POOR MAGAZINE
1095 Market (at Seventh Street), #307, 863-6306. $5 donation.
THURSDAY (June 24): POOR Magazine's Poverty Studies/Media Activism Institute opens an occasional film series with Life and Debt (Stephanie Black, 2001), a documentary about globalization and the travel industry, screening as a benefit for this journal. Discussion to follow 7 p.m. (Note: Doors close at 7:15 p.m.)
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: Control Room (Jehane Noujaim, 2004) 6:45, 8:45 p.m. The Corporation (Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott, Canada, 2003) 8 p.m. Word Wars (Eric Chaikin, Julian Petrillo, 2003) 9 p.m. See Ongoing for reviews.
WEDNESDAY: A series devoted to the films of France's Patrice Leconte continues with a French Canadian tale of The Widow of St. Pierre (2000) -- it's a guillotine 7 p.m.
THURSDAY: Knife thrower Daniel Auteuil seeks a new target in Leconte's The Girl on the Bridge (1999) 7 p.m.
STARTS FRIDAY: The Story of the Weeping Camel (Byambasuuren Davaa, Luigi Falorni, Mongolia, 2003); see Ongoing for review. Control Room and The Corporation 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 & THURSDAY: Elderly Elvis and JFK hang out and fight demons in Don Coscarelli's Bubba Ho-Tep (2003) 7:15, 9:15 p.m.; also Wed 2 p.m.
FRIDAY & SATURDAY: Gollum gets the finger in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) Fri 8 p.m.; Sat 2, 5:40, 9:20 p.m.
SUNDAY & MONDAY: Neil Young's Super 8 folk musical Greendale ("Bernard Shakey," 2003) 7:15, 9:15 p.m.; also Sun 2, 4 p.m.
TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY (June 29 & 30): What happened after the Wall got torn down's the subject of Good Bye, Lenin! (Wolfgang Becker, Germany) 7, 9:30 p.m.; also Wed 2, 4:20 p.m.
ROXIE
3117 16th St. (at Valencia), 863-1087 and www.roxie.com for regular programs (Sunday through Tuesday 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.
WEDNESDAY: The SFILGFF screens Just(ly) Married (Keitel) and In My Father's Church (King) 6 p.m. Laramie Inside Out (Seckinger) 8:15 p.m. "The D Word" (shorts) 10 p.m.
THURSDAY: SFILGFF -- Liberty: 3 Stories About Life and Death (Walton and Carranza) 6 p.m. Resisting Paradise (Hammer) 7:30 p.m. Alexander Sokurov's Father and Son (Russia) 9:30 p.m.
FRIDAY: SFILGFF -- Rainbow Pride (Ferron, Canada) 6 p.m. Venus of Mars (Goldberg) 8 p.m. The Adventures of Iron Pussy (Shaowanasai and Weerasethakul, Thailand) 10:15 p.m.
SATURDAY: SFILGFF -- Kevin's Room 2 -- Trust (Zurich and Branch) noon. Saints and Sinners (Honor) 2 p.m. Almost There (Alexis and Yehuda, Greece) and Yellow Peppers (Barkai and Foux, Israel) 4 p.m. "Fun in Girls' Shorts" 6:30 p.m. "Fun in Boys' Shorts" 8:30 p.m.
SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY (June 27-July 1): Artist Andy Goldsworthy plays with time, ice, and mud in Rivers and Tides (Thomas Riedelsheimer, U.K., 2001). See Ongoing for review 7, 9 p.m.; also Sun & Wed 2, 4 p.m.
SPANGENBERG THEATRE
Gunn High School Campus, 780 Arastradero (at Foothill Expressway), Palo Alto, (650) 354-8263, www.spangenbergtheatre.com. This recently refurbished Center for the Arts offers a 35mm film series on a large 30-foot screen. $5.
SATURDAY (June 26): Ballet lovers join The Company (Robert Altman, 2003) 12:45 p.m.
SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY (June 26-July 1): Something there is that doesn't like a Wall, so say Good Bye, Lenin! (Wolfgang Becker, Germany, 1998) Sat 3 p.m.; Sun-Wed 7:30 p.m.; Thurs 5:10 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 23): The Bay Area Video Coalition screens Plagues and Pleasures of the Salton Sea (Chris Metzler and Jeff Springer, 2003), on the decline and fall of the inland lake. Filmmakers in person. $7 7:30 p.m.
THURSDAY (June 24): Basque artist José Antonio Sistiaga's hand-painted Ere Erera Baleibu Icik Subua Arauaren (Spain, 1970), an abstract film in 35mm CinemaScope. $7 7:30 p.m.
