Movies

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.

We're interested in your film or video event. Please send materials at least two weeks in advance to: Film Editor, SF Weekly, 185 Berry, Suite 3800, San Francisco, CA 94107.

ACT ONE/TWO

2128 Center (at Shattuck), Berkeley, (510) 843-FILM, www.landmarktheatres.com. $9.25. One of this venue's two screens is a "calendar house" for Landmark Theatres. For additional Act One/Two screenings, see our Showtimes page.

FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY (Jan. 9-15): What Alice Found (A. Dean Bell, 2003); see Ongoing for review 7:30, 9:30 p.m.; also Sat & Sun 3:30, 5:30 p.m.

ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE

345 Bush (at Polk), 775-7755, www.afsf.com. French-language films shown on projected video. $5 donation.

WEDNESDAY (Jan. 7): An early farce by the now A-list director Patrice Leconte, Les Bronzés (1978) stars Michel Blanc and Thierry Lhermite and satirizes "Club Med"-style vacations in Africa 7 p.m.

SATURDAY (Jan. 10): Les Bronzés 2 p.m.

ARTISTS' TELEVISION ACCESS

992 Valencia (at 21st Street), 824-3890, www.atasite.org. $5 save as noted. This venue offers all manner of strange and unusual video and film.

FRIDAY (Jan. 9): "The Squall," a program of short videos by New Yorkers Jeremy Bailey, Rosy Boyer, Carl Diehl, Wago Kreider, and others, plus live music by Madera Road 8 p.m.

SATURDAY (Jan. 10): The Zag Men offer an original soundtrack of "metal-improv dissonance" to a re-edited version (scenes reversed, footage cut) of Paul Leni's landmark Universal horror film The Man Who Laughs (1928) 8 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 (Jan. 9): Frank Capra's road-movie love story It Happened One Night (1934) 7, 9 p.m.

SATURDAY (Jan. 10): A sexless love story, and thus a long-standing favorite, Brief Encounter (David Lean, 1945) 7, 9 p.m.

SUNDAY (Jan. 11): Brief Encounter 5 p.m. It Happened One Night 7 p.m.

CASTRO

429 Castro (near Market), 621-6120, www.thecastrotheatre.com, $8 for regular screenings, $8.50 for Berlin & Beyond screenings 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: A new print of Francis Ford Coppola's parti-colored musical One From the Heart (1982). See Ongoing for review 2, 4:30, 7, 9:30 p.m.

THURSDAY: The annual Berlin & Beyond festival of German-language films (from Germany, Austria, and/or Switzerland, save as noted) opens with Margarethe von Trotta's true story of German women fighting to save their Jewish husbands, Rosenstrasse (Germany, 2003). Opening Night Party $25 6:30 p.m. Film only $10 8 p.m.

FRIDAY: Berlin & Beyond -- When the Right One Comes Along (Paulus and Hillebrand) 7 p.m. This Very Moment (Hochhäusler) 9:30 p.m.

SATURDAY: Berlin & Beyond -- Marry Me (Eggert and Gaulke) noon. A Little Bit of Freedom (Yavuz) 2:30 p.m. 7 Brothers (Winkels) 5 p.m. Distant Lights (Schmid) 7:30 p.m. Devot (Zaritzki) 10 p.m.

SUNDAY: Berlin & Beyond -- The Flying Classroom (Wigand) 11 a.m. Poem (Schmerberg) 1:30 p.m. Wolfsburg (Petzold) 4 p.m. Free Radicals (Albert) 6:30 p.m. Angst (Roehler) 9:15 p.m.

MONDAY: Berlin & Beyond -- Wim Wenders' concert film about the German rock band BAP, Ode to Cologne 1 p.m. Dennis James performs an original live organ score for the silent classic The Last Laugh (F.W. Murnau, 1924), a purely visual film (one title card) about the fall and rise of hotel porter Emil Jannings. $10 7 p.m. Return of the Tüdelband (Huckeriede) 9 p.m.

TUESDAY: Berlin & Beyond -- Twinni noon.Liberated Zone (Baumgarten) 2 p.m. Lucky Jack (Liechti) 4:30 p.m. Going Home (Lukacevic, Germany/Croatia) 7 p.m. Talk Straight (Hick) 9:15 p.m.

EXPLORATORIUM

3601 Lyon (at Richardson), 563-7337, www.exploratorium.edu. Free with museum admission of $12. Screenings are in the center's McBean Theater, through the front doors and on the left.

SUNDAY (Jan. 11): The Exploratorium celebrates its ongoing "Journey to Mars" exhibit with Georges Méliès' now century-old classic A Trip to the Moon (France, 1903), with live musical accompaniment by Nik Phelps. Other short films TBA 3 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 Monday): Blake Edwards' original The Pink Panther (1964) screens through Jan. 18 6:15, 8:15 p.m.; also Fri-Sun 10:15 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 (Jan. 8): Celebrate Elvis' 69th birthday with his most enjoyable film, Viva Las Vegas (George Sidney, 1964), with Ann-Margret, plus trailers, an Elvis look-alike contest, and more. $6 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.