Kirk Douglas 100th birthday tribute in San Rafael

[...] for me, Douglas’ portrayal of a hard-driving, alienating film producer with a vision in Vincente Minnelli’s “The Bad and the Beautiful” (1952) — one of the best Hollywood movies about Hollywood — is the ultimate Kirk Douglas performance: passionate, charismatic, brutish, unyielding and vulnerable.

Billy Wilder’s media commentary “Ace in the Hole” (7:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11) has become one of the great noirs and is relevant again as today’s media grapples with its performance during the 2016 election season.

[...] Douglas’ favorite of his films, “Lonely Are the Brave” (7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 14), is about a cowboy’s struggle to retain his individualism in the face of a modernizing, group-think society.

The out-of-left-field, pleasant surprise in this series is the inclusion of two films directed by the underrated Richard Fleischer, who was a great filmmaker when given the chance: the 1954 Walt Disney Technicolor fantasy adventure “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” (7:15 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10) and the 1958 he-man extravaganza “The Vikings.”

Photographed by the awesome Jack Cardiff, mostly on location in Norway, “The Vikings” is probably inspired Ben Burtt, the “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” sound designer, filmmaker and special effects enthusiast.

At the “20,000 Leagues” screening, Burtt and visual effects artist Craig Barron are expected to host a live presentation on the film’s production methods and special effects, and Burtt will also introduce “The Vikings.”

In a salty sea of alpha males — Welles, Glenn Ford, Joseph Calleia — it’s Hayworth whose characters merit the title in both films.

PBS Kids at the Alamo — Holiday Highlights: A donation of $1-$3 reserves you a seat for this screening of holiday episodes of kiddy favorites “Bob the Builder,” “Nature Cat,” “Peg + Cat” and “Thomas and Friends.”