Alamo showcases a film legend

Alamo Drafthouse New Mission is inviting movie-goers to take a deep dive in the fascinating world of David Lynch.

The San Francisco cinema salutes the equally visionary and iconic director — who died in January at the age of 78 — by showing several of his greatest works this month and in April.

“He was a singular artist who peeled back layers of the collective unconscious in American pop culture,” organizers wrote about Lynch on the Alamo website. “We invite you to experience — on the big screen — Lynch’s unique ability to blend noir, horror, comedy, and existential dread, and the unforgettable cinematic experiences he created.”

Topping our must-see list is “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me,” the 1992 prequel to Lynch and Mark Frost’s first-tier cult TV hit “Twin Peaks.” The feature-length film actually drew horrible reviews upon its release, as well as flopped at the box office, but critical and popular consensus has changed over the years and “Fire Walk With Me” is now rightfully considered one of the director’s finest works.

“Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me” shows at 9:10 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Other Lynch favorites set to hit the big screen include “Wild at Heart,” “Lost Highway,” “Mulholland Drive,” “Inland Empire,” “The Elephant Man” and “Dune” (1984) — with the latter still ranking as our favorite film adaptation of the Frank Herbert novel.

Details: For showtimes and ticket information, visit drafthouse.com/sf.

— Jim Harrington, Staff

Exploratorium serves up slice of pi

Times may change on a dime in our tumultuous world, but one thing always remains the same: pi, the irrational-mathematical constant, the ol’ circumference/diameter split, the big 3.14159265358979323 … you get the idea.

As immutable as pi is, so is Pi (p) Day, a celebration that San Francisco’s Exploratorium invented back in 1988 that has become an international sensation. Taking place on March 14 every year, Pi Day in the Bay typically involves math-themed activities and presentations, a pi parade with a brass band that begins at 1:59 p.m. (the numbers that follow 3.14) and then literal pie — free slices of pizza for everyone who’s paid the museum admission. In 2025 the Exploratorium is promising a “celestial twist” to the festivities, as the holiday occurs on the same day as a total lunar eclipse — the spookily named “Blood Moon.”

What’s that mean? Well, planned so far are demonstrations of how female engineers and astronauts use pi in their space-probing work. Aside from pizza, there will also be Moon Pies to scarf up. And that’s probably enough pie for one day for people watching their own circumferences.

Details: Noon-5 p.m. Friday; Pier 15 (Embarcadero at Green St,), San Francisco; $40 daytime tickets, www.exploratorium.edu.

— John Metcalfe, Staff

Classical picks: ‘Yes, No’; ‘Swan Lake’

The Bay Area’s music scene has something for every interest this week, as artists from around the world arrive with works new and old. Leading with a chamber opera by the always-provocative South African artist William Kentridge, events also include Hong Kong-born conductor Elim Chan leading an all-Tchaikovsky program, and chamber works performed by Germany’s Aris Quartet.

“The Great Yes, The Great No”: William Kentridge returns to Cal Performances with his latest stage work, a chamber opera set on a 1941 sea voyage from Marseille to Martinique. Merging surreal imagery with historical events, choral music, dance, video projections and poetry, the opera explores the political, literary, and artistic movements of the era. Details: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday; Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley; $43-$140; calperformances.org.

All Tchaikovsky at the Symphony: Conductor Elim Chan returns to the San Francisco Symphony to conduct the orchestra in music from “Swan Lake,” which the composer himself called “the best thing I ever composed or shall compose.” Audiences can decide for themselves after this program, which also includes Tchaikovsky’s moving Symphony No. 6, “Pathétique.” Details: 2 p.m. today, 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday; Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco; $49-$225; sfsymphony.org.

Aris Quartet: Germany’s acclaimed chamber foursome comes to an ideal setting, the beautiful Kohl Mansion, for a program including works by Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn, Lukas Ligeti and Erwin Schulhoff. Ticketholders are encouraged to come early for a pre-concert talk by cellist Christopher Costanza of the St. Lawrence String Quartet.Details: 7 p.m. Sunday; Kohl Mansion, Burlingame; $30-$62; musicatkohl.org.

— Georgia Rowe, Correspondent

The unthinkable unravels in ‘Adolescence’

It’s a parent’s ultimate nightmare. The cops barge into your house early in the morning, demand to see your 13-year-old son and then take him away and accuse him of murder. In “Adolescence,” the soul-piercing four-part Netflix series by actor Stephen Graham (“Peaky Blinders,” “A Thousand Blows”), co-written with Jack Thorne (“This Is England”), the shocked Miller family reels from the news that Jamie (Owen Cooper in a performance that will shatter and haunt you) might have killed a 13-year-old girl.

Each episode is shot in one take, and while that might sound gimmicky, it works and doesn’t call attention to itself, making it feel like we’re experiencing this live and with the same rawness and realness of its characters. The first episode centers on Jamie and his father Eddie (Graham) going through questioning; the second revolves around two detectives (Ashley Walters and Faye Marsay) venturing into Jamey’s school; the third — and most explosive — focuses on a session between a psychologist (Briony Ariston) and Jamey; and the fourth — the most wrenching — follows the Miller family at home eight months after the crime.

All told, this is a heartbreaking look at a devastating tragedy that leaves a community and a family grappling with the heartbreak and wondering if they played a part in what happened. It’s powerful and finds Graham being a force in front of and behind the camera.

Details: Available beginning on Netflix.

— Randy Myers, Correspondent

Here comes Miss Smith

Bay Area singer Lavay Smith came upon her revved up jazz/blues/swing sound in a unique fashion. Growing up in Long Beach, she was fed a steady diet of such standard-bearers as Fats Waller, Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, and Dinah Washington. She moved as a youth to the Philippines, and honed her considerable vocal talents in a Manila rock band.

Back in the U.S., Smith long ago established herself as an indispensable part of the Bay Area blues/jazz/roots scene with a busy schedule of gigs ranging from headlining at concert halls to belting out blues, jazz and swing classics in packed nightclubs — almost always accompanied by her first-rate band, The Red Hot Skillet Lickers.

On Friday, she performs a pair of shows — 7 and 9 p.m. — at Stanford University’s intimate Studio. She’ll likely draw some cuts from her latest album, “Miss Smith to You,” but with her talent and savvy, any tune she tackles becomes a classic.

Details: Tickets are $40-$60; live.stanford.edu.

— Randy McMullen, Staff