SOMARTS GALLERY
934 Brannan (at Eighth Street), 673-3080 and www.artworksf.com for this event. Free.
WEDNESDAY (Aug. 25): "Two Halves, One Whole," a program "exploring gender archetypes through art, music, poetry, film and performance," includes a film installation by Vincent O'Brien 5-7:30 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.
FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY (Aug. 27-29): Artist Andy Goldsworthy works with twigs, mud, and ice in Rivers and Tides (Thomas Riedelsheimer, 2002) Fri & Sun 5:40 p.m.; Sat 2:30 p.m. Korean monks watch time go by in Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ... and Spring (Ki-duk Kim, Korea, 2003) Fri & Sun 7:30 p.m. The Story of the Weeping Camel (Byambasuren Davaa, Luigi Falorni, Mongolia, 2003) Sat 12:30 p.m.; Sun 3:30 p.m. See Ongoing for reviews.
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.
WEDNESDAY: Talented comic Marion Davies stars as an autograph hound in the silent The Cardboard Lover (Robert Z. Leonard, 1928; 7:30 p.m.), and as Peg O' My Heart (Leonard, 1933; 9 p.m.), as a good Irish lass who inherits a fortune.
THURSDAY & FRIDAY: Two '50s sex comedies shuffle gender roles freely -- Howard Hawks' buoyant Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953; 7:30 p.m.) and Frank Tashlin's stereotype romp Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957; 5:45, 9:10 p.m.).
SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY: Two classic swashbucklers, The Adventures of Robin Hood (William Keighley and Michael Curtiz, 1938; 7:30 p.m.; also Sat & Sun 3:30 p.m.), with Errol Flynn, and The Mark of Zorro (Rouben Mamoulian, 1940; 5:45, 9:50 p.m.), with Tyrone Power. Chapter 10 of Superman (1948) precedes Robin Hood.
YERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS
701 Mission (at Third Street, in Yerba Buena Gardens), 978-2787, www.YerbaBuenaArts.org. $7 save as noted. This venue's Screening Room is a home for film and video programs of all sorts.
WEDNESDAY (Aug. 25): The Bay Area Video Coalition screens Burials and Borders (Paula Levine, 2004), a chronicle of the filmmaker's first visit to Israel after her brother's death there 7:30 p.m.
FILM NOTES
The Danger and Despair Knitting Circle concludes its "Mostly Pre-Code" series of 1930s proto-noirs, most featuring dangerous blonde Gertrude Michael. On Thursday, Aug. 26, a cop has Four Hours to Kill (Mitchell Leisen, 1935) so he takes his prisoner to a stage show. Why not? The film's introduced by local historian Daniel Hodges 8 p.m. 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.
