A weekly roundup of what else is screening around town.

by Matt Prigge

Ambler Theater

$3.50-$8.50. 108 E. Butler Ave. 215.345.7855. www.amblertheater.org

The Neverending Story (1984) (Shown on DVD): Ironically, eight minutes were snipped for the American release of this lavish West German English-language production, which plunges viewers into a fantasy world rife with memorably Teutonic imagery, including a flying dog, laser-beam-shooting sphinxes and more than a couple dwarves. B Sat., Feb. 9, 11am.

Bryn Mawr Film Institute

$3.50-$9.25 (unless otherwise noted). 824 W. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr. 610.527.9898. www.brynmawrfilm.org

Best of Black Lily Film and Music Festival 2007 (Shown on DVD): The female-oriented festival, set to return for another set this May, brings two of last year’s best to the Bryn Mawr. Plenty of Good Women Dancers covers the history of African-American female dancers from the 1920s through the 1950s, with pitstops at Edith “Baby Edwards” Hunt, Hortense Allen Jordan and Libby Spencer. The hour-long doc will be paired with the short Women Play Klezmer. Wed., Feb. 6, 7pm.

The Secret Garden (1993) (Shown on DVD): After hits like Europa Europa and Olivier Olivier, Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland went to Britain to film the umpteenth film or TV version of the Frances Hodgson Burnett book, about an orphaned girl who breathes metaphorical life back into her miserable uncle by breathing physical life into his unkempt garden. With Maggie Smith and Irène Jacob. (Not reviewed.) Sat., Feb. 9, 11am.

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The Devil Came on Horseback (2007) (Shown on DVD): Rather than make the conceptually empty Darfur Now—still, ironically, languishing in distribution oblivion—Don Cheadle and crew ought to have thrown their considerable weight behind this doc, a searing indictment of the Sudanese turmoil and the widespread inactivity it’s caused. At the center is Brian Steidle, a U.S. Marine who snapped gobs of photos of the worst atrocities yet has barely been able to get an eyebrow raised back home. Ahem. B Wed., Feb. 13, 7pm.

Colonial Theatre

$4-$7. 227 Bridge St., Phoenixville. 610.917.0223. www.thecolonialtheatre.com

The Red Balloon/White Mane (1956/1953) (Shown on film): Before creating the board game Risk, Albert Lamorisse directed two of the great children’s movies, though don’t let that classification convince you they’re treacly pap. In The Red Balloon, a lonely boy befriends a quasi-sentient ball of helium, only to watch as bullies have their way with it. In White Mane, another lonely boy befriends a wild horse on the run from vile ranchers. Both concern solidarity in a cruel and hateful world, and each has one of the most devastating endings in film history. B+/A- Sat., Feb. 9, 2pm.

Notorious (1946) (Shown on film): At the arguable height of his powers, Alfred Hitchcock popped out this perfectly calibrated spy picture, with Cary Grant sending new love Ingrid Bergman to feign love for Nazi leader Claude Rains. The big set pieces—the party, the kiss, the finale—deserve every inch of their rep, but it’s the surprising richness of the love triangle that ultimately sticks. Dig the way Rains goes from menace to poor little boy to tragic figure during the film’s arc. A Sun., Feb. 10, 2pm.

County Theater

$3.50-$8.50. 20 E. State St., Doylestown. 215.345.6789. www.countytheater.com

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004) (Shown on DVD): Tom Kenny is a genius. (Not reviewed.) Sat., Feb. 9, 11am.

Gershman Y

$10-$12. 401 S. Broad St. www.pjff.org

Aviva My Love (2006) (Shown on film): Having all but swept the Israeli Academy Awards, Shemi Zarhin’s drama descends upon Philadelphia, bringing its tale of one woman’s rocky road to becoming a novelist. (Not reviewed.) Sat., Feb. 9, 8pm; Sun., Feb. 10, 2pm; Mon., Feb. 11, 7pm.

International House

Various prices. 3701 Chestnut St. 215.387.5125. www.ihousephilly.org

Building a Broken Mousetrap (2006) (Shown on video): As the Republican Convention descended upon New York in September of 2004, so too did anarchist Dutch punkers the Ex—a simple twist of fate that makes an already propulsive concert doc that much more gripping. Directed by longtime music filmmaker Jem Cohen (best known for the Fugazi film Instrument), Mousetrap cozies up to the aging band as they bust out an hour of post-punk glory, complete with that most punk of instruments: a standup bass. Peppered throughout are shots of the outside world and the city overrun by squeaky-clean right-wingers and Reagan stickers, all while a band that once recorded a song called “Stupid Americans” thrashes inside. Copresented with Small Change, the screening will also feature Cohen’s film on Patty Smith’s unique cover of “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” B Thurs., Feb. 7, 7pm. $5-$7.

Aelita: Queen of Mars (1924) (Shown on video): For Russia’s first sci-fi film, Aelita: Queen of Mars spends a lot of time not being particularly sci-fi. The angular sets and bizarre costumes of this relic’s Martian society influenced everything from the absurdly lavish Flash Gordon serials to Guy Maddin, but Aelita remains perversely pragmatic. Haunted by mysterious radio signals, our hero eventually hops in a spaceship to bring socialism to capitalist Mars, where a tyrant keeps unused workers refrigerated. (Not so red after all, are ya?) But first he has to deal with the realities of Russia in 1921, like actually designing a spaceship and dealing with a cheating wife. Serviceable when on Earth, mind-blowing when on Mars, but always fascinating as Soviet propaganda, Aelita will be accompanied by a live score written by Philadelphia composer Gene Coleman, whose piece involves an ensemble fitted with a theremin. B Sat., Feb. 9, 8pm. $12-$15.

Little Theater

$5. 7141 Germantown Ave. 215.247.3020. www.mtairyvideolibrary.com

2 Days in Paris (2007) (Shown on DVD): What does a movie featuring Julie Delpy and an American paramour in a European metropolis look like without Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater? Brittle, neurotic and mordantly funny, at least as evidenced by Delpy’s second directorial effort, in which her expat photographer drags boyfriend Adam Goldberg to her old haunt to meet the (insane) parents, as well as many ex-boyfriends. In a perfect world, Delpy’s real-life/on-screen father Albert—a smutty artist who likes to key imperfectly parked cars—would be an Oscar lock. B- Fri., Feb. 8-Sat., Feb. 9, 8pm; and Sun., Feb. 10, 7pm.

Reelblack Presents

$5-$7. International House, 3701 Chestnut St. 215.387.5125. www.reelblackpresents.com

Darius Goes West (2007) (Shown on DVD): An antidote to that Bucket List thingie, Logan Smalley’s doc follows one Darius Weems, a 15-year-old Georgia resident born with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which also claimed the life of his older brother. Confined to a wheelchair and fretting over what little time he has left, Weems and friends high-tail it to California hoping Pimp My Ride will pimp his wheelchair. Along the way they take in America, survey the country’s wheelchair accessibility and generally hang. (Not reviewed.) Tues., Feb. 12, 7pm.

Trocadero

$3. 1003 Arch St. 215.922.LIVE. www.thetroc.com

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) (Shown on DVD): Dear Michel Gondry: Forget The Science of Sleep and Be Kind Rewind. Just up and work with Charlie Kaufman again. Thanks. A Mon., Feb. 11, 7:30pm.

Villanova University

$3-$5. Connelly Center Cinema, 800 Lancaster Ave., Villanova. 610.519.4750. www.villanova.edu

House of Fools (2002) (Shown on DVD): Many films depict the insanity of war, but most know better than to actually set the war in a mental institution. Set during the Chechen War, this spastic drama finds the inmates of a temporarily unattended asylum brushing up against soldiers, as well as Bryan Adams. Really. Andrei Konchalovsky directed. C Sat., Feb. 9, and Mon., Feb. 11, 7pm; and Sun., Feb. 10, 3:30pm and 7pm.

Wooden Shoe Books

Free. 508 S. Fifth St. 215.413.0999. www.woodenshoebooks.com

10,000 Black Men Named George (2002) (Shown on DVD): Hollywood Shuffle’s Robert Townsend directed this Showtime biopic about an undertold story of the Great Depression: an attempt to unionize the underpaid (if paid at all) black porters of Pullman Rail Company. Andre Braugher, Charles S. Dutton, Mario Van Peebles and Brock Peters star. (Not reviewed.) Sat., Feb. 2, 7:30pm.