Night+Day

wednesday
april 10
Double Farley Feature Why are the closeted gay actors of yesteryear -- Sal Mineo, Anthony Perkins, and Montgomery Clift, for example -- more interesting than today's (supposedly) gay male film stars? Soft and pretty, Farley Granger is the kind of feminine leading man Hollywood doesn't favor anymore. In Alfred Hitchcock's Rope, Farley and fellow fem John Dall (star of the phallically loaded Gun Crazy) are murderers modeled after the infamous Leopold and Loeb; in Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train (based on Patricia Highsmith's overtly homo novel), tennis champ Farley is haunted by homicidal Robert Walker. Rope screens at 1:40, 5:20, and 9 p.m.; Strangers screens at 3:40 and 7:20 p.m. at the Castro Theatre, Castro & Market, S.F. Tickets are $6; call 621-6120.

thursday
april 11
Emotions in Motion In Any Space Between Shadows, Robert Moses' Kin dance company travels through African-American social and artistic history, integrating jazz dance and hip-hop beats. The performance -- with contributions by rapper AK Black; composers Steve Williams, Danielle Sanchez, and Joey Blake; and students from Bayview-Hunters Point Opera House -- starts at 8 p.m. (also Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m. Sunday) at Theater Artaud, 450 Florida, S.F. Tickets are $12.50-16.50; call 621-7797. In BONES AND ASH: A Gilda Story, Urban Bush Women transforms Jewelle Gomez's science-fiction portrayal of power and slavery into dance theater. Featuring text by Gomez and music by Toshi Reagon, BONES begins at 7:30 p.m. (continuing through Saturday) at Center for the Arts Theater, 700 Howard, S.F. Tickets are $10-14; call 978-2787.

Silly Shorts Curated by Jenni Olson, Trailer Camp is a bouquet of 30 perverse previews, beginning with Russ Meyer's bodacious Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and concluding with the trailer for the 1996 S.F. International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. Some of John Travolta's biggest bombs -- including the Lily Tomlin romance Moment by Moment -- are strung together. Other trampy, campy teasers: Mae West in Sextette; Andy Warhol's infanticidal Bad; and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? The program even includes a Hostess Twinkies ad. Scope it out at 7:30 and 9:15 p.m. at the Castro Theatre, Castro & Market, S.F. Tickets are $6; call 621-6120.

Escape From Noise S.F. audio subversives Negativland make their first live appearance in three years at "Premeditated Breakdown." The blessed event features "visual jamming" on multiple screens by Other Cinema honcho Craig Baldwin (whose Negativland-inspired doc Sonic Outlaws just got a rave in the New York Times); Scott and Gavin Hardkiss and Space Time Continuum's Jonah Sharp will DJ. The found sounds and images start flying at 9 p.m. at Trocadero Transfer, 520 Fourth St., S.F. Tickets are $11; call 995-4600.

Hello Dali Though his intricate social surrealist satire invaded some major museums in the '40s, 78-year-old Alonso Smith has spent most of the past five decades in obscurity. Since Smith pieces like Medical Malpractice (in which malpractice is a lucrative profession) are both funnier and formally superior to Robert Williams' popular twisted visions, perhaps a younger generation will discover him. Local filmmaker Scott Beale's new documentary, Alonso G. Smith: A Half Century of Social Surrealism should help; the profile of Smith and his art screens at 7 and 8:30 p.m. (continuing through Sunday) at Casting Couch Micro Cinema, 950 Battery, S.F. Tickets are $10; call 986-7001.

The Nose Always Knows Chip Lord's The Aroma of Enchantment is a video essay about the "Idea of America" that developed in post-World War II Japan. Lord introduces his latest work with "The Futuristic in the American 1950s" -- a talk featuring slides of Cadillac Ranch and clips from Easy Living -- at 7:30 p.m. at Center for the Arts, 701 Mission, S.F. Tickets are $3-6; call 558-8129.

friday
april 12
Chico and the Robotic Man Some might claim S.F. art shows draw rooms full of humanoids, but the robot community in Chico MacMurtrie's The Amorphic Evolution is comprised of distinct personalities, none of whom spout theory. MacMurtrie's 80-plus creations range in size from 12 inches to 30 feet, and they're musically inclined, playing drums and even their own bodies. In conjunction with "SoundCulture '96," MacMurtrie and Amorphic Robot Works perform at 8 p.m. (continuing through April 27) at the LAB, 2948 16th St., S.F. Tickets are $7-10; call 864-8855.

It's Not Easy Being Green Sponsored by Food First, this year's S.F. Environmental Film Festival features over 35 documentaries and animated films. Screenings are followed by discussions with filmmakers and environmentalists; the three-day fest begins with the world premiere of Jaime Kibben's The Greening of Cuba (accompanied by Velorution: One City's Solution to the Automobile) at 5:30 p.m. at Center for the Arts, 701 Mission, S.F. Tickets are $7-10; call 978-2787.

Klubstitutionalized Since the passing of Diet Popstitute last year, Klubstitutes have been infrequent. But "Klubstitute Easter: Resurrection and Review" revives the drag bar and queer cabaret with sneak previews of upcoming queer plays, including the drag king musical Hillbillies on the Moon. Be a good egg from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. at Icon, 299 Ninth St., S.F. Tickets are $3-9; call 331-1500 (ext. 3438). Elsewhere on the homosexual agenda, "Queer Jam" is a two-night musical shindig hosted by storyteller/comedian Kris Kovick; the first show -- with Moving Violations, Amy Simpson, Big Hair Little Hair, and others -- starts at 8 p.m. at Red Dora's Bearded Lady Cafe, 485 14th St., S.F. Admission is $6; call 641-7285.