An Oddball double feature: Oddball for Everyone and Dystopia, Heavy Petting & Mimes
Saturday, November 27
Oddball Films
275 Capp St., San Francisco
(2 blocks from 16th & Mission BART; enter under the "Sutter Furniture MFG" sign)
at 6:00pm:
Oddball for Everyone: An All-Ages Evening at San Francisco's Treasure Trove of Cinema
Admission: $10/$5 kids
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.
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.
Color 7.5 min.
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.
Color 7 min.
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.
B+W 10 min.
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.
Color 8 min.
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.
Color 11 min.
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.
Color 6 min.
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!
Color 14.5 min.
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.
Color 6 min.
Dystopia, Heavy Petting & Mimes: An Almost Random Sampling of the Oddball Archive
Admission: $10
It's impossible to exhaustively assay the prodigious 16mm film collection housed at Oddball Archives--one can but attempt to hint at its diversity. We have, quite arbitrarily, turned our attention to shelf 4P, a glistening vein in this cinematic silver mine, and offer a selection of feel-good films, feel-bad films, delightful animation, educationals, industrials, porn, and more.
All he wants is to pick up his date, but first our hero has to meet her parents. As Mr. and Mrs. Peterson size him up, and he them, the magic of cinema puts their thoughts on the soundtrack for us all to hear. Comedy gold, in a beautiful print with perfect color!
Color 10 min.
Budding breeders of grade school age demonstrate the chilling effects of the projected population boom. Made in an era when 6th graders weren't reproducing in significant numbers, it's hard to fathom any cogent message in this Malthusian polemic other than "enjoy those hot dogs now".
Color 7 min.
An explosive 3-minute fantasy of trains, tracks, and tunnels, all drawn directly onto film. With a bluegrass score as dynamic as the images, Red Ball Express is sure to delight all lovers of the color red.
Color 3 min.
A Castle Films compilation of water sports, just in time for the holidays. Witness an underwater turkey dinner, as well as basketball and outdoor water ballet.
B+W 8.5 min.
An off-screen "director" frantically puts a vintage screwball comedy's cast through its paces. Bill Scott perfected his Bob Newhart vocal impersonation in TV's Fractured Flickers, from which this segment is drawn.
B+W 3 min.
In this "amateur" film, a young couple has found a secluded spot in which to picnic. Oh no, they forgot their basket! Perhaps in an attempt at censorship, or to render it unviewable, magic marker scribblings pervade the film, adding accidental avant-garde overtones.
B+W 3 min. Silent
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.
Color 6 min.
One of the last films from the legendary Crown Film Unit paints an optimistic portrait of Britain's soon-to-be moribund motor industry. In 1952, Vauxhalls, Triumphs, and Morris Minors were symbols of national pride and middle-class prosperity, and we see them being built, tested, and driven in this jaunty romp. A car fetishist's delight!
B+W 11 min.
Who better than mimes to reenact the pain of being teased? They gracefully highlight their differences while other mimes mock them, their silence broken by a delightfully reassuring soundtrack.
Color 9.5 min.
Attendees: Please RSVP to (415) 558-8117 or info@oddballfilm.com to ensure sufficient seating.