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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111 MINNA GALLERY
111 Minna (between New Montgomery and Second streets), 864-0660 and www.microcinema.com for information on this program. $5.
MONDAY (Aug. 30): The "Sizzling Summer Edition" of the monthly "Independent Exposure Screening Series" offers 12 art-related short films and videos, including Scott Rice's Perils in Nude Modeling and James Reitano's Mad Villain -- All Caps! 8 p.m.
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. For additional screenings, see our Showtimes page.
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: A new print of Federico Fellini's hugely popular exposé of the decadent rich, La Dolce Vita (Italy, 1959) 8:15 p.m.
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY (Aug. 27-Sept. 2): The Ramones tell their tale in End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones (Michael Gramaglia and Jim Fields, 2004). See Opening for review. Call for times.
ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE
345 Bush (at Polk), 775-7755, www.afsf.com. French-language films shown on projected video. $5 donation.
WEDNESDAY (Aug. 25): A Robert Guédiguian series opens with his first feature. The San Francisco-ization of Marseilles is the backdrop to Dernier été (Guédiguian and Frank Le Wita, France, 1981), about blue-collar workers realizing that their city's becoming a tourist destination leaves no room for them 6 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.
WEDNESDAY (Aug. 25): "Punk Sound Night" offers two installments of Bikini Kill live shows from D.C., 1992 8 p.m.
THURSDAY (Aug. 26): David Kaplowitz screens and discusses 30 minutes of his new film, Food on Earth, together with pure food experts. Fair trade and organic drinks on hand. $5-15 sliding scale 8 p.m.
FRIDAY (Aug. 27): ATA's monthly "Open Screening" offers a first come, first screened opportunity to budding Bay Area filmmakers. $5, free for artistes 8 p.m.
SATURDAY (Aug. 28): "Sweet & Sour," a queer short-film night, screens Shawna Virago's Shut Up Josephine, Leslie Satterfield's Come Back to Bed, and more. $5-8 sliding scale 8 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: An Ingmar Bergman series screens one of his finest, Cries and Whispers (Sweden, 1972), with Ingrid Thulin, Liv Ullmann, and Harriet Andersson as three sisters 1:25, 5, 9 p.m.
THURSDAY: Bergman's highly enjoyable take on Mozart's The Magic Flute (Sweden, 1974) 1, 4:15, 7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY (Aug. 27-Sept. 2): Bergman's autobiographical Fanny & Alexander (Sweden, 1983) 2, 7:30 p.m.
CREEK PARK
400 block of Sir Frances Drake Boulevard, San Anselmo, 453-4333, www.filmnight.org. A summer-long "Film Night in the Park" lands here this weekend. BYO chairs, blankets, and pillows. $5 donation, no one turned away.
FRIDAY (Aug. 27): A "Made in the Bay Area" series screens Sirens of the 23rd Century (Jennifer Kroot, 2003), a campy satire about the future, when beauty is outlawed 8:20 p.m.
SATURDAY (Aug. 28): Orson Welles' bizarro-universe Rita Hayworth vehicle, The Lady From Shanghai (1948) 8:20 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.
DAILY (Closed Mondays): Niki Caro's empowering tweener flick Whale Rider (New Zealand, 2003) screens through Sept. 5 8:15, 10 p.m.
GOETHE-INSTITUT
530 Bush (at Grant), 263-8760. The place to go for German cultural events. $5.
TUESDAY (Aug. 31): A series of the Holocaust-themed films of producer Arthur Brauner opens with Morituri (Eugen York, Germany, 1947-48), about escapees from a concentration camp 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 (Aug. 31): A Sicilian boy grows up in Perduto Amor (Franco Battiato, Italy, 2003) 6:30 p.m.
LA PEÑA CULTURAL CENTER
3105 Shattuck (at Prince), Berkeley, (510) 849-2568 for venue, www.latinofilmfestival.org for information on this program. The Latino Film Festival continues its annual event here and at other venues around the Bay Area this week. $8.
THURSDAY (Aug. 26): A Guatemalan immigrant's acting ambitions are the subject of the bilingual feature Collect Call (Luis Argueta, U.S./Guatemala, 2002). $8 7:30 p.m.
LARK
549 Magnolia (at Post), Larkspur, 924-5111. This single-screen art deco theater has reopened with a policy mixing new and repertory programming. $8 save as noted.
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism (Robert Greenwald, 2004). See Ongoing for review 6:30, 8:30 p.m.
STARTS FRIDAY: Call for program.
SATURDAY: From the producers of Whipped and 100 Ft. Wednesday, Fueled (2004) is a new surfing documentary, screening for one night only 6 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.
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