FALL ARTS Here’s a list to get your started; visit the venue or organization website for even more events than could possibly fit here.
Artists’ Television Access (www.atasite.org): “Other Cinema,” the Saturday-night showcase of creatively programmed films and videos, returns Sept. 11 (www.othercinema.com); the “Electronic Cinema” series brings sound artists together with experimental filmmakers Sept. 14.
Castro (www.castrotheatre.com): “Blonde Bombshells” series (lot o’ Marilyn) Aug. 27–Sept. 5; a digital restoration of 1957 classic Bridge on the River Kwai Sept 10–16; and a Chaplin series Sept. 18–21. Jesse Hawthorne Ficks’ always-fun “Midnites for Maniacs” (www.midnitesformaniacs.com) rolls out a “Reinventing Prom” triple feature Sept. 17 (at midnight: 1982’s Zapped!).
Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Festival (www.cafilm.org): The biggest event up north is the 33rd Mill Valley Film Festival (www.mvff.org), Oct 7-17. Other special events: the “Films of My Life” series, with Talking Head Jerry Harrison discussing Jim Jarmusch’s 1984 Stranger Than Paradise.
Clay (www.landmarktheatres.com): The Clay closes Aug. 29. Head out for Aug. 28’s midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), with the Bawdy Caste on hand for a live performance and Clay “funeral.”
Film Night in the Park (www.filmnight.org): Dude! Season-capper The Big Lebowski (1998) invades Dolores Park Sept. 25.
Forbidden Island (www.forbiddenislandalameda.com): Shout out to Will “The Thrill” Viharo, whose “Forbidden Thrills” double-feature-and-signature-drink series packs in some true oddities. Nov. 15’s entry is an Ed Wood tribute, with “The Angora Sweater” cocktail.
Pacific Film Archive (www.bampfa.berkeley.edu): Highlights of the fall program include “Drawn from Life: The Graphic Novel on Film” (Sept. 10–Oct. 31); and the San Francisco Cinematheque co-sponsored “Radical Light: Alternative Film and Video in the San Francisco Bay Area” (Sept. 17–March 31).
Red Vic (www.redvicmoviehouse.com): Oh, hi. Good luck trying to get a ticket for The Room (2003) with THE Tommy Wiseau in person Sept. 17–18. Other fall delights: the local theatrical premiere of Cropsey, a doc that investigates the intersection of true crime and urban legend, Oct 15–19.
Roxie (www.roxie.com): It’s a festival-a-thon, with the SF Latino Film Festival (www.sflatinofilmfestival.com) Sept 16-19 and the SF Irish Film Festival (www.sfirishfilm.com) Sept. 23–25. Don’t miss the Robert Altman miniseries, with 1977 personality-swapping epic 3 Women Sept 21.
San Francisco Cinematheque (www.sfcinematheque.org): Complete program information was unavailable at press time, but SF Cinematheque heads to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (www.sfmoma.org) for a screening of films by avant-gardist Alexander Hammid, plus live music by the Beth Custer Ensemble, Oct 21.
San Francisco Film Society (www.sffs.org): A few highlights: the NY/SF International Children’s Film Festival (Sept. 24–26); programs of films from Taiwan (Oct. 22–24), France (Oct. 23–Nov. 3), and Italy (Nov. 14–21); the San Francisco International Animation Film Festival (Nov. 11–14); and a screening of 1919 silent Sir Arne’s Treasure with accompaniment by the Mountain Goats (Dec. 14).
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (www.sfmoma.org): Picks include “The Elements” sound and film performance Sept. 30, with experimental filmmaker Paul Clipson; and the “Witches” double feature Oct. 28 with George Romero’s Season of the Witch (1973) and Dario Argento’s Suspiria (1977).
Victoria (www.victoriatheatre.org): Joshua Grannell’s horror comedy All About Evil screens at the very theater where it was filmed, Oct 21–24 — with Grannell’s alter ego, Midnight Mass hostess Peaches Christ in person (www.peacheschrist.com).
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (www.ybca.org): The maker of 1965’s Dead Birds gets his due at “Others/Ourselves: The Cinema of Robert Gardner” (Sept. 23–30); plus, check out “Totally Ridiculous: The Lost Films of Charles Ludlum” (Sept. 24–26) and “Sesame Street: A Celebration” (Oct. 1–30).
And more: Bernal Heights Outdoor Cinema (Sept. 2–5) blankets the ‘hood with free screenings (www.bhoutdoorcine.org). Good Vibrations Fifth Annual Indie Erotic Film Festival (Sept. 18–23) aims to tickles your fancy (www.goodvibes.com). The 14th Arab Film Festival (Oct. 14–24) screens films from and about the Arab world (www.arabfilmfestival.org).