This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Monday, November 7, 2005
Pre-Code movies are now a staple of the festival circuit, with audiences chomping at the bit for 1930s smut. Yet film geeks are always whining, "What about Paramount?" because the studio hasn't cranked open its vaults as wide as those of Warner Bros. and MGM. Even so, the good folks at the Balboa Theater have unearthed 43 rare Paramount titles from 1930 to '34 for their "Sin in Soft Focus" series. Considered the most "continental" studio, Paramount featured many European stars and starlets frolicking in glamorous situations -- and various beds. Today's screenings include the murder mysteries Guilty as Hell and Billion Dollar Scandal, along with a "surprise bonus feature," beginning at 2 p.m. (the fest runs Nov. 3-24) at the Balboa, 3630 Balboa (at 38th Avenue), S.F. Admission is $6-8.50; call 221-8184 or visit www.thebalboatheater.com.

Tuesday, November 8, 2005
We hate to remind you, but it's Election Day. Not your regularly scheduled exercise in democracy, of course, but a special one, which if it were a children's book might be titled Gov. Schwarzenegger Throws a Hissy Fit. This election makes us think of the many pop-culture variations on the word "special." Like Dana Carvey's SNL character the Church Lady, whose signature utterance was "Isn't that special?" Or the end of that Todd Solondz masterpiece of dorkdom, Welcome to the Dollhouse, in which the hunky guy tells the nerdy girl that "special" means "retarded." Some less cynical people than us are throwing a party instead of grousing. The Om Records and Music for America "Election Night Party" puts live music and DJs into the mix of morose drinking and groaning at the election results. The Procussions, Colossus, Whooligan, and the Trout all try to cheer you up at 7 p.m. at Mighty, 119 Utah (at 15th Street), S.F. Admission is $10; call 626-7001 or visit www.mightysf.com.

---

Calendar submissions can be mailed or delivered to 185 Berry, Suite 3800, San Francisco, CA 94107; faxed to 777-1839; or e-mailed to hiya.swanhuyser@sfweekly.com at least two weeks in advance of your event. Earlier is, as always, better than later. We make every effort to include all appropriate events in our online listings, available at www.sfweekly.com.