Best Programmed Rep Cinema

The Castro does great stuff with live stage shows and in-person tributes, but it likes to run single movies for a couple of weeks at a time. The Red Vic tends to rely on recent releases (although its cozy atmosphere is admirable and enjoyable), and the Lumiere can get caught up in the same old rep-circuit rut. But the Roxie dances to no discernible drummer; its calendar of screenings, tributes, and minifestivals is eclectic and giddily perverse. There are showings of seldom-seen oddities like Norman Mailer's American Dream and Kevin Brownlow's Nazis-in-London chiller It Happened Here. There are screenings of old TV shows like Johnny Staccato and G.E. Theater. Instead of simple run-of-the-mill noir double bills there's "Frisco Noir Night," "Diesel Noir Night," and "Esoteric Noir Night." There's worthy (and sparsely distributed) contemporary fare like Testamento, My Femme Divine, and American Gypsy. There's even the occasional world premiere (the Roxie's unveiling of Kerouac 15 years ago was a modern-day happening). Pass the popcorn.