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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21 GRAND
449B 23rd St. (between Telegraph and Broadway), Oakland, (510) 444-7263, 21grand@21grand.org.
FRIDAY (Feb. 27): The "Love and Other Difficulties Edition" of the monthly "Independent Exposure Screening Series" presents 10 short films and videos, including Ben Hayflick's The Great Movers of Dust (about a cleaning lady's mysticism), Raymond Salvatore Harmon's Tiny Inconsistencies, and from Australia, Cassandra Tytler's I Never Loved You. $5-10 sliding scale 8 p.m.
182 SECOND STREET
182 Second St. (at Howard), Third Floor. Free with reservation (required); call 552-1533 or e-mail darkmarc@msn.com for reservations (limited to first 45 fans). See www.noirfilm.com for more info. A 16mm "Thursday Night Film Noir" series continues. Doors open at 7 p.m., lobby doors lock at 8:10 p.m.
THURSDAY (Feb. 26): A Gloria Grahame series continues with a noir rarity, The Glass Wall (Maxwell Shane, 1953), with Vittorio Gassman up against the titular U.N. building. Noir expert Eddie Muller will discuss Grahame's career 8 p.m.
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.
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: Kitchen Stories (Bent Hamer, Norway, 2003); see Ongoing for review 7:15, 9:20 p.m.
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY (Feb. 27-March 4): Blind Shaft (Li Yang, China, 2003). See Opening for review 7, 9:15 p.m.; also Sat & Sun 12:40, 2:45, 4:50 p.m.
ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE
345 Bush (at Polk), 775-7755, www.afsf.com. French-language films shown on projected video. $5 donation.
WEDNESDAY (Feb. 25): A Juliette Binoche series concludes with Krzysztof Kieslowski's resonant portrayal of grief, Blue (France, 1993), the first of the "Three Colors" trilogy 7 p.m.
SATURDAY (Feb. 28): Maroun Bagdadi's La fille de l'air (France, 1993) explores the relationship between a woman and her escaped prisoner lover. Program repeats on Wednesday 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.
THURSDAY (Feb. 26): A four-day Noise Pop Festival opens with the rock doc The Mother Hips: The Stories We Could Tell (2004) 7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY (Feb. 27): Noise Pop -- Justin Mitchell's Dirty Old Town (2004) tracks Ted Leo & the Pharmacists' arrival at Coney Island for a music fest 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY (Feb. 28): Noise Pop -- A Texas mystery musician is profiled in Jandek on Corwood 1 p.m. Two men use Mix Tape to win women, in a comedy about varying approaches: Dave starts fresh with different women, Dean breaks into the home of his ex every day to deliver his 3 p.m. An Other Cinema screening of Bret Wood's Hell's Highway, a compilation of 1960s driver's ed films, plus Abel Klainbaum's The History of Choking. ER nurses on standby 8:30 p.m.
SUNDAY (Feb. 29): Noise Pop -- Amy Pickard's two-year labor of love about a rocker's tour in a mobile home, Glenn Tilbrook: One for the Road 1 p.m. George Goehl's King of Bluegrass: The Life and Times of Jimmy Martin 3 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.
WEDNESDAY (Feb. 25): Norman Jewison's just-post-civil-rights-era mystery In the Heat of the Night (1967) screens as a benefit for Lend-a-Hand. Free admission, donations of books and school supplies welcome 7 p.m.
FRIDAY (Feb. 27): Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck perform Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944) on each other as Edward G. Robinson looks on sorrowfully 7, 9:15 p.m.
SATURDAY (Feb. 28): Robert Williams is entranced by Jean Harlow's Platinum Blonde in Frank Capra's delightful 1931 comedy, as Loretta Young looks on sorrowfully 7, 9 p.m.
SUNDAY (Feb. 29): Platinum Blonde 5 p.m. Double Indemnity 7 p.m. Separate admission.
BALBOA
3630 Balboa (at 37th Avenue), 221-8484, $7.50. This great neighborhood house is a good place to catch second-run Hollywood fare. See our Showtimes page for what's at the Balboa the rest of this week.
THURSDAY (Feb. 26): The Balboa celebrates its 78th birthday with the first Academy Award winner for Best Picture, Wings (William Wellman, 1927), with Richard Arlen and Charles "Buddy" Rogers as World War I flying aces, supported by Clara Bow and a young Gary Cooper. It screens with live music and vaudeville, A Trip to the Moon (George Méliès, 1902), and Felix the Cat in Astronomeows (Otto Messmer, 1928) 7 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.
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: Gillo Pontecorvo's still-provocative The Battle of Algiers (Italy/Algeria, 1965) re-creates the Algerian revolt against French rule of the 1950s in newsreel fashion. See Ongoing for review 1:30, 4:15, 7, 9:15 p.m.
FRIDAY & SATURDAY: A new print of Georges Franju's chilling Eyes Without a Face (France, 1959), still one of the most frightening of horror films, and certainly the most beautifully made 2, 4:30, 7, 9:15 p.m.
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