Commentary by Gregg Rickman (greggr1@mindspring.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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ACT ONE/TWO
2128 Center (at Shattuck), Berkeley, (510) 843-FILM, www.landmarktheatres.com. $6. This duplex offers a 10-week midnight movie series (plus "drawings for valuable and coveted prizes"). For additional screenings, see our Showtimes page.
SATURDAY (Nov. 15): Henry Selick's timely The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) midnight.
ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE
345 Bush (at Polk), 775-7755, www.afsf.com. French-language films shown on projected video. $5 donation.
WEDNESDAY (Nov. 12): Helena Bonham-Carter has a crush on Jean-Pierre Brialy while her boyfriend lusts after Romaine Boringer and ... well, you know, it's French -- Martine Dugowson's Portrait chinois (1997) 7 p.m.
SATURDAY (Nov. 15): Portrait chinois 2 p.m.
AMC KABUKI
1881 Post (at Fillmore), 931-9800; (925) 866-9599 and http://trilogyticketing.com/sfiff/ for advance tickets to this event. This just-off-Geary multiplex is the site of the annual New Italian Cinema festival. $10 save as noted. (For the rest of the Kabuki fare, see our Showtimes page.)
SUNDAY (Nov. 16): The Opening Night film is Pupi Avati's Incantato (2003) 7:30 p.m.
MONDAY (Nov. 17): A tribute to filmmaker Francesca Archibugi screens The Tree of Pears (1998; 7 p.m.) and Tomorrow (2000; 9:30 p.m.). Separate admission.
TUESDAY (Nov. 18): Bell'Amico (d'Ascanio) 7 p.m. North Cape (Luglio) 9:30 p.m.
ARTISTS' TELEVISION ACCESS
992 Valencia (at 21st Street), 824-3890, www.atasite.org for most programs, www.othercinema.com for Saturday evening programs. $5 save as noted. This venue offers all manner of strange and unusual video and film.
THURSDAY (Nov. 13): Mikhal Kalatzov's delirious I Am Cuba (U.S.S.R./Cuba, 1964) applies dazzling technique to the bad old days before the Revolution 8 p.m.
FRIDAY (Nov. 14): Two by Michael Bedar, EcoParque, about a sustainable community in Tijuana, and Bailagua Fronteriza (Dance of the Border Water), on U.S.-Mexico environmental relations 8 p.m.
SATURDAY (Nov. 15): A "mostly musical multi-media program" includes Vicki Bennett's "smash and grab visual collage" People Like Us, with Bennett in person, plus an Anne McGuire-Johnny Cash duet, William S. Burroughs narrating a heroin tale illustrated by clips of Jimmy Stewart (Bryan Konefsky's Junky), and more 8:30 p.m.
AUCTIONS BY THE BAY
Movie Palace Auction Sales Room, 2700 Saratoga (near West Red Line), Alameda, (510) 740-0220, www.auctionsbythebay.com. $7. Classic films in 35mm (save as noted) screen in a former U.S. Navy theater.
FRIDAY (Nov. 14): William Powell and Myrna Loy drink and detect in The Thin Man (W.S. Van Dyke, 1934) 7, 9 p.m.
SATURDAY (Nov. 15): Everybody comes to Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942) 7, 9:15 p.m.
SUNDAY (Nov. 16): Audrey Hepburn must wonder who she can trust, Cary Grant or Walter Matthau, in the Parisian evergreen Charade (Stanley Donen, 1963) 7, 9:30 p.m.
BERKELEY RICHMOND JEWISH CENTER
1414 Walnut (at Vine), Berkeley, (510) 848-0237 for venue, www.latinofilmfestival.org for information on this program. The Latino Film Festival continues its annual event here and at other venues around the Bay Area this week. $5.
SUNDAY (Nov. 16): Gerardo Stawsky's Despite Treblinka (2002) interviews Holocaust survivors in Uruguay 5 p.m.
CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF THE ARTS
1111 Eighth St. (at Irwin), 703-9500, www.ccarts.edu. $7.
SUNDAY (Nov. 16): "Digital artist" Eric Saks (Hey! I have 10 fingers! Am I a digital artist too?) lectures on "viral culture" (achoo) and screens his public service announcements Tobacco Geezers, SARS Bikes, and the violence-against-women-inducing Punch a Spice Girl 7:30 p.m.
CASTRO
429 Castro (near Market), 621-6120, www.thecastrotheatre.com, $8 save as noted. Short-run rep in a spectacular 1922 Greco-Roman-themed palace designed by Timothy L. Pflueger. Evening intermissions feature David Hegarty or Bill McCoy on the Mighty Wurlitzer.
WEDNESDAY: On the 25th anniversary of his death, a screening of Rob Epstein's The Times of Harvey Milk (1984) 1, 3, 5, 7, 9:10 p.m.
THURSDAY: Theater closed.
FRIDAY & SATURDAY: A series of the postwar films of Japan's Yasujiro Ozu opens with his two uncontested masterpieces, Late Spring (1949; noon, 4:45, 9:35 p.m.), about a daughter's marriage, and Tokyo Story (1953; 2:10, 7 p.m.), about two neglected parents.
SUNDAY: More warm family dramas guided by Ozu's firm hand and lucid filmmaking, Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice (1952; 4:45, 9:40 p.m.) and Early Summer (1951; 2:10, 7:05 p.m.).
MONDAY: Ozu's first postwar films Record of a Tenement Gentleman (1947; 7:30 p.m.) and A Hen in the Wind (1948; 9 p.m.) show a director coming to terms with the Pacific War's effects at home.
TUESDAY: The salaryman's losing battle against loss continues in Ozu's Early Spring (1956; 7 p.m.), while Tokyo Twilight (1957; 9:45 p.m.) is an unusually harsh melodrama.
DOMINICAN UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
Guzman Hall (second floor), 50 Acacia (between Olive and Magnolia), San Rafael, 454-4039 and www.dominican.edu for venue, www.latinofilmfestival.org for the Latino Film Festival, screening here this week. $5.
WEDNESDAY (Nov. 12): Roderigo Paris' rare music documentary We Are the Music (Cuba, 1964) 7:30 p.m.
FILM ARTS FOUNDATION
145 Ninth St. (between Mission and Howard), 552-8760, www.filmarts.org/rsvp for this program. $25.
THURSDAY (Nov. 13): A "Writers and Directors Series" offers local novelist and screenwriter Barry Gifford, a David Lynch collaborator on Wild at Heart and Lost Highway, and most recently scenarist for Matt Dillon's City of Ghosts 7 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 (Closed Mondays): Wim Wenders' angelic Wings of Desire (Germany, 1988) screens through Nov. 30 6:30, 8:15 p.m.; also Fri-Sun 10:45 p.m.
FOUR STAR
2200 Clement (at 23rd Avenue), 666-3468, www.hkinsf.com/4star/. $7.50. This enterprising theater hosts occasional special screenings. A "Midnites for Maniacs" series continues on Saturdays. For the Four Star's regular schedule, see our Showtimes page.
SATURDAY (Nov. 15): Jon Olsen's video feature Ape Canyon (2003); director in person 11:59 p.m.
GOETHE-INSTITUT
530 Bush (at Grant), 263-8760. The place to go for German cultural events. $5.
SUNDAY (Nov. 16): A program of films by Jörg Fockele, co-founder of the Hamburg Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, includes the documentary Rules of the Game (1998-2000) and a pair of tributes to early German cinema. Filmmaker in person 7:30 p.m.
KENNEDY'S PUB
1040 Columbus (at Chestnut), 441-8855. Curry and drinks available. Free.
THURSDAY (Nov. 13): Lance Carnes and Marc Dolezal offer a film noir series screening classics on 16mm shot at least in part in San Francisco. A bandaged Humphrey Bogart escapes from San Quentin and finds a good deal in plastic surgery in Delmer Daves' Dark Passage (1947) 8 p.m.
LA PEÑA CULTURAL CENTER
3105 Shattuck (at Prince), Berkeley, (510) 849-2568 for venue, www.latinofilmfestival.org for information on this program. The Latino Film Festival continues its annual event here and at other venues around the Bay Area this week. $9.
SATURDAY (Nov. 15): Filmmaker Gregorio Valverde hunts The Lost Reels of Pancho Villa (Mexico, 2002), missing footage shot by Hollywood in the teens (also the subject of a recent telefilm with Antonio Banderas) 8 p.m.
LUMIERE
1572 California (at Polk), 352-0810, www.landmarktheatres.com. This multiplex is only partly a "calendar house" rep theater; for the rest of the Lumiere schedule, see our Showtimes page. $9.50.
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: José Padilha's Bus 174 (Brazil, 2002). See Ongoing for review. Call for times.
STARTS FRIDAY: Anything But Love. See Opening for review. Call for times.
MARIN CIVIC CENTER
Showcase Theatre, 3501 Civic Center (at Avenue of the Flags), San Rafael, 499-6800 and www.italianfilm.com for this series. The final program of the 2003 Italian Film Festival screens at this Frank Lloyd Wright-designed complex. $10.75.
SATURDAY (Nov. 15): Spiro Scimone and Francesco Sframeli direct and star as Two Friends (2002), a comedy about mismatched roommates 7 p.m. screening sold out; tickets still available for the 9:15 p.m. show.
MECHANICS' INSTITUTE LIBRARY
57 Post (near Market), 393-0100 and www.milibrary.org for information; phone or e-mail rsvp@milibrary.org for reservations. $5. This cultural asset of long standing hosts an ongoing film series on projected video, with salon-style discussions to follow.
FRIDAY (Nov. 14): John Garfield discovers They Made Me a Criminal (1938), an unlikely but effective teaming of the urban actor, the Dead End Kids, and director Busby Berkeley, mixing Depression-era fatalism and Garfield's proto-noir persona 6:30 p.m.
MISSION CULTURAL CENTER
2868 Mission (at 25th Street), 821-1155 and www.missionculturalcenter.org for venue; www.latinofilmfestival.org for information on this program. The Latino Film Festival screens videos here this week. $5.
SUNDAY (Nov. 16): National Stadium (Luz, Chile) 11:15 a.m. The Sapphires (DeStefano) 1 p.m. Lefty (Salces, Mexico) 3:15 p.m. The Photographer (Alarcón, Chile) 5:30 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. $9.25.
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY (Nov. 14-20): Diego Lerman's Suddenly (Argentina/Netherlands, 2002). See Opening for review. Call for times.
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's Berkeley Art Museum, thrives at its on-campus location, up the steps on Bancroft between Telegraph Avenue and the Hearst Gym.
WEDNESDAY: Program 2 of "Standby," a five-week series of video art made in New York City, 1983-93, includes Kathy High's feminist medical exposé I Need Your Full Cooperation (1989) 7:30 p.m.
THURSDAY: The annual Margaret Mead Film Festival of anthropological works continues with The Day I Will Never Forget (Kim Longinotto, 2002), on genital mutilation in Kenya 7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY: Margaret Mead -- Thunder in Guyana (2003), on that country's president, Janet Rosenberg Jagan, and The Queen Mother (Idrissou Mora-Kpai, Benin/France, 2002), about the filmmaker's mother, a queen 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY: A "History of Polish Animation" continues with Program 3, films made from 1963-85 by Ryszard Czekala and others, plus Jerzy Kucia's Tuning the Instruments (2000) 7:30 p.m.
SUNDAY: "Polish Animation," Program 4, features films by Piotr Dumala and Zbigniew Rybczynski, including the latter's classic Tango (1980) 5:30 p.m.
MONDAY: Theater closed.
TUESDAY: Sharon Lockhart's exploration of the Japanese landscape, Nö (2003), and of Japanese schoolgirls playing basketball, Goshogaoka (1997) 7:30 p.m.
PALACE OF FINE ARTS
3301 Lyon (at Bay), 567-6642 and www.palaceoffinearts.org/events.html for venue; 421-8497 for this program. This nine-decade-old remnant of a World's Fair has an excellent auditorium, often used for film programs. $15.50.
THURSDAY & FRIDAY (Nov. 13 & 14): Warren Miller's Journey (2003), a ski/snowboard compilation film Thurs 6, 9 p.m.; Fri 6:30, 9:30 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.
THURSDAY (Nov. 13): Sing along with Grease (Randal Kleiser, 1978) as a musical benefit for Absolute Dragons. $8 6:30, 9:15 p.m.
TUESDAY (Nov. 18): A "genius filmmaker's" movie about crime puts his production on the lam in F Stops (2003), billed as a cross between Spinal Tap and NBK 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: José Padilha's Bus 174 (Brazil, 2002) 6:30, 9 p.m. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (Kim Bartley, Donnacha O'Briain, 2003) 8:50 p.m. See Ongoing for reviews.
WEDNESDAY: Hidden in Plain Sight (John H. Smihula, 2002) 7, 9 p.m. Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion (Tom Peosay, 2003) 6:45 p.m. See Ongoing for reviews.
THURSDAY: A Marin premiere of 21 Grams (2003), with director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu in person. $12 7 p.m. A Rita Hayworth series screens a genuine rarity, Angels Over Broadway (Ben Hecht and Lee Garmes, 1940), with Broadway denizens Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Hayworth, and Thomas Mitchell playing God with a would-be suicide (John Qualen) 7 p.m.
STARTS FRIDAY: Gus Van Sant's Elephant (2003); see Ongoing for review. Bus 174, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, and Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion continue. Call theater for times.
SUNDAY: A "Beyond Borders" screening for families of the popular children's film Olloe Alexander Tiddly Om Pom Pom (Anne-Marie Nørholm, Norway, 1998) 1 p.m. Rita Hayworth and Fred Astaire team in Buenos Aires for You Were Never Lovelier (William A. Seiter, 1942) 7 p.m.
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: Dietmar Post's Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping (2002) follows performance artist Billy Talen's invasions of Starbucks, the Disney Store, and other sinful abodes. I'll have a grande mocha 2, 7:15, 9:15 p.m.
THURSDAY: "Ideas in Animation" offers live music by Nik Phelps & the Sprocket Ensemble to a program of new European films, including The Love Nest (Shelly Wain, U.K.), Bird Brained (Caroline Maure, France), and Alternative Worlds Model (Alexander Zhukov, Ukraine). $10 7, 9 p.m.
FRIDAY & SATURDAY: A 30th-anniversary reissue of Mel Stuart's concert film Wattstax (1973), featuring Isaac Hayes, Richard Pryor, and more 7:15, 9:25 p.m.; also Sat 2, 4:15 p.m.
SUNDAY & MONDAY: Creepy animations from master Brits the brothers Quay include the Bruno Schultz-inspired Street of Crocodiles and The Comb, which needs washing. Eighty-six minutes of genius await you 7:15, 9:15 p.m.; also Sun 2, 4 p.m.
TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY (Nov. 18 & 19): The Polish brothers evacuate a dream -- Northfork (2003) 7:15, 9:15 p.m.; also Wed 2 p.m.
ROXIE
3117 16th St. (at Valencia), 863-1087, www.roxie.com. $8 save as noted. Short-run repertory in one of the most adventurously programmed theaters in the USA.
WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY: A double bill of Hidden in Plain Sight (John H. Smihula, 2002; 7 p.m.; also Wed 2 p.m.), about the notorious School of the Americas -- Hogswarts for torturers; and Plan Colombia: Cashing in on the Drug War Failure (Gerard Ungerman and Audrey Brohey, 2003; 9:30 p.m.; also Wed 4:30 p.m.). See Ongoing for reviews.
SATURDAY: The Tranny Fest Film Festival screens here all day. See www.trannyfest.com or call 820-3223 for program and updates. Youth program $5 1 p.m. Other shows $8 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 p.m.
SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY (Nov. 16-20): The double bill of Hidden in Plain Sight (7 p.m.; also Sun & Wed 2 p.m.) and Plan Colombia: Cashing in on the Drug War Failure (9:30 p.m.; also Sun & Wed 4:30 p.m.) continues through Nov. 20.
SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
Phyllis Wattis Theater, 151 Third St. (at Mission), 357-4000, www.sffs.org. "The Seventh Art: New Dimensions in Cinema" continues a monthly series of films with directors in person this week. $12.
THURSDAY (Nov. 13): "Process Into Film," a lecture by Kramlich Collection Curator Christopher Eamon on "Post-Minimalist Practices in Film and Video," will include a screening of relevant works by Richard Serra, Bruce Nauman, and Yvonne Rainer 7 p.m.
SHATTUCK
2230 Shattuck (at Kittredge), Berkeley, (510) 843-3456, www.landmarktheatres.com. $9.25. This venerable theater assigns one of its eight screens to repertory programming. For the rest of the Shattuck's schedule, see our Showtimes page.
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: José Padilha's Bus 174 (Brazil, 2002). See Ongoing for review. Call for times.
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY (Nov. 14-20): Diego Lerman's Suddenly (Argentina/Netherlands, 2002). See Opening for review. Call for times.
SPANGENBERG THEATRE
Gunn High School Campus, 780 Arastradero (at Foothill Expressway), Palo Alto, (650) 354-8263, www.spangenbergtheatre.com. This recently refurbished Center for the Arts offers a 35mm film series on a large 30-foot screen. $5.
THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY (Nov. 13-15): It's the times of Harvey Pekar in American Splendor (Sheri Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini, 2003). See Ongoing for review 7 p.m.
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. The theater has begun to program works by Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray with Hollywood classics.
WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY: Two by Satyajit Ray, involving imperial intrigue paralleled with the sport of kings in The Chess Players (1977; 7:30 p.m.), plus Sadgati (Deliverance, 1981; 6:35, 9:35 p.m.), about an Untouchable's efforts to arrange a wedding for his daughter.
SATURDAY & SUNDAY: Ray's comedy The Big City (1958; 3:30, 7:30 p.m.), about the changes in a woman's life when she gets a job, screens with Leo McCarey's classic screwball comedy The Awful Truth (1937; 5:50, 9:55 p.m.), with Cary Grant and Irene Dunne.
MONDAY & TUESDAY: Theater closed.
UA GALAXY
1285 Sutter (at Van Ness), 474-8700 for venue; 554-5525 and www.aifisf.com for this program. For regular screenings at this multiplex, see our Showtimes page. The 28th annual American Indian Film Festival screens here this week.
WEDNESDAY (Nov. 12): Short films including Gabriel Whiteturkey's Bundle in Good Standing, $5 noon. Gordon Tootoosis and David Hasselhoff star as a mismatched pair accused of robbing a bingo parlor in Don't Call Me Tonto, a Canadian feature credited to the pseudonymous "Allan Smithee" (Native American filmmaker Annie Frazier Henry, credited on the Internet, evidently having taken her name off), $7 7 p.m.
THURSDAY (Nov. 13): Short films including Tracy Jack's REZcovery, $5 noon. Norma Bailey's Cowboys and Indians (Canada) examines the controversial death of Manitoba activist J.J. Harper (Adam Beach), $7 7 p.m.
WHEELER AUDITORIUM
Bancroft & Telegraph, UC Berkeley campus, www.berkeley.edu for venue; www.latinofilmfestival.org for information on this program. This college theater hosts screenings from the Latino Film Festival this week. $7 save as noted.
SUNDAY (Nov. 16): "Amazon" (short films from Brazil and Peru) 10 a.m. Francesca Sanchez (Hernandez, Spain) 12:15 p.m. Lula, A Winner's Journey (Coehlo, Brazil) profiles its activist president 2:15 p.m. The Jewish Film Festival co-sponsors a writer doc, Max Aub (Soler, Spain) 4 p.m. No Shame (Oristrell, Spain), $9 6:15 p.m. Bedtime Fairy Tale for Crocodiles (Cruz, Mexico), $9 8:40 p.m.
YERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS
701 Mission (at Third Street, in Yerba Buena Gardens), 978-2787, www.YerbaBuenaArts.org. $6 save as noted. This venue's Screening Room is a home for film and video programs of all sorts.
WEDNESDAY (Nov. 12): A Latino Film Festival screening of Out of the Shadow (Kathryn Klassen, Spain/Canada), about women bullfighters, $9 6 p.m. Street Love (Asa Faringer, Mexico), about a former prostitute's struggle against the profession, $9 8:15 p.m.
THURSDAY (Nov. 13): Paul Chan's Bagdad in No Particular Order (2003), video portraits of average Iraqis filmed last January, and his war satire Re: The Operation (2003). $7 7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY (Nov. 14): "Ten Perfect Moments," a series of highlights from 10 years of the YBC's screenings, offers two nights of videos of New York's underground music scene, 1975-80, as filmed by Pat Ivers and Emily Armstrong. Program 1, "Nightclubbing Greatest Hits," includes performances by Blondie, Talking Heads, Dead Boys, Lounge Lizards, Offs, Dead Kennedys, DNA, Iggy Pop, Cramps, Heartbreakers, John Cale, Bush Tetras, Pylon, Ballistic Kisses, and more 7, 9 p.m.
SATURDAY (Nov. 15): Program 2, "Live From CBGB's 1975-77" and "Modern Music" ("no wave" and art rock from Contortions, Suicide, James "Blood" Ulmer, John Cale, Sun Ra, et al.) 7 p.m. Program 3, "Roots of Hardcore" (Bad Boys, Dead Boys, etc.) and "Danceteria Video Lounge New Wave" (Go-Go's, Kid Creole, and pals) 9 p.m.
TUESDAY (Nov. 18): The Arab Film Festival screens Hany Abu-Assad's Ford Transit (Palestine, 2002), about a cabbie's daily struggle around roadblocks. $7 7:30 p.m.
