WEDNESDAY: The Parkway's sixth annual Film Noir Fest runs through Sept. 30. Tonight, Lawrence Tierney is very hard-boiled and Born to Kill (Robert Wise, 1947) 6:30 p.m.
THURSDAY: A "Thrillville" screening, hosted by Will the Thrill Viharo and Tiki Goddess Monica, of The Burglar (Paul Wendkos, 1956), with Dan Duryea and Jayne Mansfield an unusual pair of criminal quasi-siblings. With an episode of the serial The Shadow 9:15 p.m.
FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY: Film Noir -- Longtime favorite Double Indemnity (1944), with Wilder, Chandler, Cain, Stanwyck, MacMurray, Robinson Fri 6:30 p.m.; Sat & Sun 6 p.m.
MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY (Sept. 27-29): Humphrey Bogart finds it hard to keep a straight face in Dead Reckoning (John Cromwell, 1947). Geronimo! Mon 9:15 p.m.; Tues & Wed 6:30 p.m.
MIDNIGHT SHOW (Saturday): The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Jim Sharman, 1975), with live performance by Barely Legal. $6. See Ongoing for review.
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: Maria Full of Grace (Joshua Marston, 2004) 6:30, 8:45 p.m. Bush's Brain (Joseph Mealey, Michael Shoob, 2004) 6:45, 9 p.m. Mean Creek (Jacob Aaron Estes, 2004) 8:30 p.m. See Ongoing for reviews.
WEDNESDAY: An Ingmar Bergman series concludes with Max von Sydow's Knight playing chess with Death in the oft-parodied but still powerful The Seventh Seal (Sweden, 1957) 7 p.m.
THURSDAY: Leah Mahan in person with Sweet Old Song (2002), a documentary about musician Howard "Louie Bluie" Armstrong 7 p.m.
FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY: Bush's Brain, Maria Full of Grace, and Mean Creek continue. Call for times.
FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY: A short cycle of two of Jacques Tati's generously spirited comedies opens with his abstract art masterpiece Playtime (France, 1967) 7 p.m.; also Sat & Sun 4 p.m.
SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY: Tati's beloved Mr. Hulot's Holiday (France, 1953) Sat & Sun 2 p.m.; Mon & Tues 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: Jan Svankmajer's Little Otik (Czech, 2000) tells the tale of a tree trunk turned baby. Pinocchio this is not 2, 7, 9:35 p.m.
THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY: Brett Ingram's Monster Road (2004). See Opening for review 7:15, 9:15 p.m.; also Sat & Sun 2, 4 p.m.
TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY (Sept. 28 & 29): Brian Dannelly's born-again high school satire Saved! (2004) 7:15, 9:20 p.m.; also Wed 2 p.m.
ROXIE
3117 16th St. (at Valencia), 863-1087 and www.roxie.com. $8 save as noted. Short-run repertory in one of the most adventurously programmed theaters in the USA.
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: David Brower's Sierra Club years are Monumental (Kelly Duane, 2004); see Ongoing for review 6:15, 8, 9:45 p.m.
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY (Sept. 24-30): The Life and Times of Count Luchino Visconti (Adam Low, U.K., 2002); see Opening for review 7, 9:15 p.m.; also Sat & Sun 2, 4:30 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.
WEDNESDAY (Sept. 22): Just the Fox, ma'am -- Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism (Robert Greenwald, 2004) 5:45 p.m. Denzel meets The Manchurian Candidate (Jonathan Demme, 2004) 7:30 p.m.
THURSDAY (Sept. 23): Was it all a dream? It seemed like a movie could unelect a president. Fahrenheit 9/11 (Michael Moore, 2004) 5 p.m. The Manchurian Candidate 7:30 p.m.
STARTS FRIDAY: Call for program.
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.
THURSDAY (Sept. 23): The eighth annual MadCat Women's International Film Festival (www.madcatfilmfestival.org) screens "The Art of Performance," a program of performance art pieces from legendary women artists including Yoko Ono, Valie Export, Carolee Schneemann, and Amy Taubin. $7-20 sliding scale 7 p.m. "Art on Artists" screens four portraits of artists including the premiere of Marie Losier's Electrocute Your Stars (2004), about filmmaker George Kuchar. $7-20 sliding scale 9 p.m.
FRIDAY (Sept. 24): A September "Giant Monster Attack" series continues with Godzilla vs. Gigan (Jun Fukuda, Japan, 1972), the one film in the long series that gave Godzilla some dialogue (dubbed in English) 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY (Sept. 25): It's Lights Gamera Action as the YBC spotlights the heroic giant fighting turtle in a triple bill of Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995; 2 p.m.), Gamera: Attack of Legion (1996; 4:15 p.m.), and, after a dinner break, Gamera: Revenge of Iris (1999; 7:30 p.m.). All were directed by Shusuke Kaneko and are subtitled.
FILM NOTES
The Danger & Despair Knitting Circle continues a series of 16mm screenings devoted to the noirs of 1941 with the genre's granddaddy, The Maltese Falcon, John Huston's close adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's Bush Street-set crime drama. It screens Saturday, Sept. 25, at 8 p.m. Noir expert Eddie Muller in person to introduce the film. 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.
