Repertory Film Listings

Commentary by Gregg Rickman (greggr2006@yahoo.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.

BALBOA
3630 Balboa (at 38th Avenue), 221-8484, www.balboamovies.com. This great neighborhood house shows films of all sorts. $8.50.

WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: There's animation — Ratatouille (Brad Bird, 2007), noon, 2:20, 4:40, 7, 9:20 p.m. And then there's animation — The Simpsons Movie (David Silverman, 2007), 12:30, 3, 5:15, 7:30, 9:35 p.m.

STARTS FRIDAY: Call for films and times.

BAY MODEL
2100 Bridgeway (at Spring), Sausalito, 332-3871 for venue, 381-4123 and www.tiburonfilmfestival.com for the event-sponsoring Tiburon Film Society. Free.

THURSDAY (July 6): Stephen Olsson's Sound of the Soul (2006), a pleasant record of Morocco's Festival of World Sacred Music, all sorts but mostly Moroccan Sufi. 6 p.m.

BRIDGE
3010 Geary (at Blake), 751-3213, www.peacheschrist.com for this series. This popular little theater offers, in addition to its regular screenings, a "Midnight Mass" every weekend this summer, hosted by Peaches Christ. $12.

SATURDAY (Aug. 4): Max Von Sydow is Ming the Merciless in Mike Hodges' intentionally campy Flash Gordon (1980). Midnight.

CASTRO
429 Castro (near Market), 621-6120, www.thecastrotheatre.com. 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. $10 save as noted.

WEDNESDAY: A fashion-oriented week of films concludes with "Fashion and the Legendary Ladies" and All about Eve (Joseph Mankiewicz, 1950), with a live tribute to courtier Edith Head for the evening show. 1 and 7 p.m. Miss Head did not design Marlene Dietrich's gorilla costume in Blonde Venus (Joseph von Sternberg, 1932), 3 p.m. Jean Louis' strapless gown stars in Gilda (Charles Vidor, 1946), 9:30 p.m.

THURSDAY & FRIDAY: Tales of the Supremes, fictionalized twice over in Dreamgirls (Bill Condon, 2006; 7 p.m.) and Sparkle (Sam O'Steen, 1976; 9:30 p.m.)

FRIDAY: Dreamgirls 7 p.m. Diana Ross stars in Mahogany (Berry Gordy, 1975) 9:30 p.m.

STARTS SATURDAY: Call theater for program.

CERRITO SPEAKEASY
10070 San Pablo (at Central), El Cerrito, (510) 814-2400, www.cerritospeakeasy.com. This recently restored second-run theater, a sister theater to Oakland's Parkway, features "Cerrito Classics," a different revival every weekend, and other special programs. Beer is served; children must be accompanied by an adult. $6 save as noted.

SATURDAY & SUNDAY (Aug. 4 & 5): All obituaries for the late cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs mentioned his work on Easy Rider (Dennis Hopper, 1969). Sat 6 p.m., Sun 5 p.m.

SATURDAY (Aug. 4): A Thrill-O-Tronic Film Show screens three hours of 16mm shorts, cartoons, cult TV, and drive-in snack ads, plus live theremin, trivia contests and more. Your hosts include Will the Thrill, Monica Tiki Goddess, Mr. Lobo & the Queen of Trash. $8. 3 p.m.

CHINESE CULTURE CENTER
Auditorium, Hilton Hotel, Third Floor, 750 Kearny (at Merchant), 986-1822, www.c-c-c.org. This cultural center continues a C4 ("Chinese Culture Center Cinema") series of documentaries this week. $6.

SATURDAY (Aug. 4): Beautiful Men (Du Haibing, China, 2005), a documentary about drag dancers in a Chengdu gay bar. 1 p.m.

DARK ROOM THEATRE
2263 Mission (between 18th and 19th sts. "between the pawn shop and the laundromat"), 401-7987, www.darkroomsf.com. Live cabaret, plus regular film screenings with audience cat-calling encouraged. $5.

SUNDAY (Aug. 6): "Bad Movie Night" screens that career-killing meow-mix Catwoman (Jean-Christophe Comar, a.k.a. "Pitof," 2004), 8 p.m.

FOREIGN CINEMA
2534 Mission (between 21st and 22nd streets), 648-7600), www.foreigncinema.com. This restaurant screens foreign films, usually in 35 mm, 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. Free with meal.

DAILY: Ang Lee's generous The Wedding Banquet (1993). Starts at dusk.

ISTITUTO ITALIANO DI CULTURA
425 Washington (at Battery), Suite 200, 788-7142, www.sfiic.org. The Istituto Italiano di Cultura promotes Italian language and culture in Northern California with occasional film screenings. Free.

TUESDAY (Aug. 7): A Pier Paolo Pasolini series screens his hour-long episode of Amore e rabbia (Love and Anger, Italy, 1963), a compilation of footage from a left-wing weekly "film magazine." 6:30 p.m.

JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF SAN FRANCISCO
3200 California (at Presidio), 292-1200, www.jccsf.org. This popular center offers a wide-range of programs, many of them film-oriented.

SATURDAY & SUNDAY (Aug. 4 & 5): A two-part screening of the TV drama A Touch Away (Ron Ninio, Israel, 2006), about the "impossible love" of an Orthodox girl and a secular Russian immigrant. Part I (episodes 1-4) Sat 7:30 p.m.; Sun 12:30 p.m. Part II (episodes 5-8) Sun 4 p.m.

LA PEÑA CULTURAL CENTER
3105 Shattuck (at Prince), Berkeley, (510) 849-2568, www.lapena.org. This cafe for activists offers occasional film and video screenings.

THURSDAY (Aug. 2): A documentary about spoken word's popularity with Bay Area teens, 2nd Verse (2007), plus live performance. Admission $5-10 sliding scale. 8 p.m.

LARK
549 Magnolia (at Post), Larkspur, 924-5111, www.larktheater.net. This single-screen art deco theater has reopened with a policy mixing new and repertory programming. $8.

WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: The industrial wastelands of Manufactured Landscapes (Jennifer Baichwal, Canada, 2006), Wed 9 p.m.; Thurs 7 p.m. The emotional wastelands of New York singles in Broken English (Zoe Cassavetes, 2007), Wed 7 p.m.; Thurs 9 p.m.

STARTS FRIDAY: The director's a chow! Underdog (Frederik Du Chau, 2007); see Opening for review. Call for times and other films.