She Likes to Watch

This week’s film calendar includes “Kung Fu Hustle,” “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”

Chinese filmmaker Stephen Chow’s movies seem to revolve around characters who are cocky, overconfident and downright incompetent.

Sing, the protagonist of “Kung Fu Hustle,” is no exception.

Together with his rotund best friend (Lam Tze Chung), Sing (Chow) makes his living as a two-bit hustler in 1940s Hong Kong — specializing in small-time scams like stealing ice cream from a shy, beautiful street vendor.

Free ice cream is fine, but Bone and Sing long for a better life as master criminals. They want to join Brother Sum (Danny Chan Kwok Kwan) and the Axe Gang — vicious hatchet-wielding, top hat-wearing killers that rule the streets of Hong Kong.

Bone and Sing try to put the squeeze on Pig Sty Alley while masquerading as members of the Axe Gang, only to run afoul of the tenement house’s loud-mouth landlady (Yuen Qui) and her lecherous husband (Yuen Wah).

Now, between the slum dwellers, the Axe Gang and a pair of musical assassins, the two friends are about to find themselves in a hilarious heap of trouble.

Just like Chow’s other comedies, “Kung Fu Hustle” blends killer kung fu moves with the slapstick humor of a Three Stooges movie and the flexible physics of a “Looney Tunes” cartoon.

Chow, who also directed “Shaolin Soccer” and “CJ7,” also pays loving tribute to the history of Hollywood and Hong Kong cinema.

Don’t miss “Shaolin Soccer,” screening at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Wednesday at The Palm Theatre, 817 Palm St. in San Luis Obispo. Tickets are $7.50.

***

The American food industry is the focus of the documentary “Food, Inc.” also screening on Wednesday.

According to director Robert Kenner, the nation’s food supply is controlled by a handful of massive multinational corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, worker safety, the environment and the livelihood of the American farmer.

“Food, Inc.” screens at 7:30 pm. Wednesday at the Information Press office, 3436 Sacramento Dr., Suite A, in San Luis Obispo.

Tickets are $5 and include drinks and popcorn. Moviegoers are encouraged to bring their own bowls, as well as comfy chairs, blankets and throw pillows.

Call 545-7916 for more information.

***

Get ready to grin, grimace and groan at long-forgotten moments and treasured memories. This Saturday is Home Movie Day!

Created in 2002 by a group of film archivists, Home Movie Day advocates the preservation of amateur-made home movies, which are often misplaced, thrown away or lost due to improper storage.

Such movies can provide a revealing look at family traditions, cultures and histories.

On Saturday, county residents are encouraged to take a trip down memory lane at the San Luis Obispo Senior Center, 1445 Santa Rosa St. in San Luis Obispo.

Organizers will screen 8mm, Super 8 and 16mm films from 2 to 5 p.m.

Home movies on film can be dropped off at the senior center between 12 and 2 p.m. Saturday. Videos and DVDs will NOT be accepted.

For more information, call Genevieve Maxwell at 415-252-9042 or e-mail her at genevievemmaxwell@gmail.com. Locally, Janice Maxwell can be reached at 805-438-4120.

***

Don’t miss the chance Saturday to see a silent film classic on the big screen.

Based on Victor Hugo’s novel, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” stars Lon Chaney Sr. as Quasimodo, the kind-hearted but hideously deformed bell ringer at the famous Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

Bay Area organist Christian Elliott will accompany the movie live on the Forbes Pipe Organ.”

The Hunchback of Notre Dame” screens at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Performing Arts Center, 1 Grand Ave. in San Luis Obispo.

Tickets are  $25, or $15 for students and film festival members. To purchase tickets, call 756-2787 or visit Cal Poly Arts online.

Proceeds from the one-of-a-kind screening benefit the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival and Cal Poly Arts.