Arthouse movie listings for March 18-24, 2009

Artists' Television Access. OpenScreening: Film and video open mike. Thu., March 19, 8 p.m. free-$5. "The Muse of Cinema": Feature-length program of short films by Kerry Laitala. Fri., March 20, 8 p.m. $6. 992 Valencia (at 21st St.), 824-3890, www.atasite.org.

Castro Theatre. Doubt: Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman star. Wed., March 18, 2:30, 4:45, 7 & 9:05 p.m. Frost/Nixon: Michael Sheen and Frank Langella star. Thu., March 19, 2, 4:30, 7 & 9:20 p.m. Midnight Madness, Real Genius, and Electric Dreams: "Nerds with Balls," a Midnites for Maniacs triple feature. Fri., March 20, 7 p.m. $10. 429 Castro (at Market), 621-6120, www.thecastrotheatre.com.

Dark Room Theater. Bad Movie Night: From Justin to Kelly: This movie helped nobody, least of all that guy. Sundays, 8 p.m. $5. 2263 Mission (at 18th St.), 401-7987, www.darkroomsf.com.

Exploratorium. Magnetic Movie: Through May 31. 3601 Lyon (at Marina), 397-5673, www.exploratorium.edu.

Main Library, Koret Auditorium. Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai: Lisa Merton and Alan Dater's docu on this tree-planting Kenyan Nobel laureate. Tue., March 24, 6 p.m. 100 Larkin (at Grove), 557-4595, www.sfpl.org.

Multiple San Francisco locations. San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival: Huge, stylish, brilliantly programmed festival. Through March 22. 865-1588. www.asianamericanmedia.org.

New Langton Arts. Pilgrimage from Scattered Points: A film by Luke Fowler about Cornelius Cardew. Wed., March 18, 7 p.m. $5. 1246 Folsom (at Eighth St.), 626-5416, www.newlangtonarts.org.

Oddball Film and Video. "Bongo-Beatin' Beatniks!": A program of pulpy early-'60s beatnik kitsch. RSVP to info@oddballfilm.com. Fri., March 20, 8:30 p.m. $10. 275 Capp (at Mission), 558-8116, www.oddballfilm.com.

Red Vic Movie House. Down by Law: Jim Jarmusch gets down with Tom Waits and Roberto Benigni. Wed., March 18, 2, 7:15 & 9:20 p.m.; Thu., March 19, 7:15 & 9:20 p.m. Virtual JFK: Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived: Koji Masutani's tantalizing "what if?" movie. March 20-24. $6-$9. 1727 Haight (at Cole), 668-3994, www.redvicmoviehouse.com.

Roxie Theater. Slumdog Millionaire: Rightful owner of most Academy Awards. Through March 26, 6:45 p.m.; Sun., March 22, 2:30 p.m. Bela Fleck: Throw Down Your Heart: Sascha Paladino's doc on the musician. Paladino and Fleck appear in person Friday and Saturday. Through March 26, 7 & 9 p.m.; Sat., March 21, 2:30 p.m. Queer Porn-ucopia: Clips of lesbian, bisexual, and trans pornography. Thu., March 19, 7 p.m. $15. Crips and Bloods: Made in America: Stacy Peralta's documentary about the gangs of South Central Los Angeles. March 20-26, 9 p.m.; March 21-17, 4:45 p.m. 3117 16th St. (at Valencia), 863-1087, www.roxie.com.

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. "Crossroads: The Films of Bruce Conner": The found-footage maestro. Thu., March 19, 7 p.m. Soylent Green: Yeah, it's people. You got a problem with that? Part of "The Future of the Past: Utopia/Dystopia, 1965-1984." Sat., March 21, 1 p.m.; Sat., April 4, 1 p.m. A Clockwork Orange: Pop over to the Milk Bar for a spot of ultraviolence after the screening, luv? Part of "The Future of the Past: Utopia/Dystopia, 1965-1984." Sat., March 21, 3 p.m.; Thu., March 26, 7 p.m. 151 Third St. (at Mission), 357-4000, www.sfmoma.org.

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Human Rights Watch International Film Festival: Social justice films. Through March 26. $6-$8. "Crossroads: The Films of Bruce Conner": Wed., March 18, 7:30 p.m. "Lunchfilm: Film Before Food": Short films made for lunch money. Sun., March 22, 7:30 p.m. $6-$10. 701 Mission (at Third St.), 978-2787, www.ybca.org.