Nov 27, 2010: 6:00pm
$10 (Kids: $5)
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Oddball for Everyone: An All-Ages Evening at San Francisco's Treasure Trove of Cinema
in the series Oddball Ephemera | Flyer
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Once more Oddball Archives, that veritable Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory of Film, opens its fuzzy door to budding cineastes of tomorrow! Film on Film Foundation and Oddball present a re-tooled selection of kid-centric films with ageless appeal. Classic cartoons feature Woody Woodpecker and Gumby and explore our micro- and macrocosmos, while live-action films pay homage to the pencil, backyard fauna, and that much-maligned meteorological phenomenon, rain. Plus, a legendary tribute to the greatest musical act of all time. Winsome fun for grown-ups and children alike! Come early to check out our preshow of surprise films.
| Pencil (Le crayon)
(1971) by Gary Plaxton 7.5 min. Color 16mm | |
The pencil in all its variety and ubiquity is celebrated in this colorful mini-documentary. Ever wonder how they get the lead in there? This and other mysteries are revealed during the energetic factory sequences while a time warp synthesizer score delights.
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| Pantry Panic
(1941) by Walter Lantz 7 min. Color 16mm | |
Woody Woodpecker passes on flying south for the winter, but once the food is gone he finds himself in a brutal battle of the wills with an equally famished visitor to his snowbound village. One of the first Woody cartoons ever made--the artwork is exquisite! Not for tender vegetarians.
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| Zoo
(1962) by Bert Haanstra 10 min. BW 16mm | |
Many exotic creatures can be observed going through life's daily rituals in this swinging little documentary: the inhabitants of the zoo and its equally fascinating human visitors.
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| Cosmic Zoom
(1968) by Norman McLaren 13 min. BW 16mm | |
A fantastic, "continuous" voyage from a rowboat on the Ottawa river, upward and outward to a grand view of galactic flotsam, then back inwards through a rivulet of blood in the tip of a mosquito's proboscis, to examine an atomic nucleus. Remade a decade later by Charles and Ray Eames ( Powers of Ten) with narration (and its jumping-off point moved to Chicago), then again as an Imax movie ( Cosmic Voyage) with Morgan Freeman, Cosmic Zoom is where it all began.
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| Wonders in Your Own Backyard
(1977) by Michael Moore 11 min. Color 16mm | |
The kids are alright... with bugs! Science cheerfully takes a back seat to hands-on curiosity as the neighborhood gang gets touchy-feely with creepy-crawlies. Entomology--it's what happens between piggyback rides.
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| Hidden Valley
(~1960) by Art Clokey 6 min. Color 16mm | |
An all-time Gumby favorite! Our bendy green friend and his sidekick Pokey stumble upon a prehistoric enclave whose inhabitants are anything but camera-shy. A brisk, surprisingly friendly Lost World redux.
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| Braverman's Condensed Cream of the Beatles
(1974) by Charles Braverman 14.5 min. Color 16mm | |
A decade-long pop-culture revolution distilled into 15 minutes of cinematic bliss. Rapid-fire montage of song snippets, iconic clips, apocryphal stills, and animation: a prototype of the modern documentary, only without the talking heads and fourfold as fab!
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| Rain
by Stelios Roccos 6 min. Color 16mm | |
A gentle study of the city, the countryside, and children in the rain, featuring wonderful water-suffused photography. You won't see a better learning-to-read film, ever. Beautiful and precipitation-positive.
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Once more Oddball Archives, that veritable Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory of Film, opens its fuzzy door to budding cineastes of tomorrow! Film on Film Foundation and Oddball present a re-tooled selection of kid-centric films with ageless appeal. Classic cartoons feature Woody Woodpecker and Gumby and explore our micro- and macrocosmos, while live-action films pay homage to the pencil, backyard fauna, and that much-maligned meteorological phenomenon, rain. Plus, a legendary tribute to the greatest musical act of all time. Winsome fun for grown-ups and children alike! Come early to check out our preshow of surprise films.
