Reps Etc.

FRIDAY: A program of ultra-rare Japanese silent films offers the crime drama Policeman (Tomu Uchida, 1933; 7:30 p.m.) and the earliest surviving film by the great Kenji Mizoguchi, the rural drama The Song of Home (1925; 9:20 p.m.).

SATURDAY: A weekend series devoted to silent actresses, introduced by historian Anthony Slide and with live piano accompaniment by Neil Brand, screens Alice Joyce as The Home Maker (King Baggot, 1925; 7 p.m.) and Blanche Sweet as The Sporting Venus (Marshall Neilan, 1925; 9:10 p.m.).

SUNDAY: In connection with the Berkeley Art Museum's exhibit of Russian artist Alexander Rodchenko's photographs, the PFA screens two films with contributions by Rodchenko, a fragment of The Female Journalist (Lev Kuleshov, 1927) and Dziga Vertov's experimental documentary Kino-Eye (1924), both at 4:30 p.m. Anthony Slide introduces Marion Davies and Jetta Goudal dueling for Nils Asther in The Cardboard Lover (Robert Z. Leonard, 1928) 7 p.m.

MONDAY: A UC Berkeley class on courtroom dramas, "Trials and Film," with lectures by Carol Clover, is open to the public as space permits. Today, Otto Preminger's exciting Anatomy of a Murder (1959), one of his best films, with Jimmy Stewart as a shrewd country lawyer defending a dubious Ben Gazzara 3 p.m. The legendary "martial arts ballet" A Touch of Zen (King Hu, Taiwan, 1971/1975) 7 p.m.

TUESDAY: Jonas Mekas' five-hour compilation of his film diaries of 1970-79, As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000), screens in two parts (Chapters 1-6 6:30 p.m., Chapters 7-12 9:15 p.m.), with the entire program to repeat on Sept. 17.

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.

FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY: L.A. Confidential (Curtis Hanson, 1997) opens the Parkway's annual film noir series Fri 6:15 p.m.; Sat & Sun 6 p.m.

MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY (Sept. 9-11): Joan Crawford's a too-good mama to a rotten child in the highly entertaining Mildred Pierce (Michael Curtiz, 1945) Mon 9:15 p.m.; Tues & Wed 6:30 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.finc.org. $8.50. This three-screen repertory theater is operated by the Film Institute of Northern California. Programs are complex; check carefully and call for confirmation.

WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: The new print of Metropolis (Fritz Lang, Germany, 1926) 6:30, 9 p.m. The Bank (Robert Connolly, Australia, 2001) 9:15 p.m.; also Thurs 7 p.m. Rivers and Tides 6:45, 8:45 p.m. See Ongoing for reviews.

WEDNESDAY: A series celebrating 25 years of the Mill Valley Film Festival continues with David Rathod's West Is West (1988), a drama about an Indian college student on the loose in San Francisco. The boy's played by Ashutosh Gowariker, future director of the Bollywood hit Lagaan 7 p.m.

STARTS FRIDAY: Call for films and times.

SUNDAY: A MVFF 25th-anniversary screening of Jafar Panahi's The Mirror (Iran, 1997), a work of fiction that turns into a documentary portrait of modern Iran 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: A program of Sept. 11-themed short films, "Underground Zero," assembled by Jay Rosenblatt and Caveh Zahedi 2, 7:15, 9:20 p.m.

THURSDAY: Max Koetter's Rubber Tramps (2002) profiles some of the legion of folks who live in their cars, trucks, or vans 7:15, 9:15 p.m.

FRIDAY & SATURDAY: "Rubber tramps" Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda spend an inordinate amount of their time on their motorbikes in Hopper's Easy Rider (1969) 7:15, 9:20 p.m.; also Sat 2, 4:15 p.m.

SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY: Seven Palestinian and Israeli children come together in the documentary Promises (Justine Shapiro, B.Z. Goldberg, and Carlos Bolado, 2001) -- filmed in 1995-98, before the current brutality rendered this a sad period piece 7:15, 9:30 p.m.; also Sun 2, 4:15 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 U.S.A.

DAILY: Northern Ireland's "Bloody Sunday," Jan. 30, 1972, is re-created in the docudrama Sunday (Charles McDougall, U.K., 2001). See Opening for review 6, 8, 10 p.m.; also Sat, Sun, & Wed 2, 4 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. For the rest of the Shattuck's schedule, see our Showtimes page.

WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: The restored Metropolis (Fritz Lang, Germany, 1926); see Ongoing for more. Call for times.

FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY (Sept. 6-12): See just what got Mel Gibson so riled up ("I'm mad! I'm very mad!") in William Gazecki's Crop Circles: Quest for Truth (2002). See Opening for review. Filmmaker in attendance Saturday evening. Call for times.

STANFORD

221 University (at Emerson), Palo Alto, (650) 324-3700, www.swixo.com/stanford. $6. This handsomely restored neighborhood palace usually screens pre-1960 Hollywood fare in the best available prints, with excellent projection and a courteous staff.

WEDNESDAY: Two swashbucklers, John Barrymore as The Beloved Rogue (Alan Crosland, 1927; 7:30 p.m.), with live organ accompaniment by Dennis James; and Ronald Colman as the poet Francois Villon in If I Were King (Frank Lloyd, 1938; 9:30 p.m.), with a witty script by Preston Sturges.