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 (March 21): The bimonthly "Independent Exposure Screening Series" marks its 10th anniversary with "Independent Exposure X" a program of highlights from the 1,300 films and videos screened since 1996 (hey, isn't that nine years?). This two-hour show of 28 films from eight countries includes Alfonso Alvarez's Flip Film, Lev's Tales of Mere Existence, and Jessica Grynberg's Australian Bumble Numb 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. A midnight series continues. For additional screenings, see our Showtimes page.
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: Schultze Gets the Blues (Michael Schorr, Germany, 2003). See Ongoing for review 7, 9:30 p.m.
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY (March 18-24): The 106-minute English-language version of the anime Steamboy (Katsuhiro Otomo, Japan, 2004 -- the longer Japanese version will be at the Lumiere). See Opening for review. Call for times.
SATURDAY & SUNDAY (March 19 & 20): If you want to be free, be Harold and Maude (Hal Ashby, 1971) -- the rest of us must deal noon.
MIDNIGHT SHOW (Friday & Saturday): Harold and Maude.
ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE
345 Bush (at Polk), 775-7755, www.afsf.com. French-language films shown on projected video. $5 donation.
WEDNESDAY (March 16): Rossy de Palma and Philippe Ambrosini play two actors who meet on the set of a commercial, consume magic mushrooms, and couple in Hors jeu (Karim Dridi, France, 2000) 6 p.m.
AMC KABUKI
1881 Post (at Fillmore), 931-9800; 865-1588 or www.naatanet.org for the 23rd annual San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, screening here through March 17. $10 save as noted. For the rest of the Kabuki fare, see our Showtimes page.
WEDNESDAY: Out of This World (Sakamoto, Japan) 6:30 p.m. A tribute to the Asian-American media arts organization Visual Communications at 35 6:45 p.m. A Fond Kiss (Loach, U.K.) 7 p.m. 62 Years and 6500 Miles Between (Chang, Taiwan) 7:15 p.m. The Grace Lee Project (Lee) 8:45 p.m. Hana & Alice (Iwai, Japan) 9:15 p.m. "House of Flying Pancakes" (comedy shorts) 9:30 p.m. Festival honoree Steven Okazaki's Living on Tokyo Time (1987) 9:30 p.m.
THURSDAY: Closing Night film The Motel (Kang), with party to follow. $20 film only, $40 film and party 7 p.m. At regular festival prices, Chinese Restaurants: Three Continents (Kwan, Canada) 7:15 p.m. Continuous Journey (Kazimi, Canada) 7:30 p.m.
ARTISTS' TELEVISION ACCESS
992 Valencia (at 21st Street), 824-3890, www.atasite.org and www.sfstagefilm.org for the Absolute Time Film Festival. $5 save as noted. This venue offers all manner of strange and unusual video and film.
THURSDAY (March 17): The third annual Absolute Time Film Festival ("world cinema around women, people of color and under represented communities") screens here for three days. Tonight, David Redmon's Mardi Gras: Made in China (2004) tracks the path of a Mardi Gras bead from rural Chinese factories to New Orleans ("This film is a harsh reminder that our decadent life-style comes at the exploitation of young women workers"). Plus short 8 p.m.
FRIDAY (March 18): Absolute Time -- Seven siblings discuss their parents' divorce in The Watershed (Mary Trunk, 2004), screening with Erika Tasini's short drama Wintersea (2004) 8 p.m.
SATURDAY (March 19): Absolute Time -- A program of shorts includes Kimberlee Bassford's Cheerleader and Janet McIntyre and Amy Wendell's Covered Girls, about Muslim-American teens after 9/11 4 p.m. ATA's Other Cinema screens "The New Revolt," a program devoted to new media for the 21st-century working class, featuring a slide show of radical sidewalk stencil art and concrete engravings, and videos curated by Chris Carlsson (Processed World) of labor militants. See www.othercinema.com for more info 8:30 p.m.
BALBOA
3630 Balboa (at 37th Avenue), 221-8484, www.balboamovies.com. $8.50 save as noted. This great neighborhood house shows films of all sorts.
THURSDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY (March 17-23): Lost Embrace (Daniel Burman, Argentina, 2004); see Opening for review. Call for times.
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY (March 18-24): A double bill of Martin Scorsese's one-two punch of Taxi Driver (1976) and Raging Bull (1980) in new prints. Call for times.
SATURDAY & SUNDAY: Aging political activists enjoy their Sunset Story (Laura Gabbert, 2003); see Ongoing for review. $6 noon.
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 on the Mighty Wurlitzer.
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: A new print of Terry Gilliam's still-timely "somewhere in the 20th century" satire of a high-tech, incompetent dictatorship, Brazil (1985) 7, 9:45 p.m.; also Wed 1, 4 p.m.
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY (March 18-24): Eating Out (Italy, 1970); see Opening for review 7, 9:15 p.m.; also Sat, Sun, & Wed 1, 3, 5 p.m.
CAT CLUB
1190 Folsom (at Eighth Street), 431-3332. IndieFest and Drunken Monkey present a weekly screening, followed by DJ music till 2 a.m. 21 and over only. Free.
TUESDAY (March 22): Twins take on gangsters in The Boondock Saints (Troy Duffy, 1999). Duffy of course is the writer/director who was the subject of the recent rags-to-riches-to-rags documentary Overnight (as Boondock II: All Saints Day is in production, Duffy may have the last laugh) 10 p.m.
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