Baby, You Can Drive My Car [Special Screenings, Feb. 8-15]

Poverty, Inc. Hope International, a nonprofit composed of Christ followers who fight global poverty, hosts a screening of this award-winning documentary that casts a critical eye on the rise of the West’s multibillion-dollar poverty industry. From TOMs Shoes to international adoptions, the film poses the uncomfortable question, “Could I be part of the problem?” There is a post-screening discussion about that and Hope International’s work in Haiti, which a certain U.S. president recently referred to as a “shithole.” We Work Office, 200 Spectrum Center Dr., Irvine; www.hopeinternational.org. Thurs., Feb. 8, 6:30 p.m. Free.

Miracle. To mark the start of the Winter Olympics, the Violent Gentlemen Hockey Club hosts a screening of Gavin O’Connor’s 2004 bio-drama starring Kurt Russell as Herb Brooks, the coach of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team that won gold by beating the seemingly invincible Russians in what became known as “the miracle on ice.” Each ticket holder gets an exclusive Violent Gentlemen X Oxford pennant, and items from the “For Love of Country” Olympic collection are available for purchase. The Frida Cinema, 305 E. Fourth St., Santa Ana; thefridacinema.org. Thurs., Feb. 8, 7 p.m. $10.

Oscar Nominated Short Films. Separate screenings feature Academy Award-nominated short films in animation, documentary and live-action categories. Best Animated Short Film nominees are: Glen Keane’s Dear Basketball; Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata’s Negative Space; Dave Mullins’ Lou; Jakob Schuh and Jan Lachauer’s Revolting Rhymes; and Florian Babikian, Vincent Bayoux, Victor Claire, Theophile Dufresne, Gabriel Grapperon and Lucas Navarro’s Garden Party. Best Documentary-Short Subject nominees are: Laura Chekoway and Thomas Lee Wright’s Edith+Eddie; Frank Stiefel’s Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405; Elaine McMillion Sheldon and Kerrin Sheldon’s Heroin(e); Thomas Lennon’s Knife Skills; and Kate Davis and David Heilbroner’s Traffic Stop. Best Live Action Short Film nominees are: Reed Van Dyk’s DeKalb Elementary; Derin Seale and Josh Lawson’s The Eleven O’Clock; Kevin Wilson Jr.’s My Nephew Emmett; Chris Overton and Rachel Shenton’s The Silent Child; and Katja Benrath and Tobias Rosen’s Watu Wote/All of Us. Oscars are presented March 4. Regency Directors Cut Cinema at Rancho Niguel, 25471 Rancho Niguel Rd., Laguna Niguel, (949) 831-0446; also at Regency South Coast Village, 1561 Sunflower Ave., Santa Ana, (714) 557-5701. Fri.-Thurs., Feb. 9-15. Call for show times and ticket prices.

The Disaster Artist. Tommy Wiseau’s The Room has been a late-show mainstay at the Frida, so it’s a small wonder that downtown Santa Ana’s cinematic wonderland is now showing James Franco’s acclaimed adaptation of The Room co-star Greg Sestero’s making-of tell-all. Rather than creating a Wiseau hit piece, Franco shows how The Room’s writer/producer/director/star (whom he also plays) became an unlikely legend. The Frida Cinema; thefridacinema.org. Fri.-Thurs., Feb. 9-15, 5:30, 7:30 & 9:40 p.m.; additional screenings, Sat.-Sun., 12:30 & 3 p.m. $7-$10.

National Lampoon’s Animal House. Free popcorn if you wear a toga . . . toga . . . TOGA! Some may believe this frat-boy comedy came out of nowhere when it exploded onto screens in 1978, but it actually followed a progression that started with the National Lampoon humor magazine becoming so huge it spawned stage and radio shows (featuring the likes of John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray and Gilda Radner, all of whom Lorne Michaels would poach for NBC’s Saturday Night Live). At the height of his SNL powers, Belushi returned the Lampoon favor by starring in this film that was written by Lampooners Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney and Chris Miller and directed by John Landis, whose only previous helming credit was for Kentucky Fried Movie. The setting here is Faber College, where the hard-partying Delta House fraternity brothers bedevil Dean Wormer as well as the only other campus frat, which is filled with white, Anglo-Saxon, rich, young men. Wormer comes up with a plan to 86 Delta House just before the homecoming parade to end all homecoming parades . . . for all time. Art Theatre, 2025 E. Fourth St., Long Beach, (562) 438-5435. Fri., 11 p.m. $8.50-$11.50.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The pioneering midnight movie starts with the car of sweethearts Brad and Janet (Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon) breaking down near the eerie mansion of Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry). The transvestite scientist’s home also hosts a rocking biker (Meat Loaf), a creepy butler (Richard O’Brien) and assorted freaks, including a hunk of beefcake named “Rocky.” Live shadow-cast troupes that perform alongside what’s flashed on the screen are K.A.O.S. in Santa Ana and Midnight Insanity in Long Beach. The Frida Cinema; thefridacinema.org. Fri., 11:30 p.m. $7-$10; Art Theatre, (562) 438-5435. Sat., 11:55 p.m. $8.50-$11.50.

The Met: Live in HD: L’Elisir d’Amore. Pretty Yende debuts a new role at the Met as the feisty Adina, and Matthew Polenzani returns as Nemorino in Bartlett Sher’s production. The Donizetti opera is sung in Italian with English subtitles. AMC Marina Pacifica, 6346 E. Pacific Coast Hwy., Long Beach, (562) 430-8790; AMC Orange 30 at the Outlets, 20 City Blvd. W., Orange, (714) 769-4288; Cinemark Century Stadium 25, 1701 W. Katella Ave., Orange, (714) 532-9558; Cinemark Century 20 Huntington Beach, 7777 Edinger Ave., Huntington Beach, (714) 373-4573; Cinemark at the Pike Theaters, 99 S. Pine Ave., Long Beach, (800) 967-1932; Edwards Aliso Viejo Stadium 20, 26701 Aliso Creek Rd., Aliso Viejo, (844) 462-7342; Edwards Irvine Spectrum 21, 65 Fortune Dr., Irvine, (844) 462-7342; Edwards Long Beach Stadium 26, 7501 E. Carson, Long Beach, (844) 462-7342; www.fathomevents.com. Sat., 9 a.m.; also at those theaters and AMC Tustin Legacy at the District, 2457 Park Ave., Tustin, (714) 258-7036. Wed., 1 & 6:30 p.m. (1 p.m. only in Huntington Beach.) $18-$22.

Lover for a Day. The 2017 drama is the final installment in the love trilogy of auteur Philippe Garrel, following Jealousy of 2013 and 2015’s In the Shadow on Women. Philosophy professor Gilles (ƒric Caravaca) is in a relationship with one of his students, Ariane (Louise Chevillotte). After a devastating breakup, Gilles’ 23-year-old daughter, Jeanne (Esther Garrel), moves into the couple’s small Paris flat. Ariane and Jeanne seek their own kind of love in a city filled with possibilities. Presented in French with English subtitles. Art Theatre, (562) 438-5435. Sat.-Sun., 11 a.m. $8.50-$11.50.

Mazinger Z: Infinity. VIZ Media, Toei Animation and Fathom Events present the U.S. premiere of the latest anime from the revered Japanese sci-fi franchise. A decade ago, Koji Kabuto, piloting the legendary super-robot Mazinger Z, stopped villainous scientist Dr. Hell’s evil plan and returned peace to the Earth. Koji has since left the pilot seat to become a scientist in his own right, following in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps. But an unexpected encounter deep under Mt. Fuji changes all that. Attendees to these screenings, which are presented in Japanese with English subtitles, receive exclusive Mazinger Z: Infinity mini-posters while supplies last. AMC Downtown Disney, 1565 Disneyland Dr., Anaheim, (714) 776-2355; AMC Orange 30 at the Outlets, (714) 769-4288; Cinemark Century Stadium 25, (714) 532-9558; Cinemark Century 20 Huntington Beach, (714) 373-4573; Cinemark at the Pike Theaters, (800) 967-1932; Edwards Aliso Viejo Stadium 20, (844) 462-7342; Edwards Irvine Spectrum 21, (844) 462-7342; Edwards Long Beach Stadium 26, (844) 462-7342; www.fathomevents.com. Sun., 12:55 p.m.; Mon., 7 p.m. $12.50.

Boyz N the Hood. Frida’s the Directors series honors Black History Month with John Singleton’s acclaimed and influential 1991 debut, which led to him becoming the Academy Awards’ first black nominee for Best Director and, at 24, the youngest. Tre (Cuba Gooding Jr.), Ricky (Morris Chestnut) and Doughboy (Ice Cube), who are longtime friends in South Central Los Angeles, drift their separate ways (college, sports and gangbanging, respectively). But after Doughboy incurs the wrath of a rival gang, one of his pals is taken out and the other abandons his dreams to help exact revenge. The Frida Cinema; thefridacinema.org. Sun., 3:30 & 8 p.m.; Mon.-Tues., 1:30 & 8 p.m. $7-$10.

Harold and Maude. Take your honey on a Valentine’s Day date to see Hal Ashby’s 1971 cult classic. Harold (Bud Cort) is a young man obsessed with deathÑright down to staging fake suicides, attending funerals and driving a Hearse. Maude (Ruth Gordon) is an effervescent 79-year-old woman who loves life. How could these two crazy kids not fall head over support hose? The Frida Cinema; thefridacinema.org. Wed., 1:30, 3:30, 6 & 8 p.m. $7-$10.

Rio Bravo. In the 1959 western from legendary director Howard Hawks, Newport Beach’s adopted favorite son John Wayne plays a small-town sheriff trying to keep a powerful rancher from busting his murder-suspect brother out of jail. Because some of the Duke’s films in the ’50s weren’t making bank, the studios started pairing him with teen idols such as Fabian, Frankie Avalon and, in the case of Rio Bravo, Ricky Nelson. At least it wasn’t Wally. Regency South Coast Village, (714) 557-5701. Wed., 7:30 p.m. $9.

Baby Driver. The theme for February’s Thursday Matinee film series is “Instant Classics.” From 2017 comes Edgar Wright’s action crime drama about Baby (Ansel Elgort), a music-lover who is coerced to work as a getaway driver for a kingpin (Kevin Spacey). The lauded film’s choreography has the actors’ actions synching with the movie soundtrack. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own light snacks and covered beverages, but alcohol is not allowed. Fullerton Public Library, Osborne Auditorium, 353 W. Commonwealth Ave., Fullerton, (714) 738-6326. Thurs., Feb. 15, 1 p.m. Free.

Sunset Blvd. Whether you go for that stylized title as it appeared onscreen or the more formal Sunset Boulevard: A Hollywood Story, the 1950 classic is the first of four films being shown at Frida as part of Chapman University’s Los Angeles in Film & Fiction class, whose screenings are open to all. The skewering of Tinsel Town fame, which comes from the devilish mind of Billy Wilder, is about a struggling screenwriter (William Holden) who finds the easy life in the mansion of faded silent-film queen Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson). Because of Norma’s escalating madness, things don’t end so well for the writer, as you’ll discover through a then-unique character-narration storytelling device. The Frida Cinema; thefridacinema.org. Thurs., Feb. 15, 7 p.m.; also Feb. 18, 1:30 p.m. $7-$10.