Reps Etc.

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.

We're interested in your film or video event. Please send materials at least two weeks in advance to: Film Editor, SF Weekly, 185 Berry, Suite 3800, San Francisco, CA 94107.

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.

ONGOING: Zhang Yimou's latest, House of Flying Daggers (China, 2004). See Ongoing for review. Call for times.

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 (Dec. 22): "Punk Sound Night's Second Annual Joe Strummer Night" offers a screening of Don Letts' The Last Testament, a record of the making of the album London Calling. Plus home video and promotional videos of Strummer, Clash videos, and more. DIY beverages 8 p.m.

BRIDGE

3010 Geary (at Blake), 751-3213, www.bridgetheatre.com. This popular little theater offered two weeks of "The Films of 1939" to mark its 65th anniversary. Regular screenings resume Friday -- see Showtimes for listings. $8.

WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY (Dec. 22 & 23): "The Films of 1939" concludes with winged monkeys, poppy fields, musical munchkins, and The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming). Oz-themed costume contests precede each show, and Santa Claus will be in the lobby 1, 3:30, 6, 8:30 p.m.

CASTRO

429 Castro (near Market), 621-6120, www.castrotheatresf.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.

DAILY (except Friday): Jessica Yu's documentary about outsider artist Henry Darger, In the Realms of the Unreal (2004), screens through Dec. 30. See Opening for review 7, 9 p.m.; also Wed, Sat, & Sun 1, 3, 5 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.

WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY: Henry Koster's Christmas perennial The Bishop's Wife (1946), with Cary Grant as an angel aiding Bishop David Niven and wife Loretta Young 6:15, 8, 9:45 p.m.

MONDAY: Closed.

STARTS TUESDAY: Zhang Yimou's visually stunning Hero (China, 2002) screens through Jan. 16 6:15, 8, 9:45 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.

WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: Checkpoint (Yoav Shamir, Israel/Palestine, 2003) 6:15 p.m. Tarnation (Jonathan Caouette, 2004) 7:50, 9:30 p.m.; also Wed 4 p.m. See Ongoing for reviews.

FRIDAY & SATURDAY: Closed.

SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY: Tarnation 6, 7:50, 9:30 p.m.; also Sun 2:30, 4:15 p.m.

LUMIERE

1572 California (at Polk), 352-0810, www.landmarktheatres.com. One of this multiplex's screens is a "calendar house" for Landmark Theatres. For other Lumiere programs, see our Showtimes page. $9.50.

WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: A Tale of Two Sisters (Kim Jee-woon, Korea, 2003). See Ongoing for review 4:30, 7, 9:30 p.m.

FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY (Dec. 24-30): French cinéaste Catherine Breillat goes the Day for Night route regarding the making of her coldly erotic films with the patently autobiographical Sex Is Comedy (France, 2002). See Opening for review. Call for times.

PARKWAY

1834 Park (at Lake Merritt), Oakland, (510) 814-2400, www.picturepubpizza.com. $5 save as noted. Pizza, beer, and movies on two screens. Call theater for programs, booked a week in advance. The Parkway also offers occasional scheduled special programs.

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: The Sea Inside (Alejandro Amenábar, Spain, 2004) 6:30, 9:05 p.m. A Tale of Two Sisters (Kim Jee-woon, Korea, 2003) 7, 9:20 p.m. Short Cut to Nirvana (Maurizio Benazzo and Nick Day, 2004) 6:45 p.m. Callas Forever (Franco Zeffirelli, Spain, 2002) 8:45 p.m. See Ongoing for reviews.

FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY: The Sea Inside, A Tale of Two Sisters, Short Cut to Nirvana, and Callas Forever continue. Call for times.

RED VIC

1727 Haight (at Cole), 668-3994, www.redvicmoviehouse.com. $7. There's a spot on the couch for you at this collectively owned rep house.

WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro's dark fantasy The City of Lost Children (France, 1995), a brilliantly realized series of unfortunate events 7, 9:35 p.m.

FRIDAY & SATURDAY: Closed for the holidays.

SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY (Dec. 26-29): Nature cinematographer Ron Fricke's life-affirming Baraka (1992) 7:15, 9:30 p.m.; also Sun & Wed 2, 4:15 p.m.

ROXIE

3117 16th St. (at Valencia), 863-1087 and www.roxie.com. $8. Short-run repertory in one of the most adventurously programmed theaters in the USA.

WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: Tsai Ming-Liang's ode to an old movie house, Goodbye, Dragon Inn (Taiwan, 2003). See Ongoing for review 6, 8, 9:45 p.m.; also Wed 2, 4 p.m.

FRIDAY & SATURDAY: Closed.

SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY: Artist Andy Goldsworthy plays with sand, mud, and time in the Roxie perennial Rivers and Tides (Thomas Riedelsheimer, 2001) 7 p.m.; also Sun 2 p.m. Goodbye, Dragon Inn 5:30, 8:45 p.m.; also Sun 4 p.m.

SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART

Koret Visitor Education Center, 151 Third St. (between Mission and Howard), 357-4000, www.sfmoma.org. Screenings are free with museum admission of $10.

DAILY (closed Wednesday and Saturday): "Glamour in Context," a program of short films Thurs & Fri 2:30 p.m.; Sun 1 p.m.; Mon & Tues 2:30 p.m. "Roy Lichtenstein in Context" Thurs & Fri 3 p.m.; Sun 1 p.m.; Mon & Tues 3 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.

WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: James Stewart and Margaret Sullivan are dueling leather-goods shop employees in Ernst Lubitsch's great romance The Shop Around the Corner (1940; 7:30 p.m.), screening with the holiday perennial Miracle on 34th Street (Henry Koster, 1947; 5:40, 9:20 p.m.). It's about Santa (Edmund Gwenn), he claims.

FRIDAY: The Stanford's annual Christmas Eve screening of Frank Capra's ever-powerful classic It's a Wonderful Life (1946). "Merry Christmas, Mr. Potter!" 9 p.m.

SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY: Closed for the holidays.

VICTORIA THEATRE

2961 16th St. (at Mission), 863-7576. This venerable old house frequently rents itself out for special screenings.

FRIDAY & SATURDAY (Dec. 24 & 25): The 2004 edition of Spike & Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation concludes its weekend screenings. $9 7:30, 9:30 p.m., midnight.

FILM NOTES

A newly restored San Jose movie palace, the California, reopens with a weeklong screening of Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942), through Thursday, Dec. 23; see www.stanfordtheatre.org or call (650) 324-3700 for more information.