Friday, August 3 — Thursday, August 16

Things You Can Tell
Just By Looking At Her

A tender, intelligent evocation of the intimate moments that go unperceived, the secret lives that dwell "behind every door, behind every face." Comprised of five interwoven vignettes, the film binds the lifelines of several seemingly disconnected San Fernando Valley residents. Detective Kathy Farber (Amy Brenneman) arrives at a crime scene to discover the body of Carmen, an old acquaintance. In the days preceding Carmen’s death, we see her skirt unnoticed around the periphery of the other character’s lives: Dr. Elaine Keener (Glenn Close), who tends to her infirm mother and waits anxiously for a male colleague to call; self-reliant Rebecca Weyman (Holly Hunter), who, on discovering she is pregnant, confronts a difficult, desolate choice; single mother Rose (Kathy Baker), who develops a fanciful, comedic obsession with her new neighbor; Christine (Calista Flockhart), who wrestles with the imminent death of her ailing lover; and investigator Kathy’s acerbic, blind sister, Carol (Cameron Diaz), who speculates on what might have driven Carmen to suicide. Gently swathed with humor and pathos, Things You Can Tell is a film of uncommon delicacy and resonance, a passionate foray into the depths of human longing and desire. Written and directed by Rodrigo Garcia. In Color. 35mm. 110 mins. 2000. USA. US THEATRICAL PREMIERE! NIGHTLY at 7:00 and 9:15; SAT, SUN and WED matinees at 2:00 and 4:30.

"This observant, emotionally acute drama is distinguished by a pronounced poetic sensibility in its writing and visual style. " -- Todd McCarthy, Variety

"A delicate gem." -- Rolling Stone

"Two thumbs up. One of the best films at Sundance 2000! The pacing and terrific acting remind me of YOU CAN COUNT ON ME." -- Ebert and Roeper at the Movies

Friday, August 17-30

Songs From The Second Floor

Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festial 2000, Songs From the Second Floor is completely unusual in its non-linear structure and elaborate surrealistic images. Rather than a conventional plot, the film progresses through a series of 46 discontinuous episodes, all taking place over a period of months in the new millennium: a clerk is fired in a degrading way; a lost immigrant is attacked in a busy street; a magician makes an error in his act; the entire city is strangled by a massive traffic jam. Karl, covered in soot from burning down his furniture store for the insurance, is the continuing thread through it all. The film was shot almost entirely in the enormous studio the director built to accommodate his own cinematic needs. Equipped with two huge sets, editing and sound studios, a film theater, and a fantastically loyal team of co-workers, the film was made in total freedom. Shot without a script and without a schedule and working from scene to scene supervising the smallest details, he draws his actors from the street, restaurants, shops and friends. But it isn’t just his unorthodox methods that make this film so extraordinary. His vision of what it means to be human, and just how difficult that is, reveals his profound understanding of vulnerability, responsibility, shame and regret. In this beautiful and absurdist film, we find a notion of existence that is almost religious, though without the relationship to God. The cast features Lars Nordh, Stefan Larsson, Torbjorn Fahlstrom, Sten Andersson. Written and directed by Roy Andersson. Color. 35mm. 98 mins. 2000. SWEDEN / DENMARK / NORWAY. With English subtitles. US. THEATRICAL PREMIERE. NIGHTLY at 7:00 and 9:15; SAT, SUN and WED matinees at 2:00 and 4:30. NO 7:00 SHOW THUR, AUG 23.

"It's a laconic yukfest, in fact, where each static, surreal sequence invariably ends with a mute, imploding punch line...the long buildup heightens a climactic ka-boom that should have Kafka, Beckett, and Dalí convulsing in their graves 'til Judgment Day."
-- Dennis Harvey, SF Bay Guardian

"There has never been a film like it: it's a complete original. It's also a serious work of art."
-- Mick LaSalle, S.F. Chronicle

"3 1/2 STARS! Bizarre, complex, hilarious and highly artifical. Songs From The Second Floor is a valuable and rare movie experience". -- Jeff Anderson, S.F. Examiner

"Surrender to his darkly comic, decidedly sacrilegious vision." - Steve Jenkins, Bay Area Citysearch

" 4 out of 5 stars! It thoroughly deserved the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival (2000)" -- BBC

"Audacious, offensive, original, surrealistic. The most daring and provocative of this year's films (at Cannes 2000), and also the funniest."
-- Roger Ebert

Thursday, August 23 ONLY
6:00pm only.

Things Behind the Sun

Allison Anders IN PERSON!

Throughout her career, Allison Anders (Mi Vida Loca, Grace of My Heart, Gas Food Lodging, Sugertown) has proven herself to be, like her mentors Wim Wenders and Martin Scorsese, as much of a music connoisseur as a film director. Starting with her co-directed debut film Border Radio, set in late 80s L.A. punk scene, nearly all of Anders' films have taken place amongst a musical milieu. Alongside this love for music, another guiding force behind her films has been the need to bear witness to the lives and journeys of women whose stories are not often heard. Things Behind the Sun, Anders' latest film, continues these two hallmarks and uses them to distinguish routine affairs. In Things Behind the Sun, Anders, a rape survivor, centers the story around the efforts two people make to remember and come to terms with a childhood rape. Sherry McGrale (Kim Dickens) is a singer/songwriter beginning to get noticed in the college rock scene. When Owen (Gabriel Mann), a senior writer for L.A.-based Vinyl Fetish magazine, is introduced to McGrale's music by a co-worker (Alison Foland), he talks his way into flying to Florida to do a story about her. Owen was a childhood friend of the up-and-coming musician and offers to provide a fresh angle on McGrale's songs, which are rooted in her rape as an adolescent. Once in Florida, Owen finds out that McGrale spends most of her time drinking and that she does not remember their friendship or details of her rape. Despite the protectiveness of Chuck (Don Cheadle), McGrale's manager and former lover, Owen finally gets Sherry to realize who he is and that he can provide details on the assault. Together, they begin to remember long-buried painful memories and Owen begins to realize that the whole incident has left him as damaged as she is. -- Chris Stults, 24fps. with Kim Dickens, Gabriel Mann, Don Cheadle, Eric Stoltz, Elizabeth Peqa, Rosanna Arquette Directed by Allison Anders. 2001. Running Time: 117 minutes.

9-13 midnight After Party with Allison Anders, great food and DJ. BENFIT FOR: generation FIVE. Admission: $15.00. Film and After Party: $50.00. Tickets available at gernerationFIVE 415-285-6658, email info@generationfive.org., or log onto generationFIVE.com

"All of the actors give first-rate performances…. and Anders doesn't shy away from anything, no matter how painful it might be." -- Film Threat

"2 THUMBS UP!. A couragous autobiographical film." -- Ebert & Roeper

Back By Popular Demand!
Friday, August 31 - Wednesday, September 5 then:
Monday, September 10 - Wednesday, September 12

Margaret Cho!

I’m The One That I Want

Both hilarious and painfully poignant, the one and only Margaret Cho’s filmed version of her award-winning and critically-acclaimed autobiographical one-woman show, I’m The One That I Want comes to the Roxie for two fun-filled nights! It chronicles Margaret’s meteoric rise and near fatal demise during and after her groundbreaking tv series and her subsequent recovery. Her experiences in Hollywood, her relationship with her mother and her struggles with her own personal demons become the basis for her incredible brand of comedy. "I laughed until the tears were running down my face!"–Stephen Holden, New York Times. Directed by Lionel Coleman. In Color. 35mm. 90 mins. Nightly at 6:00, 8:00, & 10:00; Sat., Sun. & Wed matinees at 2:00 & 4:00

"Ms. Cho is a superb mimic of body language, and her show is strung with killingly funny parodies of Asian women as meek, supplicating flower girls. Ms. Cho is anything but meek. She is a lusty, full-figured 31-year-old dynamo whose outrage is tempered by an empathetic sweetness" - New York Times

"I'm the One That I Want" is the funniest thing I've seen this summer."
-- Seattle Post-Intelligencer