Reps Etc.

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) 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: Nir Bergman's Broken Wings (Israel, 2002). See Ongoing for review 7, 9:10 p.m.

FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY (May 14-20): James' Journey to Jerusalem (Ra'anan Alexandrowicz, Israel, 2003). See Opening for review 7:15, 9:20 p.m.; also Sat & Sun 1, 3:05, 5:10 p.m.

FRIDAY & SATURDAY (May 14 & 15): A Jackie Chan comedy, Legend of Drunken Master (Chia-Liang Liu, 1994), more likely to figure in his legend than The Tuxedo. $7.50 midnight.

AQUARIUS

430 Emerson (at Lytton), Palo Alto, (650) 266-9260, www.landmarktheatres.com. $7.25 for this midnight series. For additional Aquarius screenings, see our Showtimes page.

FRIDAY & SATURDAY (May 14 & 15): Heads hit the fan in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (U.K., 1971). 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.

THURSDAY (May 13): The struggle against Batista's dictatorship is dramatized in Clandestinos (Underground, Fernando Perez, Cuba, 1987) 7:30 p.m.

SATURDAY (May 15): "Outlaw Nomadology," a program devoted to those living off the grid, commences with Bill Daniel's installation of 16mm projectors inside his 1965 Chevy "Sailvan," screening footage on his van's sails, outside the ATA, at 7:30 p.m., followed by a screening inside (admission $5) of Daniel's Soul's Harbor, about folk who live by the water, and Dan Leighton's Wedding Train (2001), documenting two "gutter punks" who hop freight lines en route to their marriage 8:30 p.m.

SUNDAY (May 16): A benefit screening for Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits (BAAITS) offers an unnamed "two-spirit film" to support this community-based volunteer organization. For more information, contact Sabrina Wolf at bbloba1@yahoo.com or 865-5616. $8 5 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 (May 14): Peter Bogdanovich's ode to small-town Texas, Ben Johnson, and old movie theaters, The Last Picture Show (1971) 7, 9:30 p.m.

SATURDAY (May 15): George Lucas' panoramic American Graffiti (1973) offers testimony to small-town California, drag racing, and the belief that anyone can make a really good autobiographical film (but only one) 7, 9:30 p.m.

SUNDAY (May 16): The Last Picture Show 5 p.m. American Graffiti 7:30 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: The original Japanese version of Godzilla (Ishiro Honda, 1954) screens through May 20. See Ongoing for review 2, 4:30, 7, 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.

FRIDAY & SATURDAY (May 14 & 15): Johnny Depp takes a pass at impersonating the sensory-underdeprived journalist Hunter S. Thompson in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Terry Gilliam, 1998), a louche lounge act that runs third behind Doonesbury's Uncle Duke and Bill Murray's work in Where the Buffalo Roam. On Saturday night, a Hunter S. Thompson's Badminton Freak-out 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 (May 15): A two-week "Science as Art" film series screens Carson Davidson's 100 Watts, 120 Volts (a light bulb is constructed to the tune of the Third Brandenberg Concerto) and Alberta Chu's Electrum (2001), documenting the construction of the world's largest tesla coil 2 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.

WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY: The Animatrix (2003), a group of short cartoons set in the Wachowski Brothers' Matrix universe and markedly superior to either of 2003's sequels 8, 9:30 p.m.; also Fri-Sun 11 p.m.

MONDAY: Closed.

STARTS TUESDAY: Photographer David Hemings seeks proof in his proofs in Blowup (Michelangelo Antonioni, U.K., 1966), screening through June 6 8:15, 10 p.m.; also Fri-Sun 11:45 p.m.

GOETHE-INSTITUT

530 Bush (at Grant), 263-8760. The place to go for German cultural events. $5.

TUESDAY (May 18): A "Young Turks" series continues with We Forgot to Go Back (Fatih Akin, Germany, 2000), a documentary on the filmmakers' relatives in Hamburg and Turkey 7:30 p.m.

ISTITUTO ITALIANO DI CULTURA

425 Washington (at Battery), Suite 200, 788-7142, www.sfiic.org. The Istituto Italiano di Cultura promotes Italian language and culture in Northern California with occasional film screenings. Free.

TUESDAY (May 18): A Gabriele Salvatores series continues with Sud (Italy, 1993). No subtitles 6:30 p.m.

LITTLE ROXIE

3125 16th St. (at Valencia), 863-1087, www.roxie.com. $8 save as noted. Popular holdover programs from the "big" Roxie two doors down. Call ahead to see if the scheduled film is actually continuing, as movies play here in an open-ended run.

WEDNESDAY: The course of human folly is followed in the documentary Stupidity (Albert Nerenberg, 2004) 7 p.m. R. Torjan's Carlos Castaneda: Enigma of a Sorcerer (2004) 8:30 p.m. See Ongoing for reviews.

THURSDAY: Michael Almereyda's This So-Called Disaster (2004), a record of the San Francisco production of Sam Shepard's play The Late Henry Moss 6, 8, 10 p.m.

STARTS FRIDAY: Call for program.

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 screens films on projected video, with salon-style discussions to follow.

FRIDAY (May 14): A David Lean series continues with his missed-opportunity romance Brief Encounter (U.K., 1946) 6:30 p.m.

PARAMOUNT

2025 Broadway (at 20th Street), Oakland, (510) 465-6400, www.paramounttheatre.com. $6. This beautifully restored picture palace's ongoing "Movie Classics Series" regularly includes a feature plus a newsreel, cartoon, previews, and a few spins of the Dec-O-Win prize wheel.

FRIDAY (May 14): Elvis and Ann-Margret find reason to cry Viva Las Vegas (George Sidney, 1964). Doors open at 7 p.m., film at 8 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 (May 13): Two obscure Chilean horror movies were re-edited into The Curse of the Stone Hand (Jerry Warren, Carl Schlieppe, 1959) with new footage with John Carradine (dad of the Bill who must be killed). $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 Street), 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.

WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: Clay Bird (Tareque Masud, Bangladesh, 2002) 6:45, 8:50 p.m. Broken Wings (Nir Bergman, Israel, 2002) 7, 9 p.m. Monsieur Ibrahim (François Dupeyron, France, 2003) 6:30 p.m. Touching the Void (Kevin MacDonald, U.K., 2003) 8:30 p.m. See Ongoing for reviews.

STARTS FRIDAY: The Twilight Samurai (Yoji Yamada, Japan, 2003); see Page 43 for review. Broken Wings, Clay Bird, Monsieur Ibrahim, and Touching the Void continue. Call for times.

RED VIC

1727 Haight (at Cole), 668-3994, www.redvicmoviehouse.com. $7 save as noted. There's a spot on the couch for you at this collectively owned rep house.

WEDNESDAY: Skateboard cham-peen Mike Vallely is profiled in Mark Jeremias' Drive (2002) 2, 7:15, 9:15 p.m.

THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY: Six surfers share a single board in this aquatic version of La Ronde, Singlefin: Yellow (Jason Baffa, 2003) 7:15, 9:15 p.m.; also Sat 2, 4 p.m.

SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY: The fate of African refugees in the United States is told in Lost Boys of Sudan (Jon Shenk and Megan Mylan, 2003) 7:15, 9:25 p.m.; also Sun 2, 4 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 USA.

WEDNESDAY: Michael Almereyda's This So-Called Disaster (2004), a record of the San Francisco production of Sam Shepard's play The Late Henry Moss 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 p.m.

THURSDAY: The S.F. DocFest offers a day of new documentaries. See Night & Day, Page 25, for more. Jessica Yu's In the Realms of the Unreal looks at the ultimate outsider artist 5 p.m. A car salesman Slasher (John Landis) 7:15 p.m. Fans scramble for one of Barry Bonds' homers in Up for Grabs (Michael Wranovics) 9:15, 11 p.m. All shows $9.

FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY: This So-Called Disaster (2004) resumes 6, 8, 10 p.m.; also Sat & Sun 2, 4 p.m.

SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY

Coppola Theater, Fine Arts Building, Room 101, 1600 Holloway (at 19th Avenue), 775-7755 and www.afsf.com for information on this series. Films screen in 35mm. $5.

WEDNESDAY (May 12): Alliance Française has programmed a series of films by Alain Corneau at this university. Tonight, Police Python 357 (1976), with Yves Montand as a tough cop 7 p.m.

THURSDAY (May 13): Gérard Depardieu is a French solider in the Sahara, 1911, in Fort Saganne (1984) 7 p.m.

FRIDAY (May 14): Depardieu plays a court musician looking back at his training in Tous le matins du monde (1991) 7 p.m.

TUESDAY (May 18): Patrick Dewaere is a loser who sees a chance to turn the tables on life in Corneau's Série Noire (1979) 7 p.m.

STANFORD

221 University (at Emerson), Palo Alto, (650) 324-3700, www.stanfordtheatre.org. $6. This handsomely restored neighborhood palace usually (but not always) screens pre-1960 Hollywood fare in the best available prints, with excellent projection. This spring's series emphasizes James Stewart, detective films, and Hollywood 1934-38. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY: John Ford's The Hurricane (1937; 7:30 p.m.), a proto-disaster movie and South Seas idyll, screening with The Jungle Princess (William Thiele, 1936; 5:55, 9:35 p.m.). Both films star Dorothy Lamour.

SATURDAY & SUNDAY: James Stewart stars in Anthony Mann's excellent revenge western The Naked Spur (1953; 4:30, 7:30 p.m.), billed with The Gay Falcon (Irving Reis, 1939; 6:10, 9:15 p.m.), with George Sanders as a sharp-tongued amateur sleuth and metrosexual.

VICTORIA THEATRE

2961 16th St. (at Mission), 863-7576, www.fearlesstales.com for this series. This venerable old house frequently rents itself out for special screenings. This month "The Best of Fearless Tales," a horror/sci-fi series, offers "Film Legends of Tomorrow." $8.

DAILY: A woman uses London Voodoo (Robert Pratten, U.K., 2003) to gain new powers and appetites 7, 9:15 p.m.; also Sat 4:30 p.m.

WOMEN'S BUILDING

3543 18th St. (at Guerrero), 621-4969 and www.sfindie.com for S.F. DocFest programming. $9, with $7 matinees (before 2 p.m.).

FRIDAY (May 14): The S.F. DocFest screens here for three days; see Night & Day, Page 25, for more. Today, two by Jeff Krulik, Traveling Sideshow: Shocked and Amazed, plus Hitler's Hat, about a Jewish GI who stomped on said hat in 1945 and then discovers it in his basement 50 years later 5:30 p.m. Say the secret word and win Words (Brown and Holzman) 7:30 p.m. Goldstein: The Trials of the Sultan of Smut (Guardino) 9:30 p.m.

SATURDAY (May 15): Immediately post-9/11 America answers questions in Parallel Lines (Davenport) 1:30 p.m.The illicit Cuban cigar and sex trade industries that keep Castro in funds are outlined in Trading With the Enemy (Metni) 3:30 p.m. See "the American Dream gone as stinky as a dead carp" in Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea (Metzler and Springer) 5:30 p.m. The pop music history of Windsor, Ontario's CKLW is probed in Radio Revolution (McNamera) 7:30 p.m. Seattle street musician Richard Peterson is Big City Dick (Pottinger, Harder, and Milam) 9:30 p.m.

SUNDAY (May 16): Alone Across Australia (Muir and Darling) 1 p.m. Seniors are Still Doing It (Fishel), plus porn stars' claims to be The Naked Feminist (Achille) 2:30 p.m. Two women seek out the family friend who molested them in Awful Normal (Davis) 5:15 p.m. An Icelandic punk's efforts to be Miss Iceland are followed In the Shoes of the Dragon (Sveinsdottir and Sveinsson) 7:15 p.m. Septic tank cleaners and others perform Dirty Work (Sampliner and Nackashi) 9:15 p.m.

YERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS

701 Mission (at Third Street, in Yerba Buena Gardens), 978-2787, www.YerbaBuenaArts.org. $6 save as noted. This venue's Screening Room is a home for film and video programs of all sorts.

WEDNESDAY (May 12): A Latino Film Festival screening of a top-grossing Brazilian movie, The Dog's Will (Guel Arraes, 2001), about the adventures of two poor but clever men in northeastern Brazil as they match wits with Satan and the Virgin Mary. $8 7:30 p.m.

THURSDAY (May 13): Experimental filmmaker Nathaniel Dorsky introduces his friend the late Stan Brakhage's A Child's Garden and the Serious Sea (Canada, 1991), a film poem celebrating Victoria Island. $7 7:30 p.m.

FRIDAY (May 14): A "Films From Along the Silk Road" series of Central Asian cinema continues with Khodjakuli Narliev's Daughter in Law (Turkmenistan, U.S.S.R., 1972), about a woman waiting for her MIA husband 7 p.m.

SATURDAY (May 15): GreenCine presents a digital screening of a tale of a Buddhist monk turned bodybuilding dancer who has visions of the future in Running on Karma (Johnnie To and Wai Ka Fai, Hong Kong, 2003). $7 7:30 p.m.

FILM NOTES

This Thursday the Danger and Despair Knitting Circle screens two rare 16mm prints of films noir shot in San Francisco, Treasure of Monte Cristo (William Berke, 1949), with chase scenes lensed in the Marina and Twin Peaks, and No Escape (Charles Bennett, 1953), with Lew Ayres. For more info, see www.noirfilm.com; to make a reservation and get directions to the screening locale, contact 552-1533 or e-mail darkmarc@msn.com.