Citizen Kane/The Maltese Falcon
(Both 1941) Orson Welles' famous debut film remains the great touchstone of American cinema. This seemingly inexhaustible epic swiftly and deftly tells the story of one newspaper magnate (Welles as William Randolph Hearst and a host of contradictory American dreamers) and his rise to wealth and fall to emotional regret. BILLED WITH The Maltese Falcon, John Huston's tidy, smart adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's novel, with Humphrey Bogart as the perfect Sam Spade. (Plays Aug 25-28 in Palo Alto at the Stanford Theatre.) (AR)

Creature from the Black Lagoon/The Jungle Princess
(1954/ 1936) Richard Carlson must cope with the ravages of the Gill-Man, who develops an unhealthy (if ultimately touching) crush on Carlson's female assistant, Julia Adams. BILLED WITH The Jungle Princess. Dorothy Lamour became known as the "sarong girl" after this tropical-paradise story. (Plays Aug 22-24 in Palo Alto at the Stanford Theatre.)

Donnie Darko
(2001) The end of the world is prevented by the actions of an emotionally troubled high school student named Donnie Darko. Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) is given advance notice of doom for Earth. Mostly assured filmmaking from 26-year-old director Richard Kelly. The film doesn't cheat, though; it explains its mysteries, and Kelly's brought out the poetry in this weird tale. (Plays Aug 24 at midnight in Campbell at Camera 7 and Aug 25 at midnight in San Jose at Camera 12.)

My Big Fat Greek Wedding
(2002) Nia Vardalos casts her eyes to the heavens as her old world parents make life tough. (Plays Aug 22 at 8:45pm in Redwood City at Courthouse Square; free.)

Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum
Weekly silent films. Tonight: The Shamrock and the Rose (1927) starring Mack Swain, Dot Farley and Maurice Costello. With shorts: Fatty and Mabel at San Diego (1915) and Buster Keaton in The Boat (1921). Keaton discovers the old proverb that a boat is a hole in the water in which one throws money. (Plays Aug 25 at 7:30pm in Fremont at the Edison Theater, 37417 Niles Blvd.)

Never Weaken/Speedy
(1921/1928) Thwarted by love, Harold Lloyd decides to throw himself off a building. BILLED WITH Speedy. An enchanting Harold Lloyd comedy about "Speedy" Swift, a lad too befuddled by baseball to hold down an honest job. His girlfriend's grandpa is the owner/operator of the last horse-drawn trolley in New York City. The traction monopoly has hired leg-breakers to put the old man out of business. Lloyd outfoxes the thugs as he tours New York in extensive footage that's so detailed that it's like a time machine voyage—the film includes a captivating extended sequence at the long-gone amusement park Luna Park. Dennis James at the Stanford's Wurlitzer. (Plays Aug 15 in Palo Alto at the Stanford Theatre.)

The Rocky Horror Picture Show
(1975) Call it what you like: flotsam from the wreckage of the '70s, a piece of the Old World before AIDS, herpes and Reagan, or the ultimate cult musical. The fact remains that someone out there apparently hasn't seen this one yet, so here's hoping it makes a new generation of preteens a little more comfortable with their sexuality. (Plays Aug 22 at sundown in San Jose at San Pedro Square; free.)

Some Like It Hot
(1959) Two half-frozen and broke Chicago musicians of the Jazz Age (Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis) accidentally witness a gangster massacre. Disguised as women in an all-girl orchestra, they hit the road for Florida. Their new pal in the orchestra is the tightly clad Sugar Cane (Marilyn Monroe, never better). The last great screwball comedy. (Plays Aug 24 at sundown in Campbell at Casa de la Cultura Mexica, 247 E. Campbell Ave; free.)

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