Lunacy of a truly high, and endlessly bizarre, order —Premiere

Part parody of Hong Kong martial-arts superhero pictures and part go-for-it underdog sports movie, Shaolin Soccer is the top-grossing action comedy in Hong Kong history. (Stephen Chow, 2001, 87 minutes)

General public $6 / UCSB students $5

More radical than Fahrenheit 9/11 —New York Observer

An incisive look at the ways corporations shape today’s world, this eye-opening documentary includes interviews with Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn and Michael Moore. (Mark Achbar & Jennifer Abbott, 2004, 145 minutes)

General public $6 / UCSB students $5

Absorbing...and shamelessly entertaining —Village Voice

Filmed at the start of the Iraq War, this powerful behind-the-scenes documentary about Al-Jazeera, the Arab news network, lays bare issues of journalistic objectivity and nationalism. (Jehane Noujaim, 2003, 84 minutes)

General public $6 / UCSB students $5

Reflective, wise, often hilarious —The New York Times

Ross McElwee (Sherman’s March) explores the tobacco industry, his native North Carolina, and confronts his family legacy, in this funny and clever documentary. (Ross McElwee, 2004, 107 minutes)

General public $6 / UCSB students $5

At turns funny, sweet, sad, trenchant and telling —Philadelphia Inquirer

A bewitching drama about three generations of Georgian women, this exquisite film is powered by terrific, emotion-packed performances from its female leads. Winner of the Critics’ Week Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. (Julie Bertuccelli, 2003, 102 minutes)

General public $6 / UCSB students $5

Stunning to watch and exhilarating to contemplate —Christian Science Monitor

This profound Korean masterpiece follows a Buddhist monk from his childhood to old age on his quest for clarity and peace. (Kim Ki-duk, 2003, 103 minutes)

General public $6 / UCSB students $5

Should be required viewing by all citizens —Hollywood Reporter

Winner of the Fund for Santa Barbara Social Justice Award, this film explores the life and legacy of activist Viola Liuzzo, the only white woman killed during the civil rights movement. (Paola di Florio, 2003, 75 minutes)

General public $6 / UCSB students $5

The patron saints of hyperactive nine-year-olds the world over —Chicago Reader

This wild and wacky program of seven classic shorts featuring Moe, Curly, Larry and Shemp will soitenly have you saying, “Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.” Slapstick was never slappier or sillier. (Various directors, 1934-1947, 125 minutes)

General public $6 / UCSB students free (show valid ID at door)

Joyous and revelatory —LA Weekly

Stacy Peralta, director of the groundbreaking skateboarding movie Dogtown and Z-Boys, focuses on big wave surfers on Oahu’s North Shore and at Mavericks near San Francisco. (2003, 105 minutes)

General public $6 / UCSB students $5

Among the finest expressions of the Chinese new wave —Village Voice

An exquisite period drama of repressed love and thwarted destiny, this subtle film, rich in pictorial beauty, is set in a bombed-out Chinese village in 1946. (Tian Zhuangzhuang, 2002, 116 minutes)

General public $6 / UCSB students $5