WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: Control Room (Jehane Noujaim, 2004) 6:45, 8:45 p.m. The Corporation (Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott, Canada, 2003) 8 p.m. See Ongoing for reviews.
WEDNESDAY: Word Wars (Eric Chaikin, Julian Petrillo, 2003) 6:30 p.m. The Saddest Music in the World (Guy Maddin, Canada, 2003) 8:15 p.m. See Ongoing for reviews.
FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY: Control Room, The Corporation, and The Saddest Music in the World continue. Call for times.
FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY: The Visual Effects Society offers VES 2004, its sixth annual presentation of panels and programs designed for Bay Area digital professionals. Panels include "Mars: Science Fiction/Science Fact" and "Makeup Effects in a Digital World." For info, see www.vesfestival.org or call (310) 822-9181. General admission $25, full festival pass $300.
MONDAY: A four-day series devoted to the films of France's Patrice Leconte begins with his excellent thriller Man on the Train (2003) 7 p.m.
TUESDAY: Leconte's Versailles-set social drama Ridicule (1996) 7 p.m.
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: The best work of San Francisco State's cinema students screens in the 44th annual Film Finals. Speaking as a non-biased instructor at the school, this is the best program in some years 2, 7:15, 9:15 p.m.
THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY: A program of "Academy Award Nominated Shorts" screens Oscar-winning or -considered films, including Adam Elliot's winning Harvie Krumpet (Australia) 7:15, 9:15 p.m.; also Sat & Sun 2, 4 p.m.
ROXIE
3117 16th St. (at Valencia), 863-1087 and www.roxie.com for regular programs (Wednesday and Thursday this week); (925) 866-9559 and www.frameline.org/festival for the San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. $8 for regular programs; $9, $7 for matinees (before 5 p.m.), for SFILGFF programs, save as noted. See Night & Day, Page 33, for more on the SFILGFF.
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: Al Pacino's a publicist on his last promo tour in People I Know (Daniel Algrant, 2003); see Ongoing for review 7, 9:15 p.m.; also Wed 2:15, 4:45 p.m.
FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY: Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman's Thirst (2004); see Opening for review 6:15, 8, 9:30 p.m.; also Sat & Sun 2, 4 p.m.
FRIDAY: The SFILGFF screens Beaver Run Cafe (Gouloomian) 6 p.m. When Ocean Meets Sky (Robey) 8 p.m. "Queeruption" (shorts) 10:15 p.m.
SATURDAY: SFILGFF -- Lesbian Centennial Project (Beranich) 11 a.m. "Trans Lucent" (shorts) 1 p.m. "In Any House" (shorts) 3:15 p.m. 4 Rent Boys and a Sangoma (Muller, South Africa) 6 p.m. Jim in Bold (Holsten) 8 p.m. RTFM (Winkler, Germany) 10 p.m.
SUNDAY: SFILGFF -- The Experiment: Gay and Straight (Saxenmeyer) 11:30 a.m. Let's Get Real (Chasnoff) 1:30 p.m. I Look Up to the Sky Now (Bickart) 3:15 p.m. "Who's That Girl?" (shorts) 5:30 p.m. "Marlon Riggs: 10 Years After" screens Tongues Untied (Riggs, 1989) and discusses his legacy 7:30 p.m. Jackie Curtis is the Superstar in a Housedress (Highberger) 10 p.m.
MONDAY: SFILGFF -- Forerunners (Hayl and Shaked, Israel) 6 p.m. The Lost Generation (Walsh) 8 p.m. The Safety of Objects (Troche, 2001) 10 p.m.
TUESDAY: SFILGFF -- Bola de Nieve (Sánchez-Montez, Spain) 6 p.m. "We Got the Beat" (musical shorts) 8 p.m. Bedroom and Hallways (Troche, 1998) 10 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.
FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY (June 18-20): Producer Michael Todd's cameo-laden spectacle Around the World in 80 Days (Michael Anderson,1956) screens as an alternative to the Jackie Chan-laden remake 7:30 p.m.; also Sat & Sun 2 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 (June 16): A Film Arts Festival screening of Who Is Bozo Texino? (Bill Daniel, 2004), about a mysterious graffiti artist traced by the filmmaker. $7 7:30 p.m.
THURSDAY (June 17): "Landscapes Large and Small," a program of shorts by Jennifer Fieber (including her work-in-progress Swiss Alps) and Steve Polta (Minnesota Landscape). $7 7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY (June 18): A series of the no-budget films of Philly-based "Janitor of Lunacy" Andrew Repasky McElhinney (described by the YBC as "an unholy melding of Fassbinder, Edgar Ulmer and Ed Wood") concludes with A Chronicle of Corpses (2001), a tale of the last days of a dying aristocracy 7:30 p.m.
FILM NOTES
The monthly "Old Oakland Outdoor Cinema" makes its debut this Friday, June 18, with a screening of Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981) on Washington Street between Ninth and 10th streets. Limited seating provided; BYO chairs and blankets. Free parking at Eighth and Washington. For more information, call (510) 238-4734 or visit www.filmoakland.com. Free. Live music 5 p.m., shorts and feature 8 p.m.
