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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ALLIANCE FRANAISE
345 Bush (at Polk), 775-7755, www.afsf.com. French-language films shown on projected video. $5 donation.
WEDNESDAY (May 7): She ain't playing "Chopsticks" although there's some other chopping going on in The Piano Teacher (Michael Haneke, France, 2001) 7 p.m.
SATURDAY (May 10): The Piano Teacher 2 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 (May 8): Chicago filmmakers Jim Finn and Dean Rank in person with the "Pronoun Schmonoun Showdown," "an evening of films and discussion around gender variance." There's more info at www.pronounschmonoun.org. $5-10 sliding scale with no one turned away for lack of funds 8 p.m.
FRIDAY (May 9): "Short Circuits," an evening of shorts inspired by the TV series Connections, including Sharif Nakhleh's Worms, about what folks will do for money 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY (May 10): "Interspecies Communication," a two-woman show by Rebecca Barten and Patricia Resnick, screens the premieres of Barten's Johnson, "a love letter to a horse friend," and Resnick's Nine Is a Secret, plus other nature-loving movies. Also, live mountain music 8:30 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.
DAILY: Jean-Pierre Melville¹s restored, rediscovered thriller Le Cercle Rouge (France, 1970), with Alain Delon, Gian Maria Volonté, and Yves Montand, screening through May 15 2, 5, 8 p.m.
CLAY
2261 Fillmore (at Clay), 352-0810, www.landmarktheatres.com. "Laugh Riot," an eight-week midnight series of comedies, concludes this week; www.8tales.com for more info. For the rest of the Clay's schedule, see our Showtimes page. $5.
FRIDAY & SATURDAY (May 9 & 10): The King of the Elves, the guy with no short-term memory, and the Limey engage in a transvestite/transgender road trip in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (Stephan Elliot, Australia, 1994). Closing Night ceremony on Saturday midnight.
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): Can you hear me? Ken Russell's Tommy (1975) screens through May 25 at 8:15 & 10:15 p.m.
HORSESHOE CAFE
566 Haight (at Steiner), 626-8852. This popular coffee shop in the Lower Haight offers a special screening this week; call for admission price.
WEDNESDAY (May 7): A "Benefit for the Middle East Children's Alliance" screens The Children of Ibdaa, with filmmaker S. Smith Patrick in person and a Q&A after the film with guests from the Dheisheh refugee camp in the West Bank. James Longley's feature documentary Gaza Strip (2002) follows. Program begins at 7 p.m.
JEZEBEL'S JOINT
510 Larkin (at Turk), 345-9832, www.jezebelsjointsf.com. This "Rock 'n' Roll DJ Bar" offers an "S.F. IndieFest MicroCinema" Monday through Friday (most weeks). Screenings are followed by DJ music at 10 p.m. Free.
WEDNESDAY: A female-to-male transsexual's progress is followed in Sir: Just a Normal Guy (Melanie La Rosa, 2001) 8 p.m.
THURSDAY: The Bay Area premiere of The Widower (Marcus Rogers, 1999), about a man who won't recognize his wife's death 8 p.m.
FRIDAY: Jon Moritsugu's Terminal USA (1993), an uncensored "psychedelic look at a dysfunctional Japanese American family" 8 p.m.
MONDAY: "Silent Monday" screens Charlie Chaplin's beautiful and funny City Lights (1931) 8 p.m.
TUESDAY: Evil mind controllers make heads explode in David Cronenberg's Scanners (Canada, 1981) -- pure science fiction. In real life evil mind controllers run governments 8 p.m.
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 offers a May series of the films of Michael Powell. Shown on projected video, with salon-style discussions to follow.
FRIDAY (May 9): Powell's spy thriller The Spy in Black (1939), with ever-sinister Conrad Veidt 6:30 p.m.
METREON
Action Theater, Second Floor, 101 Fourth St. (at Mission), 369-6098, www.metreon.com. Sony hosts screenings of popular anime series from Bandai Entertainment this month. Free.
SUNDAY (May 11): The Mobile Fighter G Gundam series, boxed set I to III, screens continuously 11 a.m.-8 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. $8.75.
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: Damian Pettigrew's documentary portrait Fellini: I'm a Born Liar (France, 2002). See Ongoing for review. Call for times.
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY (May 9-15): Abbas Kiarostami's Ten (Iran, 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.
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