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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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: Travellers & Magicians (Khyentse Norbu, Bhutan, 2003); see Ongoing for review 7:15, 9:45 p.m.
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY (Jan. 14-20): The Green Butchers (Anders Thomas Jensen, Denmark, 2003); 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 (Jan. 12): François Cluzet and Guillaume Depardieu are Les Apprentis (France, 2000) in Pierre Salvadori's comedy about two layabouts 6 p.m.
AMNESIA
853 Valencia (at 20th Street), 970-0012, www.amnesiathebar.com. $7-10.
SUNDAY (Jan. 16): This "cozy, red-lighted den" hosts the Not So Silent Film Festival featuring silent movies with live jazz accompaniment 9 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.
THURSDAY (Jan. 13): A new monthly series, "Cinematastic!," offers "five cool films for just five bucks" with filmmakers present 8 p.m.
FRIDAY (Jan. 14): Organizing the Unemployed analyzes Chile's Piquetero Movement; it screens with footage of anti-Bush protests in Santiago and a live report from Chile 7 p.m.
SATURDAY (Jan. 15): A two-day Amnesty International Mini-Film Festival (separate admission for each program) screens The Letter (Ziad Hamzeh, 2003), about the Somali population in a small town in Maine 4 p.m. The Execution of Wanda Jean (Liz Garbus, 2002) 6 p.m. Condor? Axis of Evil (Rodrigo Vazquez, France, 2003), on U.S.-sponsored anti-left terror in the 1970s 8 p.m.
SUNDAY (Jan. 16): Amnesty International -- Repatriation (Kin Dong-won, South Korea, 2003), about the fate of freed North Korean spies 5 p.m. Mojados: Through the Night (Tommy Davis, 2004) follows Mexican immigrants across 120 miles of desert 8 p.m.
BALBOA
3630 Balboa (at 37th Avenue), 221-8484, www.balboamovies.com. $8.50, $10 for Noir City evening shows (regular matinees $6, $7.50 for Noir City, with theater cleared before evening shows, full price needed for readmission). This great neighborhood house, long a good place to catch second-run fare, has converted one of its screens to a repertory theater. See our Showtimes page for what's on the Balboa's other screen.
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: Travellers & Magicians (Khyentse Norbu, Bhutan, 2003); see Ongoing for review 12:15, 2:30, 4:45, 7:15, 9:30 p.m.
FRIDAY: The Balboa opens the two-week Noir City series, hosted by local noir expert Eddie Muller and programmed by Anita Monga. There're lots of great rarities on well-planned double bills. See www.noircity.com for more, or turn to Zoom Lens on Page 39. Today, amnesiac vet John Hodiak seeks his identity Somewhere in the Night (Joseph Mankiewicz, 1946; 1, 4:40, 9 p.m.) while Farley Granger runs down the wrong Side Street (Anthony Mann, 1950; 3, 7 p.m.) in a minor entry from one of the greatest noir directors.
SATURDAY: Noir City -- Fantastic dialogue and great photography spark two classics, Sweet Smell of Success (Alexander Mackendrick, 1957; 12:15, 4:15, 9:20 p.m.; scripted by Clifford Odets and shot by James Wong Howe), and Sunset Blvd. (Billy Wilder, 1950; 2:10, 7 p.m.; co-authored by Wilder and photographed by John F. Seitz).
SUNDAY: Noir City -- William Daniels (Greed) photographed Naked City (Jules Dassin, 1948; 1, 4:30, 9 p.m.) on Manhattan locations, one of the first noirs to be shot outside of the studio. The Balboa scores a real coup with a rare screening of Joseph Losey's striking remake of the German classic M (1951; 2:50, 7 p.m.), shot by Ernest Laszlo in downtown L.A. instead of Berlin.
MONDAY: Noir City -- Doomed John Garfield's last film, He Ran All the Way (John Berry, 1951; 1:30, 4:40, 9 p.m.) screens with a great L.A.-based policier, He Walked by Night (1949; 3:05, 7 p.m.), credited to director Alfred Werker but mostly helmed by Anthony Mann.
TUESDAY: Noir City -- Noir turns into blanc, city streets to snow, in Nicholas Ray's beautiful On Dangerous Ground (1952; noon, 3:10, 8:50 p.m.), screening with Act of Violence (Fred Zinnemann, 1949; 1:35, 4:40, 7 p.m.). Both star noir icon Robert Ryan ("Why do you punks make me do it?").
CASTRO
429 Castro (near Market), 621-6120, www.castrotheatresf.com; www.goethe.de/sanfrancisco for the Berlin & Beyond series. $8 for regular screenings, $9 for Berlin & Beyond 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: The 10th Berlin & Beyond festival of German-language films continues with Kroko (Enders) 1 p.m. Artist Dieter Roth (Jud) is profiled 3:30 p.m. J. S. Bach, personified in Jagged Harmonies (de Rivaz, Switzerland) 7 p.m. Soundless (Yapo) 9 p.m.
THURSDAY: Berlin & Beyond -- Marseille (Schanelec) 1 p.m. The festival's 2003 audience favorite, Grill Point (Dresen), returns 3 p.m. A Bruno Ganz tribute screens Reinhard Hauff's excellent Knife in the Head (1978) 5 p.m. A Closing Night program screens the hit soccer saga The Miracle of Bern (Wortmann), followed by the Closing Night Party. $15 7:30 p.m.
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