This mayoral debate is going to be big, with a 99% chance of people heckling the stage. Why? Because Mayor Ed Lee, who announced today his intentions to run for full term, will appear at his first-ever mayoral forum. Hosted by the Duboce Triangle Neighborhood Association (DTNA) and the Castro/Eureka Valley Neighborhood Association (EVNA), Lee will appear alongside such competitors as Michela Alioto-Pier, Supervisor John Avalos, Board President David Chiu, Bevan Dufty, Tony Hall, City Attorney Dennis Herrera, Joanna Rees, Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting and Senator Leland Yee. more ›

Robert Hays, who played Ted Striker in the perennially quoted Airplane! movies, is making a special appearance this evening at the Castro Theatre at 7 PM as part of Sketchfest, where he'll be giving an in-person salute to writer-directors Jim Abrahams and David and Jerry Zucker. Obviously, Hays, 63, has aged a bit since those perfectly pouty days of the early 80s, and he's still using a really old headshot on IMDB, but we're guessing the cougars will be out in full force to see the still handsome actor alongside the goofy Airplane! fanatics and June Cleaver impersonators. more ›

by Rachel Brodsky It's the event you've all been waiting for--another Tim Burton feature presentation! And maybe this one will actually work! Burton, the master of fairy tale reinterpretation topped with a haunting Gothic fetish is releasing his CGI-tastic Alice In Wonderland today. more ›

Sad news, Golden Girls fans. Rue McClanahan (AKA Blanche Devereaux) canceled her November 14 tribute at the Castro Theatre. The actress, it seems, is laid up in the hospital over an ailing heart. more ›

Every Pride season, there are a legion of LGBT film fests accompanying the legion of regional Pride fests across the land, now that gay pride isn't just for major metropolitan areas anymore. San Francisco has the largest and best attended Pride parade in the country, and we also have one of the oldest, biggest and most respected gay film fests, Frameline, which opens its 33rd season tonight with Quentin Crisp biopic, An Englishman in New York (pictured). more ›

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According to the fine folks over at The Sword (NSFW), the GayVNs (NSFW) will be held here on Saturday -- you know, those homosexual pornography achievement awards, which led to Mayor Gavin Newsom getting all Berkeley City Council on us after he declared Feb. 23 to be Colt Studio Day last year? -- coinciding with that hairy-large-gay-appreciation festival thing happening. more ›

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• Lucas (1986), Say Anything (1989), My Bloody Valentine (1981): The first film has socially-retarded Corey Haim falling head over heels in love with a sensitive football player, Charlie Sheen, or something like that; Cameron Crowe's tale of teenage love and angst has John Cusack causing egregious noise pollution when he holds up a ghettoblaster pumping out a Peter Gabriel ballad; and the final film has a murderer in a small coal mining town killing those who celebrate Valentine's Day. They screen at 7:30 p.m., 9:45, and midnight, respectively, at the Castro Theatre; $6-9.
• Editors: Yeah, yeah. We screwed up. Again. The SSRIs are running low this week. Stupid shrink. Anyway, check out this English indie rock band along hipster favorites Hot Hot Heat and Louis XIV. Music starts at 8 p.m. at the Warfield; $23.
• The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition's Love on Wheels: As SFist Jim mentioned before, tonight's Dating Game parody in Hayes Valley should be divine. Starts at 7 p.m. at Rickshaw Stop; free for members of the SFBC ($10 for non-members).

• Hal Holbrook in "Mark Twain Tonight": Julia Sugarbaker's husband and Oscar nominee for this year's Into the Wild, Broadway veteran Hal Holbrook won a Tony Award in 1966 for playing satirical American writer in this performance, and he's been doing it ever since. This one-man show draws on observations taken from Twain's own material. A real treat for admirers of American literature. The show starts tonight at 8 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco; $55.
• Robyn at popscene: This Swedish "pint-sized atom bomb" import -- who sounds a whole lot like Kate Bush, and we mean that in the best way possible -- spits out bite-sized pop ballads on love, heartbreak, and the "post-adolescent condition." Oh my. Doors open at 10 p.m. at 330 Ritch; $10, $12 (18-and-over).
• Ben X (2007): An autistic teenager immerses himself in the comfy world of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (i.e., MMORPG) The film is based on Nic Balthazar's novel that was inspired by the real-life story of an autistic boy who committed suicide in part due to constant bullying. Though not the most cheery film, it is a most fascinating one nevertheless. This kicks off the 10th Annual SF Indiefest. Screens tonight at 9:15 p.m. at the Castro Theatre; $6-9.

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• Let's Get Lost (1988): Bruce Weber followed around jazz trumpeter and heroin addict Chet Baker on a year-long excursion, "from the West Coast, to the East Coast, to Europe--including a stop at the Cannes Film Festival--with interviews with Chet, colleagues and friends, including dueling insights from his third wife, a former British show girl, and three children in Oklahoma, and from old flame Ruth Young, a sardonically throaty torch singer." Screens tonight at 7 p.m. and 9:20 at the Castro Theatre; $6-9.
• Circle Jerks: Hermosa Beach-based punk outfit named after a homoerotic act of mutual sexual self-gratification--and formed by Black Flag's original singer, Keith Morris, and future Bad Religion guitarist Greg Hetson--return tonight to show the youngins how it's done. They perform along with Hit Me Back and the Last of the Believers. The ear-splitting sounds start at 8 p.m. at Slim's; $17.
• Mary Lynn Rajskub: read more about tonight's show here.

Undergoing a procedure to erase 30 years from its face, the Castro neighborhood is going retro, circa 1978, for the filming of Gus Van Sant's Harvey Milk biopic, Milk, which starts shooting this week. Already the Castro Theatre, right, and boutique shop Given, formerly Milk's camera store / campaign headquarters, are being renovated to get that '70s vibe. Rumor has it that Castro Street between 18th and 19th streets (i.e., the staphicenter) will be closed on Thursday. We'll update with more info as it comes in. more ›

Sketchfest continues more ›

• RiffTrax Live at the Castro - . Eeee! Like, we could just die! (Part of SF Sketchfest.) Starts at 9 p.m. at the Castro Theatre.
• Your Macworld Expo Parties: It's winding down, kids. Partake in the Macworld festivities while you can.
• Ships in the Night: San Francisco's jankiest and most awesome bar--of the homosexual persuasion, anyway--is having one of the city's jankiest and most awesome! DJs L'il Manila, Durt, and Vroom pump out all of your favorite dance floor classics this evening. What's more, your admission fee goes to pro-abortion group, Bay Area Coalition for Our Reproductive Rights. Woo hoo! The drinking and dancing starts at 10 p.m. at the Gang Way; $3-5.

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Goes from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. at Double Dutch; free.

Pollan is ready to serve at 8 p.m. at the Herbst Theatre; 401 Van Ness; $17-19. SOLD OUT

• Laughing Squid’s Last Minute Unholiday Party: Scott Beale and the gang will be having a most splendid post- and un-holiday party/experiment with social media. Although LS will be "providing some beer and buying pizza, but please feel free to bring some more beer, wine, leftover holiday food, etc." The mood is low-key and geek-filled, and we mean that in the best possible way. Starts at 7 p.m. at Citizen Space.
• Ben-Hur (1959): Not only did this William Wyler-directed epic saga about a Jewish prince sold into slavery (and something or other about bare chests and chariot racing) win a record-breaking 11 Oscars, but finely-aged ham Charlton Heston also picked up the best actor award for it, too. See, miracles really do happen. Screens tonight at 7 p.m. at The Castro Theatre; $6-9
• Barracuda: (Now, wouldntcha?) DJs Damon, Heiko, and Phillie Ocean turn what could be an ordinary '80s night into something extraordinary. Chic, rather than humorous or ironic, '80s attire is highly encouraged. The beats go from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. at 111 Minna Gallery; $5-10.

The last time we saw Sandra Bernhard, which was at Bimbo's earlier this year, we almost walked into her as we were leaving the ladies room and she was making her entrance from the back of the theater, crooning "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going." After a stagehand or security guy or au pair grabbed and shook the holy hell out of us, preventing us from colliding with Ms. Sandra, we went back to our seat, shamefaced. Naturally, out of fear, we can never ever see her again. Ever. But you sure can. In fact, you can catch her during her annual New Year's Eve stint here in glorious San Francisco. more ›

The singing starts at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. at Slim's; $15.

Starts at 7:30 p.m. at SomArts Cultural Center; $70.

-- Unsilent Night: New York-based composer Phil Kline’s holiday concert creates "an outdoor ambient music piece for an infinite number of boomboxes. It’s like a Christmas caroling party except that [you] don’t sing, but rather carry the music, each [member] playing a separate track that is a "voice" in the piece. In effect, we become a city-block-long sound system" So ... there you have it. Tapes and CDs will be handed out to participants. Merry holidays, yo. more ›

-- Jackie Beat: Give 'Til It Hurts: It's a Christmastime cabaret with infamous dragster Jackie Beat. She will take some of your favorite holiday classics and render them tasteless and tacky, and you'll love every minute of it. Yes. Yes, you will. The show starts at 8 p.m. at the Empire Plush Room; $30-$32.50. more ›

-- Crime in Choir: CIC rocks it. Hard. For reals. Big time. One of the purest sounds coming out of SF these days, really. Brave the chill and head down to Potrero Hill to check them out. You won't regret it. Pink Mountain and Science of Yarba open at this anniversary party for Frenetic Records. The music starts at 10 p.m. at Bottom of the Hill; $10. more ›