Shots In the Dark [Special Screenings, Feb. 2-9]

Io, Arlecchino (I, Harlequin). Italian Movie Night presents this 2014 film directed by Matteo Bini and Giorgi Pasotti, who also stars as television host Paolo. After his father takes ill, Paolo travels from Rome to his hometown of Cornello del Tasso, where he discovers a new passion for live theater, particularly Commedia dell’Arte. This is presented in Italian with English subtitles. Regency San Juan Capistrano, 26762 Verdugo St., San Juan Capistrano, (949) 661-3456. Thurs., Feb. 2, 7 p.m. $11.

Dorothea Lange: A Visual Life. The 46-minute film brings to life five decades of American history through Dorothea Lange’s photographs and insights. The artist explains her commitment to recording the rapidly changing face of 20th-century America in this documentary. Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, 2002 N. Main St., Santa Ana, (714) 567-3600. Sat., 1:30 p.m. $9-$12.

LUNAFEST. See my colleague Aimee Murillo’s preview of this festival of short films promoting awareness of women’s issues and female filmmakers.Funds raised from the screenings benefit the Breast Cancer Fund as well as female Chapman University filmmakers. Chapman University, Dodge College of Film & Media Arts, Marion Knott Studios, 283 N. Cypress St., Orange, (714) 997-6765; www.lunafest.org/orange0204. Sat., 2:30 p.m. $15-$40.

Resurrecting Black Wall Street: The Blueprint. This documentary uses Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Little Africa of 1922 as a shining example of how black people can realize economic goals if they are pursued collectively. Screening near the close of the three-day Black Economics: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow Black History Month celebration, the film also details how people had their wealth stolen more than a century ago. Expo Arts Center, 4321 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach, (562) 754-0007; andystreetlb.org. Sat., 4 p.m. Free, but RSVP required because of limited seating.

Swan Lake. A Jan. 25, 2015, Bolshoi Ballet performance of the Tchaikovsky classic is beamed into theaters nationwide by Fathom Events, BY Experience and Pathé Live. On the banks of a mysterious lake, Prince Siegfried (Denis Rodkin) meets the bewitched swan-woman Odette (prima ballerina Svetlana Zakharova). Completely spellbound by her beauty, he swears his faithfulness to her. However, the Prince realizes too late that Fate has another plan for him. . . . AMC Orange 30, 20 City Blvd. W., Orange, (714) 769-4288; also at Cinemark Century Stadium 25, 1701 W. Katella Ave., Orange, (714) 532-9558; Cinemark Century 20 Huntington Beach, 7777 Edinger Ave., Huntington Beach, (714) 373-4573; Edwards Aliso Viejo Stadium 20, 26701 Aliso Creek Rd., Aliso Viejo, (844) 462-7342; Edwards Irvine Spectrum 21, 65 Fortune Dr., Irvine, (844) 462-7342; and Edwards Long Beach Stadium 26, 7501 E. Carson, Long Beach, (844) 462-7342; www.FathomEvents.com. Sun., 12:55 p.m. $16-$18. Also at Regency South Coast Village, 1561 W. Sunflower Ave., Santa Ana, (714) 557-5701. Sat., 12:55 p.m.; Tues., 7 p.m. $14-$17.

XXX: The Return of Xander Cage (with open captions). For those who are deaf, hard of hearing or learning the English language, this screening of the action picture is presented with onscreen text of the dialogue, character identifications and descriptions of key sounds. After coming out of self-imposed exile, daredevil operative Xander Cage (Vin Diesel) must race against time to recover a sinister weapon known as Pandora’s Box, a device that controls every military satellite in the world. Regency Westminster, 6721 Westminster Blvd., Westminster, (714) 893-4222. Mon., 6:30 p.m. $8.50-$10.50.

Get Out. Universal Pictures presents a prerelease screening of this horror/thriller from producer Blumhouse (The Gift, The Visit, the Insidious series) and writer/feature-debut director Jordan Peele (yes, that Jordan Peele). It’s about a young African-American man (Daniel Kaluuya) discovering there is something sinister behind a visit to his white girlfriend’s (Allison Williams) family estate. Could it be Brian Williams dressed as Norma Bates? Chapman University, Marion Knott Studios, Orange, (714) 997-6765. Mon., 7 p.m. Free.

Gone With the Wind. The 1939 historical-romance epic, based on Margaret Mitchell’s novel from three years before, influenced everything from the 2007 play Moonlight and Magnolias to a 1976 Carol Burnett Show skit that was famous for its imaginative use of a curtain rod. Set against the backdrop of the Civil War, the film tells the story of Georgia plantation owner’s daughter Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh), who pursues her cousin Melanie’s (Olivia de Havilland) husband, Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard), and marries Rhett Butler (Clark Gable). The film won 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (Victor Fleming), Best Actress (Leigh) and Best Supporting Actress (Hattie McDaniel, the first African-American to win an Oscar). Regency Directors Cut Cinema at Rancho Niguel, 25471 Rancho Niguel Rd., Laguna Niguel, (949) 831-0446, Tues. Call for show time. $8.

Si Può Fare (We Can Do That). This comedy is set against the fallout from the closure of state psychiatric hospitals and asylums in Italy under the Basaglia Law of the 1980s, when many former patients were left with few resources and little hope of reintegrating into society. Nello (Claudio Bisio), the recently hired director of a newly developed work cooperative of former mental patients, encourages the lost souls to expand their individual abilities and explore the wider world around them, although that can have consequences. The Italian Club invites the public to stick around for the discussion about director Giulio Manfredonia’s 2008 film afterward. Chapman University, Argyros Forum 119A, 1 University Dr., Orange, (714) 744-7846. Tues., 7 p.m. Free.

Ghost In the Shell. Lionsgate and Funimation Films bring the groundbreaking 1995 anime back to theaters for a two-day limited theatrical engagement. On the first date, director Mamoru Oshii’s film is presented in its original Japanese with English subtitles. For the second, the movie is dubbed. The story has female cybernetic government agent Major Motoko Kusanagi and the Internal Bureau of Investigations hot on the trail of “The Puppet Master,” a mysterious and threatening computer virus capable of infiltrating human hosts. A live-action version of the anime hitting American screens on March 31 has already generated controversy because a very white Scarlett Johansson plays the lead character, who is based on an Asian. This, of course, was already covered in Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Cyborgs Dream of Electric Racial Identities? The Frida Cinema, 305 E. Fourth St., Santa Ana; thefridacinema.org. $7-$10; also at Edwards Irvine Spectrum 21, (844) 462-7342, $12.50. Tues.-Wed., 7:30 p.m.

Wayne’s World. Wow, I was just watching a YouTube video claiming Mike Myers can be difficult on a set, based in part on the experiences of his breakout film’s director, Penelope Spheeris, and the craft-services department. Perhaps that is why she is leading a 25th-anniversary discussion of the film with Tia Carrere, Robert Patrick and Colleen Camp, while “special” footage shows a separate conversation between Myers, Dana Carvey, Rob Lowe and Lorne Michaels. The movie is introduced by Rolling Stone critic Peter Travers. The movie is about Wayne and Garth (Myers and Carvey) getting their cable-access show Wayne’s World picked up by a local TV station, whose slimy Svengali (Lowe) has the hots for Wayne’s girlfriend (Carrere). Cinemark Century Stadium 25, (714) 532-9558;also at Cinemark Century 20 Huntington Beach, (714) 373-4573. Tues., 7:30 p.m. $6.25-$9.50. Also at the Frida Cinema; thefridacinema.org. Tues.-Wed. Call for show times and ticket prices; AMC Orange 30 at the Outlets, (714) 769-4288; and AMC Fullerton 20, 1001 S. Lemon St., Fullerton, (714) 992-6962. Wed. Call for show times and ticket prices.

Casablanca. I have seen this 1942 Bogey classic from beginning to end several times, but much more often in recent years, I have caught bits and pieces of Michael Curtiz’s film, which is one of those rare pictures you can drop in and out of and still appreciate the hell out of. In Casablanca during World War II, exiled American freedom fighter-turned-nightclub operator Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) wants no part in helping a Czech underground leader who is trying to escape the Nazis. Further souring Rick on the mission is the fellow’s partner being Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), who previously left her then-lover Rick waiting at a Paris train station, never to show up. Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into Rick’s. Regency South Coast Village, (714) 557-5701. Wed., 7:30 p.m. $9.

Let the Bullets Fly. Director Jiang Wen’s 2010 action/comedy has him starring as a bandit who descends on a town posing as the governor. This is part of the Graduate Students of East Asian Languages and Literature’s East Asia Cinema Series of free screenings and discussions, which include free drinks and snacks. UC Irvine, Humanities Gateway Room HG1010, West Peltason and Campus drives, Irvine; humanities.uci.edu. Thurs., Feb. 9, 5:30 p.m. Free.

SoCal Film Fest. Organizers were already warning at press time that only a limited number of seats remained for the festival’s opening-night picture, Occupants, a sci-fi/horror/thriller from director Russ Emanuel. Award-winning documentarian Annie Curtis and her husband, Neil, embark on “30 days of clean living” that is captured on cameras she has set up all over their home. But complications arise when the footage captures the couple in a parallel universe. Now in its 12th year, the festival showcases indie shorts, features and documentaries, as well as the up-and-coming filmmakers who often talk about their works at post-screening Q&As, through Feb. 11 (the Saturday when most of the programming is presented). Huntington Beach Central Library Theater, 7111 Talbert Ave., Huntington Beach; socalfilmfest.com. Thurs., Feb. 9, 8 p.m. $3.75-$30.

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