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Cineoke Cue up a DVD of your favorite movie musical, then sing along to your friends' boozy encouragement. Or hoots of derision. 21 and over. (NR) Jewel Box Theater (Rendezvous), 2320 Second Ave., 206-441-5823. $5. 8 p.m. Mon. June 12.
The City of Lost Children Screened on video, this futuristic 1995 phantasmagoria is a gorgeous amalgam of 19th- and 20th-century fantasy. A mad scientist, Krank (Daniel Emilfork), has been aging prematurely because he's incapable of dreaming. A group of mechanical-eyed thugs supplies Krank with city kids for a Frankenstein-like lab on an offshore rig, where he infiltrates their slumber and grabs their dreams for himself. Cheerfully enslaved to their visual obsessions, filmmakers Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro confront you with a dense, teeming canvas; their details are fascinating enough to goose you through the movie. (R) MICHAEL SRAGOW Central Cinema, 1411 21st Ave., 206-686-6684. $5. 7 and 9:30 p.m. Wed. June 7-Sun. June 11.
A Lion in the House So you think you're a hardy filmgoer because you survived Schindler's List, United 93, and every Texas Chainsaw Massacre they made? All pale in comparison to watching an 18-year-old undergo cranial surgery for cancerous lesions on his brain; or an 8-year-old girl screaming in pain at the invasive therapy that may be her only chance for life; or a 15-year-old vomit as a feeding tube is stuck up his nose in order to maintain body weight. For almost four hours, you'll watch kids with cancer, learn to love them, and then look on in horror as most of them succumb; it's nothing compared to what the parents go through, but it may be more than you can handle. Bring tissues and have a stiff drink ready afterward—you will need them. Filmmakers Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert are parent survivors themselves, and documented six years of the process as undergone by five other families. NOTE: Filmmakers and local cancer specialists will conduct a discussion during intermission. (NR) LUKE Y. THOMPSON Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave., 206-267-5380. Free; RSVP recommended to rsvp@communitycinemaseattle.org. 4 p.m. Sat. June 10-11.
Independent Exposure Eighteen international short works are shown in this all-animation program. In one, a potato battles a ferret. In another, computer ascii characters are used as a medium to convey motion. Also considered are the aurora borealis, composer Luciano Berio, and the metaphysical dilemma of a caged bird. (NR) Central Cinema, 1411 21st Ave., 206-686-6684. $5. 7 and 9 p.m. Wed. June 14.
Mausoleum Kind of like Diary of a Mad Housewife with exploding heads and impalement, this gory 1983 exploitation flick stars Bobbie Bresee, who finds herself falling under the influence of a nympho-killer family curse. Since her screen credits (including Surf Nazis Must Die) probably reached their zenith with a guest shot on The Love Boat, you can draw your own conclusions about the quality here. (R) Grand Illusion, 1403 N.E. 50th St., 206-523-3935. $5-$7.50. 11 p.m. Fri. June 9-Sat. June 10.
May Fools SAM concludes its Louis Malle retrospective with this look back (from 1990) at the events of 1968, when all French society seemed in upheaval. The film takes an oblique and not very satisfactory perspective as a bourgeois family gathers at its country estate for a funeral. Should they sell the place? Hold on to it to maintain tradition? May Fools never gets beyond that level of symbolism, and Malle seems more interested in the nuances of eating and family dynamics. Instead of showing students ripping up cobblestones or interrupting the Cannes Film Festival, the film is political in that everyone talks about politics, cares about them deeply, but then there's another nap or meal or love affair that demands one's attention. And which, really, is ultimately more important? Or more French? (R) Museum of History and Industry, 2700 24th Ave. E., 206-654-3121. $7. 7:30 p.m. Thurs. June 8.
Movies at the Sunset First up is a bundle of excerpts and oddities to set the grindhouse mood. Next, at 7 p.m., it's the 1982 horror flick Basket Case, in which formerly conjoined twins revenge themselves on their surgeons—and anyone else unlucky enough to cross their path. The evening finale (at 9 p.m.) is Ninja: The Final Duel, from 1986, which pits two rival ninja factions against each other. One rides giant spiders to attack. And the other—no kidding—is led by an American guy from Harlem. And apparently there's even a naked female ninja fighter in the fray. Don't say you weren't warned. 21 and over. (NR) Sunset Tavern, 5433 Ballard Ave. N.W., 206-784-4880. Free. 6 p.m. Mon. June 12.
Nobelity A dreadful hug-the-Earth documentary. Turk Pipkin presents himself as an average American filmmaker whose friends just happen to be Nobel laureates with varying theories on how to save the world. This boring movie uses the cheap ploy of Pipkin attempting to answer the "difficult questions" his children have about why we're polluting the Earth and not making it a safer place for them. I'd love to find out what school Pipkin's kids attend, because their breadth of understanding about current world issues is astounding. The film is a kind of warped beauty pageant where brilliant minds compete over which pressing problem is the most horrible. In the end, no one wins. (NR) FRANK PAIVA East West Books, 6500 Roosevelt Way N.E., 206-523-3726. $10. 7:30 p.m. Sat. June 10. 1 and 3:30 p.m. Sun. June 11.
