Roxie Independent Cinema in the Mission: $11 Before 3 pm

The Roxie Theater sells general admission for $14, and any show that starts before 3 pm drops to $11. The nonprofit cinema sits at 3117 16th Street at Valencia in San Francisco's Mission District, with a second, smaller room called the Little Roxie two doors west at 3125 16th Street, next to the bar Dalva. Its box office opens every day 30 minutes before the first show and closes 15 minutes after the last show starts, so a walk-up ticket is possible right up to the opening credits.

The building's story starts with a jeweler. Phillip H. Doll put his profits into the movie business, and the 1914 to 1915 city directory lists his Poppy Theater at this spot. It later became the New 16th Street, then the Rex, the Gem and the Gaiety, before it reappeared in 1934 as the Roxie, a name borrowed from the palatial Roxy in New York. The facelift that year added the odd marquee you still see, which has no space at all for film titles.

The decades after that were uneven. Second- and third-run Hollywood films gave way to German-language pictures, a stretch as a porn house from 1968, and a year of Russian-language movies in 1975. In March 1976 a group of community organizers took over, remodeled the room and switched to art and independent film, and the programming has stayed on that track for half a century.

Bill Banning arrived in 1984 and spent 25 years as owner and then programming director. He started a distribution company, Roxie Releasing, and plowed its profits into building the second screen, the Little Roxie, which opened in 2003. The cinema became a standalone 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2009, and today grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the city help keep ticket prices where they are.

That nonprofit status shows up at the box office. EBT and SNAP cardholders pay $5 a ticket through the Movies for All program, one ticket per card, and the card must be shown at the window. Children aged 4 or younger do not need a ticket at all.

Late October is when the Roxie calendar gets crowded. Gialloween VI, its annual run of Italian horror, put Dario Argento's Door Into Darkness on screen on October 21. The 18th SF Latino Film Festival opens here on October 22 with Street Smart: Lessons from a TV Icon and a post-screening Q&A with director Ernie Bustamante.

Friday, October 23 is a good night for a first visit: Blade Runner: The Final Cut on 35mm at 8:30 pm, Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette in a 4K restoration, and the off-beat comedy Lady. The following week brings The Blair Witch Project and Hiroshi Teshigahara's Woman in the Dunes on October 29, then Wild at Heart in 4K on Halloween night.

The Roxie also programs New People Cinema in Japantown, where the 30th anniversary remaster of Ghost in the Shell screened on October 22. Read the listing carefully, because those shows take place across town rather than on 16th Street.

The two rooms feel very different. The Big Roxie is the historic single screen, and it is the only room where the concession stand can sell beer and wine. The Little Roxie, two doors down, is the smaller second screen Bill Banning built, and the liquor license does not cover it, so there is no alcohol in there at all, and drinks bought in the Big Roxie cannot be carried over.

Both rooms take cash or cards, plus Apple Pay and Google Pay. All sales are final. Films begin at the posted showtime, and previews play in the 30 minutes before it, so the time on your ticket is when the feature starts. Arrive at least 15 minutes early for a festival screening or special event, because sold-out shows fill quickly.

Seniors aged 65 and up pay $11, as do children under 12 and anyone at a matinee before 3 pm. Special events cost $15. Groups of 15 or more pay $12 each when they book ahead and pay in one transaction. Buying online adds a $1.62 service fee for non-members. There is no student discount on single tickets, so students should look at the $65 student and low-income membership, which carries Fan-level benefits.

The Fan membership costs $120 a year, takes 25% off tickets and removes online fees. Patron, at $350 a year, takes 50% off, includes a free small popcorn and two complimentary screenings a month. The $675 Angel level means free admission. Every level also includes guest passes mailed with the membership card, and those passes must be redeemed in person at the box office.

Popcorn is popped in peanut oil and topped with real butter, $6 for a small and $8 for a large with one free refill. Ask for nutritional yeast on top if you want the house twist. Ritual coffee costs $3, and 12-ounce Fort Point beers brewed in San Francisco run $6. Every concession sale goes back into the theater, and the stand also carries Haribo, Red Vines and Lindt bars at $4 to $5.

Before a show, walk two blocks south to Clarion Alley, a narrow lane between Mission and Valencia whose walls have been repainted by local muralists since 1992. Five minutes west on 16th Street brings you to Mission Dolores, the oldest intact building in the city, with its small cemetery garden beside the old adobe chapel.

Afterward, Dalva sits right next to the Little Roxie and is the obvious place for a post-film argument. If you would rather eat, Valencia Street between 16th and 20th is lined with taquerias, bookshops and late cafes.

Address: Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, with the Little Roxie at 3125 16th Street. Phone: (415) 431-3611. Box office: opens daily 30 minutes before the first show and closes 15 minutes after the last show starts. Tickets: $14 general, $11 seniors, children and matinees before 3 pm, $15 special events, $5 with an EBT card.

Getting there: the 16th Street Mission BART station is a three-minute walk, and Muni lines 14, 22, 33, 49 and 55 stop nearby. Street parking is scarce, and the SFMTA garage at 16th and Hoff closes at 10:30 pm, which matters for late shows. Two bike racks sit out front. The whole building is wheelchair accessible, with assistive listening devices on request. Ask the Karpo APP which Roxie screening fits after dinner on Valencia, and it can line up the walk from BART.