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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ACT ONE/TWO
2128 Center (at Shattuck), Berkeley, (510) 464-5980, www.landmarktheatres.com. $9.25 save as noted. One of this venue's two screens is a "calendar house" for Landmark Theatres. A midnight series continues this week. For additional Act One/Two screenings, see our Showtimes page.
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: Mayor of the Sunset Strip (George Hickenlooper, 2004). See Ongoing for review 7:15, 9:30 p.m.
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY (April 16-22): Robot Stories (Greg Pak, 2003). See Opening for review 7:30, 9:30 p.m.; also Sat & Sun 1:30, 3:30, 5:30 p.m.
FRIDAY & SATURDAY (April 16 & 17): It's the film spinoff of a cult TV show, and no, it's not the X-Files movie -- South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (Trey Parker, 1999). "Count the profanities and win a 1987 Buick Skylark," it says here. There are a lot of them, start now. $7.50 midnight.
ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE
345 Bush (at Polk), 775-7755, www.afsf.com. French-language films shown on projected video. $5 donation.
WEDNESDAY (April 14): Romane Bohringer and Elsa Zylberstein are best friends in Mina Tannenbaum (Martine Dugowson, 1994) 7 p.m.
SATURDAY (April 17): Mina Tannenbaum 2 p.m.
AQUARIUS
430 Emerson (at Lytton), Palo Alto, (650) 266-9260, www.landmarktheatres.com. $7.25 for this series. A midnight series starts this week. For additional Aquarius screenings, see our Showtimes page.
FRIDAY & SATURDAY (April 16 & 17): David Fincher's Fight Club (1999); Tyler Durden says, "Use soap!" Prize drawings on Saturday midnight.
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.
SATURDAY (April 17): Mike Gunderson of Ohio's Evolution Control Committee offers a program of live music and sound effects through his invention "Thimbletronics." Also, "low-wrecked tech videos" and a live A/V performance from Optical Nerd & Multiplicator featuring underwater mikes and multiple projectors 8:30 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 (April 16): Gene Kelly teams with Rita Hayworth in the wartime musical about the fashion world Cover Girl (Charles Vidor, 1944) 7, 9:15 p.m.
SATURDAY (April 17): Fred Astaire teams with Audrey Hepburn in the Parisian fashion show Funny Face (Stanley Donen, 1957). He makes her bookworm a cover girl 4:30, 7, 9:15 p.m.
SUNDAY (April 18): Cover Girl 5 p.m. Funny Face 3, 7:15 p.m. Separate admission.
CASTRO
429 Castro (near Market), 621-6120, www.thecastrotheatre.com. $8; $12 for SFIFF programs 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 Jacques Demy's all-sung, boldly colored musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (France, 1964) 2, 4:30, 7, 9:15 p.m.
THURSDAY: The 47th San Francisco International Film Festival screens here intermittently through April 29. See Page 42 for more details. The Opening Night film is Jim Jarmusch's Coffee and Cigarettes (2004). $85 for film and party to follow, $125 for VIP treatment (Bill Murray will personally light your cigarette, perhaps) 7 p.m.
FRIDAY: SFIFF -- A "Tribute to Cyd Charisse" commemorates the musical star's career and screens Silk Stockings (Rouben Mamoulian, 1957), the musical version of Ninotschka that co-starred Fred Astaire. $25 7 p.m. Dogs in the Basement (Shearing) 10:45 p.m.
SATURDAY: SFIFF -- Raghu Romeo (Kapoor, India) 1 p.m. Burning Dreams (Peng, Taiwan) 4 p.m. Sly Blue (Kim, Korea) 6:30 p.m. Festival Express (Smeaton, Canada) 9:30 p.m.
SUNDAY: SFIFF -- Milos Forman's Czech comedy The Fireman's Ball (1967) 1:30 p.m. Forman's delightful American debut, Taking Off (1970) 3:30 p.m. Beautiful Boxer (Uekrongtham, Thailand) 6 p.m. Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (Berlinger and Sinofsky) 9:30 p.m.
MONDAY: Ice, twig, and mud sculptor Andy Goldsworthy is profiled in Thomas Riedelsheimer's popular documentary Rivers and Tides (2000) 7, 9:30 p.m.
TUESDAY: SFIFF -- Suite Habana (Pérez, Cuba) 1 p.m. Buster Keaton's comedy classic The General (Keaton and Clyde Bruckman, 1926), with a live score by the Alloy Orchestra. $18 7 p.m. Charles Vanel's silent drama Dans le Nuit (France, 1929), again scored by Alloy. $18 9:30 p.m.
CLAY
2261 Fillmore (at Clay), 267-4893, www.landmarktheatres.com or www.8tales.com for this series. "Bling -- 8 Incredibly Random Tales," a midnight movie series, continues. For additional Clay screenings, see our Showtimes page. This series $7.
FRIDAY & SATURDAY (April 16 & 17): Hobbits crossed with Muppets equal Gelflings, at least in this dark puppet fantasy about the search for a crystal shard -- The Dark Crystal (Jim Henson and Frank Oz , 1982). On Saturday, Puppet Roller Derby and a "salute to puppet love" midnight.
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.
SATURDAY (April 17): Commemorate Earth Day with Christopher Beaver's Tales of the San Joaquin (2003), a half-hour documentary about California's hard-worked river. Filmmaker in person 2 p.m.
FINNISH HALL
1970 Chestnut (at University), Berkeley, (510) 464-4640, www.verticalpool.com for information on this program. $5 save as noted.
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