School Campus, 780 Arastradero (at Foothill Expressway), Palo Alto, (650) 354-8263, www.spangenbergtheatre.com. This newly refurbished Center for the Arts offers a 35mm film series on a large 30-foot screen. $5.
THURSDAY & FRIDAY (July 24 & 25): It's I before E except after C in Spellbound (Jeff Blitz, 2003) 5 p.m. A bourgeoise woman and a prostitute bond in Coline Serreau's Chaos (France, 2001) 7, 9:15 p.m.
SATURDAY (July 26): Chaos 1 p.m.
STANFORD
221 University (at Emerson), Palo Alto, (650) 324-3700, www.stanfordtheatre.org. $6. This handsomely restored neighborhood palace usually screens pre-1960 Hollywood fare in the best available prints, with excellent projection and a courteous staff.
