Oddball Films and guest curator Lynn Cursaro present End of the Reel: An Oddball Memoriam 2012. Each year brings a varied roster of newly gone-but-not-forgotten figures and we present a varied and freewheeling look back at a few. Chris Marker’s haunting time travel tale La Jetée (1962) has had a broad influence in many genres in the 50 years since its release and remains gripping. Maurice Sendak’s swinging kitchen metropolis, In the Night Kitchen (1975), is just familiar enough to be the stuff of dreams. Were the Monkees a fake pop band or a real TV show? Who cares? Davy Jones and gang cut up in a colorful reel of Monkees Outtakes (c. 1966). A decade before the trill of a sitar became pop cultural shorthand for groovy, Ravi Shankar was making inroads toward a Western audience with projects like Norman McLaren’s A Chairy Tale (1957). We will also feature many more of the recently departed in shorter snippets of news and variety show excerpts. The curator’s notorious home-baked gingerbread will be among the complimentary home-baked treats for all.

Hey! Not so Past!

Date: Thursday, January 17, 2012 at 8:00PM.

Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco

Admission: $10.00, RSVP Only to: 415-558-8117 or programming@oddballfilm.com

Highlights include:

La Jetee (B+W, 1962)

Chris Marker, (1921-2012) elusive filmmaker, poet, novelist, photographer and editor, challenged generations moviegoers with his complex queries about time, memory, and the rapid advancement of life on this planet. Marker’s La Jetée is one of the most influential, radical science-fiction films ever made, a time travel meditation told in haunting mostly still images. Sent backward and forward in time as a tool of his captors, a prisoner becomes entangled with a woman from the pre-war world and a memory from his own past.

East Meets West, Canadian Style

A Chairy Tale (B+W, 1957)

Ravi Shankar (1920-2012) was on the brink of wide international fame in 1956 when he scored Claude Jutra and Norman McLaren’s stop motion parable of man vs. chair. A young man, looking for nothing more than a place to sit and have a nice read finds himself in a ferocious battle of this wills with an uncooperative chair. Shankar’s sitar and tabla arrangement energizes this tale of a conflict and its unusual resolution.

Hey, Hey!

Monkees Outtakes (circa 1966)

Former jockey Davy Jones (1945-2012) had been signed to Columbia’s TV division straight from his stage success as the Artful Dodger in Oliver! and was conveniently on hand to add a dash of actual Britishness to NBC’s “Pre-Fab Four.” With his English music hall sensibilities and boyish looks, Jones was the most apt teen idol of the motley quartet. In this selection of colorful outtakes, all four Monkees get a chance to show off their lovably goofy sides.

Another Fine Mess . . . of Cake!

In the Night Kitchen (Gene Dietch, Color, 1975)

With its comic book format and flash of baby nudity, Maurice Sendak’s In the Night Kitchen was groundbreaking (and censored!) upon its 1970 publication. But making a wild rumpus in the picture book aisle was always the Sendak way: from the moody Where the Wild Things Are to his adaptation of the children’s holocaust opera Brundibar. Our hero Mickey tumbles into the pantry metropolis of the night kitchen, where after hours baking is overseen by a trio of Oliver Hardy look-a-likes, who pop him in the oven. Freely referencing Windsor McKay’s Little Nemo, Sendak enhanced his standing as cool uncle to generations of kids. Angelo Michajlov's Kitchen Sink-o-Pators provide the appropriately swinging score.

About the Curator

Lynn Cursaro is a local film blogger. Over the past two decades, she has worked in research and administrative positions a variety of Bay Area film organizations. The monthly picture puzzle on the Castro Theatre’s calendar is of her devising.

Oddball Films presents Carnal Cartoons, a program of sexy, sinful short animated films from the 1920's through the 1980's. Cartoons have long offered an option to create any manner of fantastical worlds and exaggerations of our own world. From the pornographic to the educational, this program offers the sometimes surreal and always imaginative animated interpretations of one of the most important aspects of life, Sex. View the original silent pornographic cartoon Buried Treasure (1928) featuring the hyperbolically endowed Eveready Harton. Tex Avery brings us a sexy adaptation of an old fairy-tale in Red Hot Red Riding Hood (1943). Di$ney will scare the pants back on you with VD: Attack Plan (1973). See an animated version of Sally Rand's infamous burlesque number, the Bubble Dance in Merrie Melodies' Hollywood Steps Out (1934). A father attempts to explain the facts of life with the help of narration by Peter Sellers in Birds, Bees and Storks (1965). Sandy Sunrise may be animated, but she's still got needs as we see in the bizarre pornographic short Sandy Sunrise in The Babysitter (1971). Plus! Sex, Booze and those Pills you Use (1982) and even more sexy surprises!

Date: Friday, January 18th, 2013 at 8:00pm

Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street San Francisco

Admission: $10.00 Limited Seating RSVP to programming@oddballfilm.com or (415) 558-8117

Featuring:

Buried Treasure (B+W, 1928)
The Granddaddy of pornographic cartoons, persistent rumors suggest that Max Fleischer (Betty Boop and others), Paul Terry (of TerryToons) and Budd Fisher (Mutt & Jeff) were responsible for this bawdy masterpiece. The legendary porno cartoon with a boogie woogie piano soundtrack depicting the unlikely adventures of the perpetually aroused title character (Eveready Hardon) with, among others, a man, a woman, and a cow. You’ll laugh and the guys may even scream!

Red Hot Riding Hood (Color, 1943)
Tex Avery; MGM; 1943 This sensual adaptation story liberates its characters from their Di$ney-style forest and slaps them in the middle of swanky Manhattan. Grandma's a nymphomaniac swinger, and her rustic cottage home a hip penthouse pad. Little Red has become a red-hot singer-stripper; the Wolf is a model of lupine lechery; and the forest is supplanted by a big-city nightclub as the enchanted place of forbidden sexuality. The Wolf tries to pull the old Red Riding Hood gag in order to meet up with Little Red, but Grandma has other ideas.

Hollywood Steps Out (Color, 1934)

This bizarre Merrie Melodies cartoon features caricatures of a who's who of Hollywood big wigs all stopping to ogle an avatar of Blonde Burlesque megastar Sally Rand doing her famous Bubble Dance.

Sex, Booze and Those Pills You Use (Color, 1982)
A particularly unusual, and gut-splitting, animation about alcohol and sexual disfunction reminds the audience that one or two drinks might turn you into casanova, but too much many might leave your lover something to be desired.

Birds, Bees and Storks (Color, 1965)
A father sets out to explain the facts of life to his son, but becomes increasingly embarrassed to the point where his explanations are so vague as to be incomprehensible. Inspired by Gerard Hoffnung's 1960 book of the same name, this is a delightful and all too familiar study of the embarrassed middle-aged British male, as a father attempts to explain the facts of life to his son but ends up delivering a monologue so packed with euphemisms about birds, bees and butterflies that it ends up being totally incoherent. Produced by the esteemed Halas & Batchelor Animation Studio, the visual style (inspired directly by Hoffnung's drawings) is simple in the extreme - for much of the film, we just watch the father squirming and blushing in his chair, which focuses our attention both on Peter Sellers' monologue and director John Halas' subtle visual characterization, all nervous tics and fidgeting.

Sandy Sunrise in The Baby Sitter (Color, 1971)

Bizarro animated adult XXX explores the adventures of a babysitter and vegetables! Produced by Warped Imaginations (A Cum Stained Cartoon) featuring music from the classic Beach Boys Smiley Smile album!

Ego (Color, 1970)
Brilliant animation by Italy’s Bruno Bozzetto (of the cult favorite Mr. Rossi series)- starts with traditional comic-style animation until the factory-working family man goes to sleep and unleashes his subconscious thoughts sending him into a psychedelic battleground of chaos and erotic desire. Utilizes a number of animation styles including optical printing and pop art imagery. Wild soundtrack by the ultra-lounge master Franco Godi!

VD Attack Plan (Technicolor, 1973)
“Yes, it’s true. Walt D*sney Productions has made a significant contribution to the war against VD. “VD Attack Plan” – A fully animated Walt D*sney 16mm motion picture.” states the brochure accompanying this 16mm educational film. VD Attack Plan had some forward thinking and enlightening approaches (not just for D*sney but everyone else producing this type of film in 1973) to the subject of sexually transmitted diseases including promotion of condoms (instead of abstinence) and the fact that VD can be spread through same sex couplings. This “war against disease “ film doesn’t miss a beat-even showcasing some of the graphic effects of the disease in action. In brilliant Technicolor, just like you’d want it to be.

Oddball Films presents Strange Sinema 60 - The 5 Year Anniversary Spectacular! for its monthly screening of offbeat films, old gems and newly discovered oddities both entertaining, experimental and eye-opening, all culled from Oddball Films 50,000 film archive. This greatest hits film fest includes The Cat Who Drank an Used Too Much (1987), an Oddball audience favorite about a beer drinking, drug addicted cat, Match Your Mood, a mind-bending advertisement for psychedelic 60's refrigerator covers, Le Monde Du Schizophrene (The World of the Schizophrenic, 1969) A super-surreal, Salvador Dali-like film produced by the Sandoz Pharmaceuticals (Makers of drugs as LSD), Airplane Wing Tests (1960s) sublime aviation film depicting airplane wing tests with a score by Bill Frisell, Help My Snowman is Burning Down (1964) Carson Davison’saward-winning beatnik rhapsody with jazz score by the Gerry Mulligan Quartet, The Great Saw Came Nearer and Nearer(1944) a sexist and comedic Soundie featuring Cindy Walker getting terrorized by a beau who will saw her in half unless she marries him!, Toot, Whistle, Plunk, Boom (1953), another “beatnik” influenced Academy Award winning short in stunning Technicolor, Green Spot Soda Outtakes (1960s) Soda factory outtakes from the makers of Thai soda pop-watch the bottles fill!, Movie Sideshow (1933), a compendium of human marvels-a man frozen in a bock of ice, a human fire extinguisher, a bathtub towing blimp and the strangest wives in captivity!

Plus! free refreshments and double screen burlesque surprises!

Date: Thursday, January 24th, 2013 at 8:00PM

Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco

Admission: $10.00 RSVP (Limited seating) to programming@oddballfilm.com or 415.558.8117.

Featuring:

The Cat Who Drank and Used Too Much (Color, 1987)

Wacky anti-drug film about alcohol and drug using Pat the Cat. He hits the skids before finally reaching out for help - another Oddball Films audience favorite! Narrated by Julie Harris and winner of 24 major awards!

Toot, Whistle, Plunk, Boom (Color, 1953)
ThisAcademy Award winner is in stunning Technicolor and a “beatnik” classic of mid-century animated design. It’s been ranked one of the top 50 greatest animated films of all time.

Match Your Mood (Color, 1968)
Wild, amazing promotional film by Westinghouse touts the latest fad: decorative pop art/psychedelic refrigerator covers. Transforms any kitchen into a swinging go-go party!

The Great Saw Came Nearer and Nearer (B+W, 1944)

This musical (and sexist comedy) Soundie (jukebox film) features s Cindy Walker as a girl terrorized by her beau with a buzz saw unless she marries him! Laughably awful!

Help, My Snowman’s Burning Down (Color, 1964)

This Academy award-nominated short (and winner of 14 international awards) by Carson Davidson stars Bob Larkin (later in the cult film Putney Swope) as a Beatnik who lives on a boat dock off Manhattan with only bathroom furnishings. A visceral tapestry woven together by stop motion and surreal special effects, this film is an Oddball audience favorite. With original jazz score by the Gerry Mulligan Quartet. An Oddball favorite!

Le Monde Du Schizophrene (The World of the Schizophrenic)

(Color, 1969) A surreal, Salvador Dali like film produced by the Sandoz Pharmaceutical Company (Makers of such drugs as LSD) in Switzerland. “The World of the Schizophrenic” portrays one afternoon in the life of a hunky schizophrenic as he wanders about his bedroom and strolls outside hallucinating to the sounds of a Harry Partch like avant garde sound score. Truly hallucinogenic in it’s depiction of the Schizophrenic state.

Airplane Wing Tests (1960s)

DC8 N9604Z Flight 45, Heavyweight Small, 275,000 Lbs @ 22.4 %, SF = 15 degree, Thrust = Take-Off Power. A poetic and sublime aviation film depicting airplane wing tests. Screened at the infamous “That’s Undertainment” film program in 2010 at the Anthology Film Archives in NYC. Music by Bill Frisell.

Green Spot Soda Outtakes

(Color, 1960s)

Who else but Oddball Films would be fascinated by Green Spot Sodamanufacturing outtakes? The company began in 1934 in the US and moved to Thailand (Wha?) 20 years later and continues to thrive in Venezuela and in Asia. They even have a Wiki! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Spot_(soft_drink) Watch the bottles fill!

Movie Sideshow (B+W, 1933)

An offbeat kaleidoscope of human marvels featuring a carnival barker, newsreel clips of a man sealed into sealed into a block of ice, and a "human fire extinguisher" who drinks water, and kerosene, starts fires and puts one out. Follow the "Strangest Wives in Captivity," stunts involving husband-wife teams in gymnastics whips and rifles. Watch "The Air Carnival" where a man uses a Goodyear blimp to tow his bathtub while bathing and witness a wacky cliff-diving parachutist. This is what people did before television!

Satan-Tease (B+W, 1955)

Burlesque queen Betty Dolan brings new meaning to the phrase dancing with the devil. Cleverly costumed, Miss Dolan's right hand is the hand of the devil and she can't stop it from trying to get to third base. Strange and erotic on many different levels, it must be seen to be believed!

Oddball Films presents Off the Canvas - Art in Motion, a lush evening of moving artistry. With a who's who of kinetic art as well as some beautiful pieces of the fluid process of creativity, it's a visually enticing and inspiringly creative program. Films include the mesmerizing documentary Kinetic Art in Paris (1971), a viscerally challenging, kaleidoscopic homage to light, sound and motion featuring some of the world’s foremost kinetic artists. Belgian documentarian Paul Haesaerts attains intimate access to Picasso's artistic process with the help of giant panes of glass in the eye-popping A Visit to Picasso (1949). See the inventive motile sculptures of Len Lye in an excerpt from the dynamic documentary Art of the Sixties (1968). Innovator of the mobile and sculpture superstar, Alexander Calder plays and performs with his miniature hand-crafted kinetic circus in the charming Calder's Circus (1963). George Kuchar brings us a fun and frenzied portrait of his friend and local artist in The Lady From Sands Point (1967).

Date: Thursday, January 31st, 2013 at 8:00PM

Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco

Admission: $10.00 RSVP (Limited seating) to programming@oddballfilm.com or 415.558.8117.

Highlights Include:

A Visit to Picasso (B+W, 1949)

This elegant document of artistry in motion features Pablo Picasso in his studio, painting on large panels of glass stationed in front of the camera, exposing his fluid, masterful and often hilarious artistic process. Mesmerizing and inspiring! Directed by Belgian filmmaker Paul Haesaerts and nominated for a BAFTA in 1951.

Kinetic Art in Paris (Color, 1971)

The works of Kinetic artists Julio Le Parc, Victor Vasarely, John Rock Yvar aren’t the only things explored in detail in this ultra rare, quirky documentary that features music from the short-lived cult British pop duo White Trash. Viscerally challenging, this kaleidoscopic homage to light, sound, motion and restraint is quintessential viewing for anyone with a desire to be fascinated by anything…even if just for a moment. Don’t miss this!

Art of the Sixties (1968, Color, Excerpt)

Produced and narrated by WCBS Arts Critic Leonard Harris, this fascinating documentary profilescontemporary artists who broke down the barriers of art in the 1960's to create kinetic sculptures, mixed montages and pop art. This excerpt features sculptor Len Lye creating wildly inventive kinetic works. The film captures an exciting era and some of it's foremost innovators.

To view Len Lye's kinetic sculptures visit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2uY-CVyuX8

and: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-EttQDeVBc

Calder’s Circus(Color, 1963)

Before his rise to fame as the artist to popularize the mobile, kinetic sculptor Alexander Calder created a miniature moving circus out of wire, wood and cloth. In 1963, filmmaker Carlos Vilardebo filmed the icon performing his circus. As Calder exhibits the piece, we watch as Calder blurs the line between presentation and play. This remarkable circus comes to life, sometimes on it’s own, sometimes in conjunction with other elements and always in an astonishing manner.

The Lady from Sands Point (B+W, 1967)

A charming George Kuchar portrait of local artist, Betty Holliday. A grandfather of underground film, an inspiration to countless filmmakers like John Waters and Todd Solondz, George Kuchar never stopped creating films throughout his life. He made raunchy melodramas, goofy tornado-chasing diaries, and throughout the years, George was filming those artists around him that inspired him. The Lady from Sands Point is one of these portraits, and a tantallizing and entertaining one at that. He documents his friend and local artist, Betty Holliday, but in a way that only George could have done, with a zippy soundtrack and unique editing that seem to make the artwork dance across the screen.

Oddball Films presents Oddball - The Musical, an evening of our favorite musical numbers from the 1930's through the 1980's culled from our massive archive of 16mm films. With a mixture of classic Hollywood, educational primers and nostalgic camp favorites, it's a night of song and dance of epic proportions. Schoolhouse Rock brings us the much sampled favorite 3 Is The Magic Number (1973). Football Superstar and needlepoint enthusiast Rosie Grier sings "It's Alright to Cry" from the quintessential hippy-parenting guide Free To Be...You and Me (1974) Busby Berkeley choreographs a dizzying display of hundreds of clones in a dazzling excerpt from Dames (1933) with other classic Hollywood musical numbers from the over-the-top Tiki-fantasy Isle of Tabu (1945), Fred and Ginger dance into your heart in Top Hat (1935) and Alice Faye sings "Oh You Nasty Man" from George White's Scandals (1934). The Hollywood musical spirit infects a locker room of young girls as they perform "The Itty Bitty Titty Committee" from the epic musicalamity Junior High School (1978). Children sing-whine throughout their bad day in I'm Mad at Me (1974) while a set of other children sing wistfully for a chop of meat in the creepy, campy Eating, Feel Good Movie (1974). Tom Lehrer sings about pollution in The Run-Around (1969). And so much more!

Date: Friday, February 1st, 2013 at 8:00PM

Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco

Admission: $10.00 RSVP (Limited seating) to programming@oddballfilm.com or 415.558.8117.

Featuring:

It’s Alright To Cry from Free to be...You and Me (Color, 1974)

Rosey Grier was an NFL star turned Renaissance Man, presidential bodyguard, singer, actor, needlepoint enthusiast, and Christian Minister. In this comforting ballad, “The Gentle Giant” teaches girls and boys alike that a little tearfest never hurt anyone, and even one of the Fearsome Foursome can be “sad and grumpy, down in the dumpy.”

Isle of Tabu (Color, 1945, excerpt)

Part of Paramount’s Musical Parade Feauturette Series, this early Tiki film has angry Tiki gods, exploding volcanoes and a curse-lifting, human sacrifice plot with some song and dance numbers and a happy marriage ending. The not-so-authentic natives include Nancy Porter in her starring role debut (never to be heard from again) and several B-movie pretty boys. Music by Napua, Sam Koki and his Islanders and Pau Kua Lana Girls. Director William Shea’s most notable later work was an episode of “Mister Ed”.

The Run-Around (Color, 1969)

Tom Lehrer lends his voice to this set of two shorts around waste and air pollution. Musical, with a smog-accentuated and industrial sound design, try and find answers to this leading world problem.

Hoffnung Palm Court Orchestra (Color, 1965)

No matter what the calamity, from fire to shipwreck and beyond, this blissful trio plays on in sweet, sweet oblivion. A colorful cartoon take on the veddy, veddy British idea of keeping calm and carrying on, from the makers of Oddball fave Birds, Bees and Storks.

Junior High School (Color, 1978, excerpt)

As if Junior High wasn't awful enough, imagine adding song and dance numbers about the most awkward aspects of your life and changing body! This musicalamity revolves loosely around a party, planned by Sherry, played by none other than 16 year-old Paula Abdul. Everybody's gotta be there, and lots of singles still need a date, which leads to triangles and hilarity. In this hilarious excerpt, the song and dance numbers tread into uncomfortable territory when the whole girl's locker room dances around 3 gals in the "Itty Bitty Titty Committee". It's an epic camp musical masterpiece!

Dames (B+W, 1934)

A charming excerpt from director Ray Enright's Dames. During the spectacular musical number I Only Have Eyes for You, Ruby Keeler is the only girl in the world, but there are hundreds of her in this dreamy landscape. And from those hundreds, one face emerges, and when Miss Keeler pops out of a giant eye there can be little doubt that notorious dance director Busby Berkeley was something of a Hollywood branch of the Surrealist movement.

The Eating, Feel Good Movie (Color, 1974)

A musical laugh riot. Children dressed in their Sunday best have a sepia-toned tea party and begin to sing about the food groups over enticing shots of vintage food. One boy sings longily over a meaty montage "I'd like a roast or a chop or a steak or a stew so I'll have big strong muscles and I'll grow right too." A creepy campy masterpiece!

Sittin’ On A Backyard Fence (B+W, 1933)

Clip from the great Busby Berkeley musical Footlight Parade- Human kitties sing, dance and frolic to the Tin Pan Alley favorite.

I'm Mad at Me (Color, 1974)

Did you ever wake up on the wrong side of the bed? Did it effect the way you treated those people around you? Didn't you just want to punch somebody? Did you then commence to sing a high-pitched song about it all day? Well both Jimmy and Suzy are having a day like that. I hope they can find out who they're really mad at!

Oddball Films presents Oral Exam - You Can't Handle the Tooth, a program of vintage films dedicated to those pearly whites. From silent slapstick to psychedelic instructional shorts to swingin' chimps, you never knew how funny a mouth could be! Sink your teeth into the hilarious Charlie Chaplin classic Laughing Gas (1914), when the tramp takes a stab at being a dentist. Get ready for one swingin' party with The Munchers (1973), a groovy oral hygiene rock opera featuring a mouthy bandstand of claymation teeth. Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp (1971) gets into the oral action, when he discovers a dental spy in To Tell the Tooth. Toothache of the Clown (1971) is one bad acid-trip to the dentist when children pull yarn and candy of a clown's rotten molars. Caesar Romero (The Joker from the 1960's Batman) will scare you into flossing in the strange and spooky The Haunted Mouth (1974). No dental show could be complete without W.C. Fields in The Dentist (1932) and the tastiest treat of the night, double-projection of vintage oral pornography overlaid with shark footage for one mouthy mash-up. With more than a mouthful of vintage toothpaste commercials, sweets to chew on and a toothy giveaway to boot!

Date: Thursday February 7th, 2013 at 8:00PM

Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco

Admission: $10.00 RSVP (Limited seating) to programming@oddballfilm.com or 415.558.8117.

Highlights Include:

Laughing Gas (B+W, 1914, silent w/added sound)

Pretending to be a dentist Charlie Chaplin wreaks havoc on his “patients”, pumping them full of laughing gas, knocking them out with clubs, pulling the skirt off the dentists’ wife and pulling the wrong tooth out of an unfortunate patient. Watch this laugh riot from the master of silent silliness.

Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp (Color, 1971) in “To Tell the Tooth”.

Get Smart meets James Bond in this TV spy spoof as the top agent of APE (Agency to Prevent Evil) detective Lance Link discovers a dentist working for C.H.U.M.P. (Criminal Headquarters for Underworld Master Plan) has been inserting secret radio transmitters into the teeth of military officials.

The Haunted Mouth (Color, 1974)
Veteran actor Caesar Romero stars as “The Spectre of Plaque” in The Haunted Mouth, an oral hygiene scare film produced for the classroom by the American Dental Association.

The Munchers (Color, 1973)

Like the California Raisins of Oral Hygiene, The Munchers is a trippy, psychedelic rockucational film for all tastes. Dancing and singing on some kind of a mouthy bandstand, the Munchers fall victim to the Pusherman Jack Sweet, a masked demon that has an endless supply of delicious candy. Can the peg-legged, metal-skulled old toothman convince the young Munchers to stay clean and candy free? If not him, then maybe the conga-line of anthropomorphic healthy foods can do the trick.

Teeth Are for Chewing (Color, 1971)

This film features cool shots of people and animals chewing! Get a good look at canines, incisors, and molars and take a few tips on dental hygiene in this bizarre combo!

Toothache of The Clown (Color, 1971)

Made to assuage children’s fears of the dentist, this film manages to combine nothing but the creepiest elements into one terrifying mind-scratcher. Hallucinating from pain, or laughing gas, this clown has surreal nightmares of children dressed as dental technicians pulling arts and crafts out of the insides of other children dressed as decaying teeth. This is one “trip” to the dentist you won’t want to miss.

Oddball Films and guest curator Lynn Cursaro present another edition of Pop! Goes the Classroom: School Films from the Golden Age of Groovy. A wide range of 1960’s sensibilities trickled down to educational films, with wild and beautiful results. Facts and dates gave way to concepts, color and action. Narration-free documentary shorts, such as Night People’s Day (1971) provided more than just information about hidden workplaces, they gave students room to just see. Cans (1970) could have stood on its own as a craft how-to, but also salutes humble tin’s ubiquity and disposability. Wonders in Your Own Backyard (1977) has a casual approach to the science of bugs. A groovy re-imagining of The Wizard of Oz is a tale of empowerment in Magic Sneakers (1969) from the Let’s Pretend series. Learning to read tone poem Rain (1970) will make you pine for a downpour. The groove wasn’t always smooth, but the disconnect between the visuals of Basic Body Movement (1969) and the laughable authority of the voiceover just adds charm. Infinite Design (1975) makes the universe into a giant toy by using celestial orbits as parts of a cosmic Spyrograph set. Wheels, Wheels, Wheels (1970) is a thrills and spills look at this very basic form. And there’s MORE! As usual, home-baked POP-centric gingerbread will be among the complimentary treats from the curator’s kitchen!

Give Me Those Shoes!

Date: Friday, February 8th, 2013 at 8:00PM.

Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco

Admission: $10.00, RSVP Only to: 415-558-8117 or programming@oddballfilm.com

Highlights include:

Let's Pretend: Magic Sneakers (Color, 1969)

Alternately evoking Norman MacLaren's stop-motion live action films, The Wizard of Oz and The Red Balloon, Magic Sneakers tells the tale of a boy and his fears and the special power of some castoff Chuck Taylors. The exotic tabla music gives the pathos that bit of "far out" so prized in this period of school film.

Just Add Glitter!

Cans (Color, 1970)

Mini doc meets DIY - completely narration-free! What could be more pop than the tin can in all its glory? After all, the notion of cans as art was widely accepted by 1970, even by kids didn’t know who Andy Warhol was. From the factory all the way to post pantry crafting,Cans packs a lot into its small package. Once you've emptied them of baked beans and cling peaches, the real fun begins.

Night People’s Day (Color, 1971)

The look at the hidden workdays of nocturnal workers would be fascinating on its own, but this narration-free film adds human-made sound effects! A chorus of youngsters bloop, swish, crunch and whirl along as postal workers, produce market jobbers, bakers and other moonlit tradesmen go about their workaday routines and share their thoughts on their topsy-turvy workaday nights.

Nice Day For It!

Wonders in Your Own Backyard

(Color, 1977 Michael Moore)

The kids are Alright . . . with bugs! Science cheerfully takes a backseat to curiosity as the neighborhood gang get touchy feely with creepy crawlies. Entomology is what happens between piggy back rides.

Rain (Color, 1970 Stelios Roccos)

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. Colorful, melodious and precipitation-positive.

When I Say Jump!

Basic Body Movement (Color, 1969)

You must have heard: skipping over lines on the blacktop is fun and catch is more challenging and exciting if you move farther away from your play partner! Just because it’s obvious, doesn’t mean it’s not a dandy subject for film. Overly analytical, this look at standard playground games balances its unneeded narration with the brightness of Hula Hoops and Nixon-era playwear.

Turn, Baby, Turn!

Wheels , Wheels , Wheels (Color, 1969)

Why have some dry narrator explain the physical properties of wheels when this action-packed montage of motion is the perfect excuse for a smoking soundtrack? The brass fueled score complements the big, the fast and the industrial, but some very tiny wheels are here too. If it goes round, round, round it’s where it’s at for these groovy filmmakers.

Plus! For the Early Arrivals!

Crayon (Color, 1964)

Crayon is not afraid to go-go-go outside the lines . . . with a cool vibraphone score! Schoolroom auteur Stelios Roccos brings his vibrant style to an inspiring study of amazing crayon techniques from coloring to encaustic and beyond.

About the Curator

Lynn Cursaro is a local film blogger. Over the past two decades, she has worked in research and administrative positions a variety of Bay Area film organizations. The Castro Theatre’s monthly picture puzzle is of her devising.

Every Sunday night since March 2005, Bad Movie Night has invited patrons of The Dark Room to heckle the best in bad movies, and occasionally as the worst in good movies. (A few of the most mediocre of mediocre movies have crept in there, too.) But on Sunday, February 10, Bad Movie Night walks around to the corner to team up with Oddball Films as they present the best of the worst of the best movies of the 1980s ninja cycle: Ninja III: The Domination (1984)! It's the movie that finally answers all your questions from Enter the Ninja and Return of the Ninja, with the possible exception of “Why is the sequel to Enter the Ninja and Return of the Ninja called Ninja III: The Domination?” But there is dominating and ninja-ing in the movie, so you gotta give it that. And jazzercise. So, so much jazzercise. Starring Lucinda Dickey (Breakin' & Breakin II: Electric Boogaloo) and featuring a 10 minute ninja-golf massacre, a creepy use of V8 juice and a serious hair-sweater, this film hits the 1-2 punch of being both mind-boggling AND brain-boiling! Your riffmasters will be Sherilyn Connelly, Jim Fourniadis, and Alexia Staniotes, and is Bad Movie Night custom, the audience is encouraged to join and yell the screen. Don’t worry, the movie can handle it. Before the feature, arrive early for a pre-show comprised of trailers of all your ninja favorites including Full Metal Ninja (1989), Ninja in the Killing Field (1984), The Ninja Squad(1986), Ninja Dragon (1986), Ninja Terminator (1985), and many, many more plus 16mm Oddball favorites make it in the ninjazzercize mix!

Date: Sunday, February 10th, 2013 pre-show at 7:30PM, film at 8PM

Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco

Admission: $10.00, RSVP to 415-558-8117 or programming@oddballfilm.com

Oddball Films brings you Stop-Motion Explosion II- Even More Explosive!, a program of mind-blowing stop-motion animation from every decade from the 1920s to the 1970’s. In a world saturated with CGI, Oddball Films opens the vaults to celebrate when historical, fantastical and anthropomorphic creatures were hand-sculpted and manipulated into “life.” Stop-motion provided the first opportunities to speculate on how the long extinct dinosaurs would look like in action, as seen in an excerpt from The Lost World (1925). Pioneering puppet animator and Fantasy film legend, George Pal brings you the littlest big band with an incredible art-deco bandstand and beautiful hand-carved wooden puppets in the charming and eye-popping Cavalcade of Music (1934). The first wire-framed puppets on film are featured in the endearing and triumphant tale Ferda the Ant (1941). Blast off with original 1957 Gumby Shorts, where our little green buddy gets launched into space and nearly eaten by pastries. Polish director Tadeusz Wilcosz brings us an interesting and powerful allegory of totalitarianism in Bags (1967). Grant Munro's Toys (1966) brings to life your GI Joes, but as it turns out, that's not a good thing. Will Vinton, the creator of the California Raisins gives a lesson on the creation and endless possibilities of Claymation (1978) then applies his craft with an animated art gallery in the brilliant short Closed Mondays (1974). With more stop-motion madness for the early birds, it’s a night millions of minute movements in the making!

Date: Friday, February 15th, 2013 at 8:00pm

Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street San Francisco (map)

Admission: $10.00 - Limited Seating RSVP to programming@oddballfilm.com or (415) 558-8117

Gumby Shorts (B&W, 1957)

Everybody’s favorite little green shape shifter, Gumby and his B.F.F. Pokey go on a number of fantastical and charming adventures in these rare original shorts by Claymation Master, Art Clokey. In The Small Planets, Gumby runs away from home by flying into space and encountering individual planets run by other little runaways. In The Dough, Gumby bakes up some blood-thirsty pastries.

Cavalcade of Music (1934, B&W)

Creative force behind some of the most creative monsters in Fantasy film , Hungarian exile George Pal began his career pioneering a method of stop-motion used in his series of Puppetoons, earning him seven consecutive Oscar nominations. In one of his earliest Puppetoons, Cavalcade of Music, Pal creates an epic spectacle of music and dance all with carved wooden puppets. From the chic Art Deco bandstand, to an entire puppet jazz orchestra, to a puppet can-can, this film overwhelms with its imagination and scope.

Bags (Color, 1967)

Mysterious and creepy stop-motion film from Poland, directed by Tadeusz Wilcosz. A burlap sack proceeds to consume everything in sight, until all the objects- scissors, sewing machines, etc. revolt, organize and subdue “him”. This may be a parable for something…

The Lost World (B&W, 1925)

In this scene from the film adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1912 novel of the same name, a group of explorers discover a world where dinosaurs still roam the earth. As they attempt to make a home amongst the dinosaurs, they fall victim to attacks by dinosaurs, big cats, and ape-men. The Lost World contains a wide variety of visual tricks, most notably stop-motion animation, to create a dazzling prehistoric world hidden within our own.

Claymation (Color, 1978)

Filmmaker Will Vinton and his staff of animators discuss the processes of clay animation, showing the mixing of colors, creation of characters, production and editing of the guide film, music scoring and the actual clay sculpture techniques.

The winner of an Academy Award, numerous television Emmys, and international animation awards numbering in the hundreds, Vinton used Claymation, a term he trademarked, to great effect in his early career and later bringing to life iconic advertising characters the California Raisins and M&Ms.

Closed Mondays (Color, 1974)

This breakthrough film created by Will Vinton (The California Raisins) and Bob Gardiner won an Academy Award in 1975. In an after-hours visit to an art museum, a drunken man encounters the world of modern art. As he wanders through the gallery, paintings and sculptures shift from illusion to reality, an abstract painting explodes with rhythmic movement, a Rousseau jungle releases its captive images, a Dutch scrub woman talks about her plight, and a kinetic sculpture comes briefly and breathtakingly to life. A tour-de-force of clay animation that set the standard for Claymation as an art form.

Toys (Color, 1966)

Grant Munro, frequent Norman McLaren collaborator, directed this clever anti-war toy short using the stop-motion technique. It all starts innocently enough with kids coveting the toys in a store window with a groovy soundtrack. But then the war toys come to life and the ensuing violence is quite less than playful.

Ferda The Ant (B+W, 1941)

Based on the popular children's book, this darling stop-motion short features the titular protagonist facing off against a vicious arachnid while attempting to finish a hard day of work. When Ferda and his friend are caught in the spider's web, they must free themselves or be lunch. Made by one of the founding mothers of Czech animation, Hermína Týrlová, this innovative and beautiful film features the first use of wire-frame puppets in stop-motion animation.

Stop Look and Listen (1967, Technicolor)

In the 1960s two friends, Charles David “Chuck” Menville and Len Janson revived the then-dead art of stop motion pixilation animation. Pixilation, the animation of living beings, and object animation, was nothing new to film, but Menville and Janson took the process to a whole new level both technically and creatively.

Their first collaboration, Stop, Look and Listen (1967), was nominated for an Academy Award. In this short film the main characters “drive” down city streets in invisible cars. It’s

ostensibly a public safety film that informs the audience of the merits of following the rules of the road. Wildly inventive use of stop motion techniques-- use of human body as vehicles(!) make this eye-popping short a sensation.

Oddball Films presents Strange Sinema 61: One Sexy Valentine, oddities from the Oddball Archives featuring new finds, buried junk, weird smut and miscellaneous moving image mayhem. In a sexy (and sexual!) toast to Valentine's Day,we’ve discovered some eye-popping and scintillating shorts. From the screwball sexual psychedelia of Ego (1970) by famed Italian animator Bruno Bozzetto to Octopussy, a double screen undersea sexcapade this program is sure to stimulate your senses. Films include the legendary sex and drug-laced short Minnie the Moocher (1932), starring Betty Boop and Cab Calloway; Red Hot Red Riding Hood (1943) the rare animated short featuring a stripping red riding hood, a nymphomaniac granny and a big bad wolf; Burlesque Screen Tests and Dancers (1950s), featuring Bunny Spencer’s screen test, a rooftop mambo and a masked Afro-Cuban dancer with a bowl of fire on her head; The Groping Hand (1968), a homoerotic slice of life in San Francisco’s North Beach in the swingin’ sixties; VD Attack Plan, (1973), a hilarious Di$ney produced “war against VD” film narrated by Keenan Wynn; a double screen projection of the Danish produced Physiological Responses of the Sexually Stimulated Male and Female in the Laboratory (1970s); Baby Puss (1943), a cross-dressing Tom and Jerry Cartoon; ratpacker Peter Lawford’s Western Union Candygram (1972) commercial; the infamous vegetable-laced animated porn short Sandy Sunrise in the Babysitter (1971) with music by the Beach Boys(!) and Octopussy, another double screen undersea sexcapade! Plus! Trashy erotic trailers like Kinkorama, House of Kinky Pleasures and juicy erotic out takes from the 1983 film adult feature Obsession!

Date: Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 8:00PM.

Venue:Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco
Admission: $10.00 RSVP Only to: 415-558-8117 or programming

@oddballfilm.com Adults only-no kids!

Featuring:

*Physiological Responses of the Sexually Stimulated

Male and Female in the Laboratory

(Color, added sound,1970s, Double screen projection)

Reducing sexuality to a science these two films explore the biological responses of human sexual arousal in males and females in this anatomically explicit Danish experiment. Watch the stimulation and witness the results!

Baby Puss (Color, 1943)

Produced by the legendary team of Hanna and Barbera. Poor cat Tom! Not only does his young owner insist on dressing him like a baby, but he also has to bear the humiliation of being spotted by his cat friends. And Jerry can't believe his good fortune when he spies his foe in diapers and a bib. A raucous cross-dressing Tom and Jerry cartoon!

Candygram (Color, 1972) former ratpacker and Kennedy family lizard Peter Lawford delivers this Western Union Candygram commercial with a straight face. Delicious chocolate for lovers!

Minnie The Moocher (B+W, 1932)

All time classic featuring Cab Calloway and his Orchestra (seen live briefly at the beginning), Betty Boop and Bimbo. A happening song with thinly veiled sex and drug references: Minnie she meets up with a pimp, the king of Sweden, who gives her “somethin she was needin'”…then gets caught up with a pot headed coke-sniffing junkie who teaches her how to "kick the gong" (mainline heroin).

Sandy Sunrise in The Baby Sitter (Color, 1971)

This raunchy and bizarre(!) animated adult XXX explores the adventures of a babysitter and vegetables! Produced by Warped Imaginations (A Cum Stained Cartoon) featuring music from the classic Beach Boys Smiley Smile album!

Red Hot Riding Hood (Color, 1943)

This sensual adaptation liberates its characters from their Di$ney-style forest and slaps them in the middle of swanky Manhattan. Grandma's a nymphomaniac swinger, and her rustic cottage home a hip penthouse pad. Little Red has become a red-hot singer-stripper; the Wolf is a model of lupine lechery; and the forest is supplanted by a big-city nightclub as the enchanted place of forbidden sexuality. The Wolf tries to pull the old Red Riding Hood gag in order to meet up with Little Red, but Grandma has other ideas.

Burlesque Screen Tests and Dancers(B+W, 1950s)

Watch these “Screen tests” and super-quirky burlesque dancers get way-out and weird. Shorts feature Bunny Spencer modeling the “stockings of tomorrow”, Barbara Nichols doing a Latin Mambo on a rooftop and “Afro-Cuban Genni”, masked and dancing with a bowl of fire on her head. Now that’s burlesque!

Ego (Color, 1970)

Brilliant animation by Italy’s Bruno Bozzetto (of the cult favorite Mr. Rossi series)- starts with traditional comic-style animation until the factory-working family man goes to sleep and unleashes his subconscious thoughts sending him into a psychedelic battleground of chaos and erotic desire. Utilizes a number of animation styles including optical printing and pop art imagery. Wild soundtrack by the ultra-lounge master Franco Godi!

The Groping Hand (Color, 1968)

This bizarre slice of homo erotica was shot in San Francisco’s North Beach in the heyday of free love. A hunky male gets all revved up gazing at the live sex show signs and clubs on Broadway when he’s beckoned in by a female hand. Once inside he cuts loose, “stripping” his time away to down and dirty soul music.

VD Attack Plan (Technicolor, 1973)

“Yes, it’s true. Walt D*sney Productions has made a significant contribution to the war against venereal disease. VD Attack Plan– A fully animated Walt D*sney 16mm motion picture” states the brochure accompanying this 16mm educational film. VD Attack Plan had some forward thinking and enlightening approaches (not just for D*sney but everyone else producing this type of film in 1973) to the subject of sexually transmitted diseases including promotion of condoms (instead of abstinence) and the fact that VD can be spread through same sex couplings. This “war against disease “ film doesn’t miss a beat-even showcasing some of the graphic effects of the disease in action. Hilarious and in brilliant Technicolor, just like you’d want it to be!

*Octopussy (Color and B+W, 1960s, double screen projection)

An erotic, double projection undersea erotic escapade!

*Double Screen projections

Plus! Weird smut, tantalizing trailers like Kinkorama, House of Kinky Pleasuresand juicy erotic outtakes!

Oddball Films and guest curator Christine Kwon present SNACK TIME!, with a live performance by Korean American musician Donghoon Han and indie stalwart Caleb Pate from Seventeen Evergreen. SNACK TIME! is the free-flowing combination of film, music, dance and, of course, ultimate snacks. Inspired by 50s-70s camp and absurdist media, SNACK TIME! showcases vintage commercials of our favorite childhood junk foods, alien encounters in rare B-movies, and psychedelic LSD-infused segments of the Be@tles Magical My$tery Tour (1967)— all the colors of the rainbow! Other highlights include 1970s Breakfast Commercials, Vintage Cigarette Commercials, and the animated anti-smoking cartoon The Huffless Puffless Dragon (1964). We'll have beer, and a snack time intermission, finishing off with a dance party for everyone!

Date: Friday, February 22, at 8:00pm
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street San Francisco
Admission: $10.00 Limited Seating RSVP to programming@oddballfilm.com or (415) 558-8117

Featuring:

1970s Breakfast Commercials(Color, 1970s)

One fantasy follows another in this slate of commercials that enable even the liberated woman to make her Joe happy with the perfect cup of joe. Not convinced? Take it from Academy Award winning actress Patricia Neal, who certainly seems to be “the boss in the house.”

Magical My$tery Tour(Color, 1967)

Ringo St@rr plays the passenger of a Panorama coach who begins to experience strange things at the whim of four magicians (played by other members of the band), featuring the best of nonsensical Be@tles hits, including I Am the Walrus and more.

Costume Party (Color)

Two friends prepare for a party, but continually change their outfits after peaking at what the other's wearing, culiminating in a frisky girl fight.

Cigarette Commericals
Long before the advent of the e-cigarette, the tobacco filled sticks for cool kids and moms alike graced the TV screen in numerous incarnations.

The Huffless, Puffless Dragon(Color, 1964)

It's hard to be a fire-breathing terror when your lungs are tired from smoking in this animated warning against the dangers of cigarette use.

Curator’s Biography
Christine Kwon is the Managing Director of CAAMFest, where she is a senior film curator. She is also the producer of feature-length documentary Breathin': The Eddy Zheng Story, and is the creator/writer of the comedy series Nice Girls Crew.

About the Musicians

Donghoon Han is an Oakland-based musician originally from Busan, Korea. He produces under the name Mohani, and his work is notable for its unique fusion of electronic music with vintage Korean pop. His music can be found at http://soundcloud.com/mohani.

Seventeen Evergreen is a San Franciscobased duo, composed of Caleb Pate and Nephi Evans, which stylistically weaves psychedelic rock with electronic experimentation. They record on their own Pacific Radio Fire imprint and license material to UK label, Lucky Number Music—also home to Sebastien Tellier. Life Embarrasses Me On Planet Earth, their debut album, was released in the U.S. in 2005. Lucky Number Music released a remixed version in 2007 and distributed it in Europe and Japan.

Oddball Films presents More Oddball Oscar Obscurities, an evening showcasing the finest animated and live action shorts ever to be nominated for an Academy Award. With films from the 1940's through the 1970's, from tender coming of age portraits, to experimental animation to Pepe Le Pew, with a dash of dazzling Awards-show moments, this is one night the winner will be you! Films include (and the Oscar went to...) The Golden Fish (1959) a charming film about a boy, his fish, his bird and a sneaky cat; Skater Dater (1965), the quintessential award-winning young love/sidewalk surfing film, (with a boss soundtrack by Davie Allen and the Arrows); Leisure (1976), Bruce Petty’s Oscar-winning animated history of time spent at play; Chuck Jones unleashes his Lothario-skunk, Pepe Le Pew, in For Scent-imental Reasons (1949); Mel Brooks heckles experimental animation in the hilarious cartoon The Critic (1963); a scintillating insect excerpt from the pseudo-documentary The Hellstrom Chronicle (1971); Saul Bass' imaginative treatise on imagination, Why Man Creates (1968); Isaac Hayes performs the Theme From Shaft in an eye-popping, over-the-top display of glitz from the 44^th Academy Awards show in 1972; plus one of the great awards-show moments as Jayne Mansfield knocks Mickey Rooney speechless at the 1958 Golden Globes.

Date: Thursday, February 21st, 2013 at 8:00pm

Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street San Francisco

Admission: $10.00 Limited Seating RSVP toprogramming@oddballfilm.com or (415) 558-8117

Featuring:

The Golden Fish (Color, 1959)

Edmond Séchan’s charming 1959 film The Golden Fish won the Special Jury prize at Cannes and its easy to see why: a story deftly drawn in small moments, a boy, his fish, his bird, and a cat, enough joy and mastery to do without dialogue. Often compared stylistically to The Red Balloon, The Golden Fish is a captivating little film.

For Scent-imental Reasons (B&W, 1949)

“It is love at first sight, is it not?” asks Pepe Le Pew of his tortured love object in this early entry in the beloved Merrie Melodies cartoon series. The distraught Penelope Pussycat flees Pepe’s unabashed advances until a change of heart turns the tables on our odorous friend. Oddball’s print of the film includes an often-censored sequence of Pepe threatening suicide! With the iconic voice work of Mel Blanc, the cartoon won legendary animator Chuck Jones his first Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

Why Man Creates (Color, 1968)

This inquiry into and celebration of the creative impulse was directed by Bass and won the Academy Award for Best Short Documentary Film in 1969. Part informational essay, part creative explosion, it examines human creativity in its many varieties: from practical scientific applications to creativity for the sake of expression. A series of explorations, episodes and comments on creativity, this film is one of the most highly regarded short films ever produced. Humor, satire, and irony are combined with serious questions about the creative process and how it comes into play for different individuals. A fascinating cornucopia of trenchant ideas and important truths, it’s transgressive and insightful, way-out and weird.

Leisure (Color, 1976)

“Satisfaction should be the measure of success.” Australian cartoonist Bruce Petty won an Academy Award for this unconventional, animated treatise on work and play. In a barrage of cartoons, photographs, and collage, Petty calls out for the lost art of leisure with a pulsating ride through history like we’ve never seen it before. Leisure or labor, the decision is ours.

The Critic (Color, 1963)
Another Oscar winner form the great Ernie Pintoff- the “Critic is Mel Brooks, sitting in a movie theater. Loudly describing/deriding what he seeds on the screen (a spoof of a Norman McLaren-styled animation). Hee-larious.

The Hellstrom Chronicle (Color, 1971, Excerpt)
This strange, dark satiric pseudo-documentary about the end of the human race and the beauty and adaptability of insects may not have the credibility of a National Geographic film, but its subjectivity doesn't make it any less fascinating, or even plausible and certainly makes it more entertaining and provocative. The film intersperses incredible microcinematography that illuminates the grotesquely beautiful life of insects with a journey through man's failings led by fictitious scientist Nils Hellstrom, played to the hilt by Lawrence Pressman. While highlighting insects' adaptability and longevity on the planet, Hellstrom paints a picture of the annihilation of man and the reclamation of the Earth by our six-legged enemies.

Skaterdater (1965, color)

This awesome coming of age short is a must see. Winner of Cannes Film Festival short film prize in 1967, this film has no dialogue but rather uses the visual to, ahem-erect, a story about a boy who skateboards with his friends until he can’t take his mind off a girl on a bike. Directed by Noel Black (who went on to direct the cult feature “Pretty Poison”), Skater Dater has developed a strong following both for it’s amazing skateboarding and it’s surf-inspired Davie Allen and the Arrows soundtrack. Shot near Torrance, CA and features the Imperial Skateboard Club. One of the first skateboard films, it was also nominated for an Academy Award and won several other prizes.

Oddball Films and guest Curator Landon Bates bring you Signifying Nothing: Cinema of the Absurd, an exciting exploration of--you guessed it!--the absurdity inherent within the human condition. For a sort of philosophical primer we'll begin our inscrutable screening with that ambassador of angst, that emissary of alienation, that duke of despair, that prophet of pointlessness: that’s right, it’s Albert Camus inAlbert Camus: A Self Portrait (1971). This film gives a glimpse of Camus's French-Algerian beginnings, an overview of his most important works, and features rare interview footage with the man himself; and, it will be appropriately succeeded by Sisyphus (1975), a mesmerizing animation of that symbolic struggle up the mountainside of life. We'll then make a pit-stop in the mind of Eugene Ionesco, a worthy representative of the Theatre of the Absurd, with a dramatization of his play The New Tenant (1975), in which a simple-seeming man is revealed to be obsessed with his possessions, flooding his new apartment with a never-ending stream of furniture. A piece of furniture also figures prominently in our next film--so much so that one might even call it the main character: this film is Roman Polanski's classic short, Two Men and a Wardrobe (1958), wherein two boys, with their beloved bureau in tow, wander the city streets wanting only to find a peaceful place in the din of the modern world. Our concluding film features yet another existential outcast, namely Herman Melville's stubborn scrivener, in that fictive forbear of the absurdist genre: Bartleby (1969). This soul-enlivening evening of fun-filled futility is not to be missed.

Date: Thursday, February 28th, 2013 at 8:00pm

Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street San Francisco

Admission: $10.00 Limited Seating RSVP to programming@oddballfilm.comor (415) 558-8117

“The divorce between man and his life, the actor and his setting, is properly the feeling of the absurd.”

- Albert Camus

Featuring:

Albert Camus: A Self Portrait(Color, 1971)

Albert Camus was one of the 20th Century's most eminent philosophers, often associated with existentialist thought, and one of the fathers of the philosophy of absurdism. Absurdity, in Camus's view, involves the inevitable human struggle for some sort of clear or definite sense of meaning in a complex world where such meaning cannot readily be found. Among Camus's most important writings are The Myth of Sisyphus, a sort of treatise on the absurdity inherent in the human experience, and his philosophical novels, The Stranger, and The Plague. This profile of the philosopher/novelist/political thinker, provides an all-too-brief overview of Camus's life and work, paying special attention to the locales of his boyhood in French Algiers. Also included is interview footage in which Camus discusses some of his writings and views.

Sisyphus (B+W, 1975)

Sisyphus is an artistically spare depiction of the Greek myth of Sisphyus, sentenced to eternally roll a stone up a mountain. The animated story is presented in a single, unbroken shot, consisting of a dynamic line drawing of Sisyphus, the stone, and the mountainside.

The New Tenant (Color, 1975)

Based on the absurdist play by Eugene Ionesco, “The New Tenant” is an existential spectacle of terrifying simplicity about a man overwhelmed by his objects.

Two Men and a Wardrobe (B+W, 1958)

Roman Polanski’s darkly comic early film has many of the director’s preoccupations already present: alienation, crisis in identity, and a bizarre view of humanity that sees us as some very strange animals. In this quasi-surrealist jaunt, two otherwise normal looking men emerge from the sea carrying an enormous wardrobe, which they proceed to carry around a nearby town. Seeking fun, solace, or maybe some place to put the damn thing, all the two find is rejection at every turn. Watch Polanski in a bit part he later reprises in Chinatown.“Two Men and a Wardrobe” initiated Polanski’s collaboration with Krzysztof Komeda, the great Polish jazz composer who went on to score such Polanski hallmarks as Knife in the Water, Cul de Sac, and Rosemary's Baby.

Bartleby (Color, 1969)

An affecting adaptation of Melville's haunting short story, “Bartleby, The Scrivener,” in which a forlorn copyist, hired by a Wall Street lawyer, becomes increasingly enigmatic as his willingness to do work gradually diminishes, eventually to the point of total inactivity. The lawyer, through whose perspective the events of the story are related, finds Bartleby inscrutable, and finds himself somehow impervious to his employee's insubordination. James Westerfield plays the lawyer, and a young Barry Williams (aka Greg in The Brady Bunch) has a small role as one of Bartleby's officemates.

Melville's story prefigures Kafka's nightmarishly mundane fiction, and can likewise be seen as a forbear of the Absurdist Theatre movement. Also, Albert Camus, in a personal letter to a friend (unpublished until 1998) cited Melville as an influence.

Curator’s Biography:

Landon Bates is a UC Berkeley graduate of English Literature and plays drums for the duo Disappearing People.

Oddball Films presents Trance Cinema Live - An Evening of Ritual and Ecstatic States with live electronic accompaniment by Jakarta musician Iman Fattah. Oddball Films continues its series of ecstatic states and global rituals with a live cinesound presentation. Sherpa High Country (1977) documents the ecstatic three days of ritual in Nepal during the Mani Rimdu ceremonies celebrated each year by Buddhist Sherpas. In Ma’Bugi: Trance of the Toraja(1970s), women dance ecstatically and men climb a ladder of knives in a trance ritual that functions to restore the balance of well-being to an afflicted village community. Walbiri Fire Ceremony(1977) showcases a spectacular three-day Australian Aboriginal communal ritual of penance. In A Balinese Gong Orchestra (1971), musicians showcase their mesmerizing rhythms. In Trance and Ritual in Bali (1972), trance dances and ecstatic spirit possession are mixed with electronics by Iman Fattah and Tanka(1976) a fierce animated vision of ancient gods and demons in the Tibetan Book of the Dead pulsates and projects from still Tanka images.
Come early for a double screen, overlapping projection of the exotic curios Belles of the South Seas and Belles of Bali (1930s).

Date:Friday, March 1, at 8:00PM.

Venue:Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco

Admission:$10.00 Limited Seating - RSVP $12.00 at the door to: 415-558-8117 or programming@oddballfilm.com

Featuring:

Sherpa High Country (Color, 1977)is a beautifully photographed look into the life of Nepalese Sherpas from the Solu Khumbu highlands near Mt. Everest, over 4,000 ft in the sky. Sherpa life is shown in detail and features stunning cinematography of the great annual three-day Mani Rimdu ceremonies held at the Tangboche monastery. During the Mani Rimdu a unique orchestra of horns, drums, conch shells and cymbals accompany ritualistic dances in which monks in vibrant robes and bizarre glowering masks act out the roles of deities. These historico-mythical ceremonies replay the vanquishing of demons and the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet. This film is a document of a celebration that now draws thousands of visitors from around the world.

Walbiri Fire Ceremony (1977),From the other side of the planet documents a spectacular three-day Australian Aboriginal communal ritual of penance. The ceremony culminates in a nighttime ordeal in which the owners are humiliated, engage in self-flagellation with burning bundles of twigs and are showered with sparks from burning branches. This is a powerful, engaging and fascinating film.

Ma’Bugi: Trance of the Toraja, (Color, 1970s) depicts an unusual trance ritual that functions to restore the balance of well-being to an afflicted village community. This film clearly portrays the song, dance and pulsating tension that precede dramatic instances of spirit possession in the Toraja highlands of Sulawesi (Celebes) Island, Indonesia. Ma’Bugi: Trance of the Toraja, augments the growing body of documentation of ritually sanctioned altered states of consciousness. This remarkable film communicates both the psychological abandon of the trance state and the often neglected motivation underlying such activities as the supernaturally curing of the chronically ill and the ascent of a ladder of knives. The ceremony is narrated by the Tominaa, priest of the ancestral Toraja religion.

A Balinese Gong Orchestra (Color, 1971)

A film explaining the famous "Gamelan Gong" that includes the orchestra Tunjuk. Each instrument is described and explained, then the orchestra performs a piece taken from the Ramayana ballet suite (written in the 1950s and based on traditional themes). Segments of this film will be double screen projected.

Trance and Ritual In Bali (Color, 1972)

Rare footage of cremation ceremonies, trance dances and ecstatic spirit possession in Bali. With live music composed and performed Jakarta musician by Iman Fattah.

Tanka (Color, 1976)

"An extraordinary film."-Melinda Wortz, Art News

Tanka means, literally, a thing rolled up. David Lebrun’s Tanka is brilliantly powered by the insight that Tibetan religious paintings are intended to be perceived not in repose, but in constant movement. The film, photographed from Tibetan scroll paintings of the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries, is a cyclical vision of ancient gods and demons, an animated journey through the image world of the Tibetan Book of the Dead.

Belles of Bali/Belles of the South Seas (B+W, 1930s)

Come early to see these unusual curios examining the female culture and day-to-day activities of “exotified” Balinese women as well as the “strange and savage” cultures of the South Seas. Both films will be projected and overlapped simultaneously

About Jakarta Musician Iman Fattah
Iman Fattah is a musician, sound designer and producer from Jakarta, Indonesia. His father is a legendary Indonesian musician Donny Fattah. Fattah has been active in Indonesian rock and experimental music scene for the past 15 years, playing guitar in his own band called Zeke and the Popo and RAKSASA. Additionally he produces music for films, theater and commercials. In 2010 Iman collaborated with cutting edge film director Joko Anwar Indonesian as sound designer in the award winning theatrical performance Onrop.

Website: www.imanfattah.com

Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/imanfattah

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/imanfattah

Oddball Films presents The Eames Legacy - Short Films by Charles and Ray Eames. Among the finest designers of the 20th Century, the husband and wife team are best known for their groundbreaking contributions to architecture, furniture design, industrial design and manufacturing, but the Eames’ were also brilliant and inventive filmmakers, able to illustrate the most abstract concepts with readily understood images. The legacy of this husband and wife team includes more than 100 films produced between 1950 and 1982 that reflect the rich scope of their interests. This program includes Powers of Ten (1968), their most famous film about orders of magnitude; Tops (1969), a brilliant childlike anthropological film capturing spinning tops from different cultures and eras; IBM Mathematics Peep Show (1961) is a succinct and poignant presentation of 5 separate mathematical concepts; Toccata For Toy Trains (1957) a marvelous celebration of antique toys; A Communication Primer (1953); The Image of the City (1969), a lyrical treatise on the relationship between photography and the urban landscape ; and House: After Five Years of Living (1955), the beautiful contemplation on the home they built for themselves and lived in till the end of their lives. Noted for their furniture designs -- the "Eames chair" in particular is considered one of the most significant and widely recognized furniture designs of the 20th century. The Charles Eames Lounge Chair set a standard for comfort and simplicity in modern design. The chair is so important in modern furniture design that it has become a part of the permanent collection of New York's Museum of Modern Art. There is so much to say about the legacy of the Eames’s that an entire period has been named after them.

Date: Friday, March 8th, 2013 at 8PM

Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco
Admission: $10 - Limited Seating RSVP to programming@oddballfilm.com or 415-558-8117

Highlights Include:

Powers of Ten (Color, 1968)

Undoubtedly the most famous of the Eames Films, Powers of Ten is probably one of the most watched short films of the post-war era. Powers of Ten presents the profound idea of orders of magnitude, with the subtitle of the film being: A Film Dealing With the Relative Size of Things in the Universe and the Effect of Adding Another Zero.

Starting at a picnic by the lakeside in Chicago, this famous film transports us to the outer edges of the universe. Every ten seconds we view the starting point from ten times farther out, until our own galaxy is visible only as a speck of light among many others. Returning to earth with breathtaking speed, we move inward--into the hand of the sleeping picnicker--with ten times more magnification every ten seconds. Our journey ends inside a proton of a carbon atom within a DNA molecule in a white blood cell. It is all done in a single, continuous, seamless shot. It’s also one of the most ambitious tracking shots in the history of cinema. The film has been chosen by the Library of Congress for the National Film Registry.

House: After Five Years of Living (Color, 1955)
A beautiful collage of photographs of the exterior and interior of the house and studio, designed and built by Charles Eames, Case Study House #8. Built on a hill in California overlooking the ocean, this modern and unique structure reflect the interests of Charles and Ray Eames and shows the influence of Japanese simplicity in the architecture and furnishings. Some of their artwork and personal objects are also shown, illuminating their personal style. Shows shadows on a corner wall, part of a table laid for breakfast, a bowl of apples, a painting, flowers in brilliant colors. Charles and Ray Eames designed the house for themselves in 1949; made entirely from standard, industrial parts, the Eames House is beautiful, functional and a true home. They lived there for the rest of their lives (Charles died in 1978, Ray in 1988)

Tops (Color, 1969)

Toys occupy several of the Eames films, including Tops, a purely visual film that documents the short life span of a spinning top. It’s essentially a silent anthropological film and captures tops from different cultures and eras. The Eames Office contained a menagerie of toys, and it was Charles who once asked rhetorically, “Who would say that pleasure is not useful?” Tops was shot from the extreme perspectives of close-ups – an expressionistic technique that lets the audience experience toys as if from the eyes of a child. Whether set into motion by the twist of the fingers or the pull of a string, these colorful tops are even more beautiful seen through the eyes of Charles and Ray Eames. The stunning variety of the tops featured here is almost as dizzying as the whirling toys themselves. Composer Elmer Bernstein, a frequent Eames collaborator, spins the musical spell.

Toccata for Toy Trains (1957, color)

Legends of the design world, Charles and Ray Eames had their own way of looking at everything and this table-top epic shows it. The best cinema craft was adapted to make this miniature world of trains, dolls and other tiny treasures completely alive. Leave it to the Eames to put viewers inside a toy train! Scored by renowned composer Elmer “Magnificent Seven” Bernstein.

A Communication Primer (1953, Color)

An early and excellent example of Charles and Ray Eames' ability to simply convey complex ideas, this film uses simple shapes and deliberate action sequences to explain the basics of contemporaneous communication theory.

IBM Mathematica Peep Show (Color, 1961)

Also known as "IBM Mathematics Peep Shows," these five short films were commissioned by IBM and created by Charles and Ray Eames for inclusion in the 1961 Mathematica exhibition that took place at the California Museum of Science and Industry and the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Like Powers of Ten, each of the five Mathematica Peep Shows was a succinct and poignant presentation of a single mathematical concept, communicated through the medium of film, mostly through animation with voice-over narration.

If there’s one theme all the Eames’ films share, it’s clarity. Nearly of the Eames’ films can be understood and appreciated by audiences of all ages, and all backgrounds. Charles & Ray were active at an pivotal juncture in the history of design. They were working in post-war America, where business was experiencing unprecedented growth, and the American public had acquired a taste for good design (for just one bit of evidence, see the film American Look (1958), sponsored by Chevrolet). They were working for IBM — one of the most affluent companies in the world, and a company helmed by Thomas J Watson, Jr, an exec who was famously concerned with the image of his company.

Charles & Ray Eames were artists adept at an astonishing number of disciplines. They produced museum exhibitions, architecture, logotypes, toys, slide-shows, furniture, books, photography, paintings films. However, their films are the least discussed of their work. They are one of the few American artists with an entire era named after them and their films contain some of the most original ideas of the century.

The Eames’ films are usually considered “instructional” or (corporate) “sponsored” films though they were much more than that-they were a cinematic methodology for them to express their all encompassing vision of the world in terms of moving images. In fact Charles Eames once stated “We’ve never used film as an artform but as projections of concepts..” Charles & Ray were frequently contracted by corporations like Polaroid, Westinghouse, and IBM working integrally with them to create some of the most elegant and visually compelling educational and corporate films ever made. In their film SX-70 (1972), intended as a promotional film for the newly released Polaroid SX-70 camera, the Eames’ take advantage of the opportunity to discuss optics, transistors and to display their own Polaroid photographs.

Oddball Films and guest curator Lynn Cursaro present Wake Up and Smell the Morning: The Ritual and Routine of Breakfast featuring the most important reels of the day. It's a smorgasbord of films centered around the morning meal and its importance in our daily grind. Michael Caine happily shares screen time with freshly ground coffee and attempts seduction via expert kitchen technique in two deluxe excepts from Sidney J. Furie’s The IPCRESS File (1965). In All’s Fair (1938), the Cabin Kids let loose on a pancake contest with lots of music and hint of mayhem. A craving for warm buttery treats leads a girl on a fantastical countryside journey in a food sourcing fable, Waffles (1986). Harvesting sweet gold is a vanishing way of life in Maple Sugar and Syrup, a poetic Kodascope from the late 1920s. Rush Hour Service (1971) recasts the workday diner as a battleground requiring tactical planning. A Chocolate Sandwich? (1976) uses a beloved treat to explore the part bread plays in French life. And there’s MORE! Treats from the curator’s kitchen will include her notorious gingerbread.

Date: Friday, March 7th, 2013 at 8:00PM.

Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco

Admission: $10.00, RSVP Only to: 415-558-8117 or programming@oddballfilm.com

Featuring:

Excerpts from The IPCRESS File

(5 minutes each, 1965, Sidney J. Furie)

For spy Harry Palmer (Michael Caine), nothing beats the chill of the Cold War like some good home cooking. Author Len Deighton wrote cookbooks as wells as espionage thrillers so a protagonist with impeccable knife skills was a natural. In the title sequence, a bleary- eyed Caine freshly grinds beans for one of cinema’s most noteworthy cups of joe. A second excerpt presents the preparation of a jumbo Denver omelet as a mating ritual of sorts. What else would you have the working class answer to James Bond whip up for a last minute visit from a lady spy? As Sir Michael attested, “Len was a great cook, a smashing cook. I learned a lot about food from playing Harry Palmer.”

Liquid Gold!

Maple Syrup and Sugar(B+W, 1920’s)

A beautiful, silent glimpse of a way of life on the brink of modernization! The primitive maple tapping camps and hardy maple men evoke frontier life with a haunting immediacy. Even the babies are toughing it out. The relatively modern processing facility also feels quaint. This selection from the Eastman Company's Kodascope lending library was meant to give its audience a greater knowledge of tree anatomy and the syrup industry in general, but like the best ephemera it shows much, much more. Mrs. Butterworth, move over!

Inglorious Waitstaff

Rush Hour Service(Color, 1971)

In the dog-eat-dog world of restaurants, maximizing the lucrative lunch hour turnover is a matter of survival. In this primer on efficient preparation military metaphors and rapid- fire cliches evoke a hash-slinger's version of The Longest Day. The pros know that empty ketchup bottles can blow even the most masterful mealtime mojo: don’t let it happen to you!

Hardcore Loafing

A Chocolate Sandwich?(Color, 1976)

In a pre-Nutella era, chocolate sandwiches might well have inspired quizzical looks from American youngsters. The familiar comforts of bread, however, provide an easy gateway into the French way of life and the importance of a crusty loaf or three in every home. A visit to a local baker, who knows every corner of his ancient brick oven like the back of his hand, and the endless shots of baguettes in net bags and bicycles drive home the point that the staff of life is a whole different ball of dough in France.

Flipping Out!

All’s Fair (B+W, 1938, Robert Hall)

When Mammy Jinny is called away from the kitchen, the high-spirited Cabin Kids are in charge of putting the finishing touches on her prize pancake recipe. Will they cost her the prize money or win her a griddle-full of glory? All’s Fair was the last in a series of musical comedy shorts and is every bit as charming and offensive as one could hope for. Siblings on and off the screen, the Kids sing a swinging ABC song, while Tom Emerson’s Mountaineers offer up a down home Skip to My Lou.

Baffling... and Waffling

Waffles (Color, 1986)

We’ve all been there, pulsing with an early morning craving only to find we are short the fixings for a fabulous start to our day. Our young heroine does not take an empty milk carton lying down, especially since there are so many cows close at hand, right? In this storybook suburban fantasy anything can happen. Boost a chicken while you’re at it and it’s Waffle City at your place. Bacon, however, is another story.

Plus! For the Early Arrivals!

Picnic(Color, 1968)

A James Burroughs' musical mini-masterpiece! A selection from ACI's Learn to Read series, this sometimes moody study of al fresco afternoons with family, friends and nature might set you to packing a basket of your own.

About the Curator

Oddball Films brings you Wanderlust - The Romance of Transportation, an evening of vintage 16mm films about our need to travel and the planes, trains and automobiles (and boats and motorcycles) that make it possible. From jet-setting promotional films to safety scare films to charming historical animation, this program is sure to move you! Get jet-setting with the sizzling trailer for the 1969 sleaze classic The Stewardesses and motoring with the original trailer for Easy Rider, and then get ready to see the world, Pan Am's World (1966) with this stylish and beautiful promotional gem. Peter Fonda and Evel Knievel teach us that motorcycle riding is Not So Easy (1973). Our neighbors to the North explore The Romance of Transportation in Canada (1952) in this whimsical Canadian mid-century animation with a dynamic jazz soundtrack. The Scenemakers (1960) is one fashionable road-trip brought to you by Penney's and Monsanto with stylish highlights of America's most beautiful sights and outfits. Princess Cruises wants you to know how a cruise makes All The Difference in the World (1970's) and the grandiose narrator is willing to pound it into your head with the help of a staff and clientele in the shortest of short-shorts. Take a miniature train ride with Charles and Ray Eames charming and visually astonishing short Toccata for Toy Trains (1957). And learn the history and visit the vintage haunts of our own iconic transportation in San Francisco's Ageless Cable Cars (1955). Plus, vintage car commercials and so much more!

Date: Thursday, March 14th, 2013 at 8:00pm

Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street San Francisco

Admission: $10.00 Limited Seating RSVP to programming@oddballfilm.com or (415) 558-8117

Featuring:

Pan Am’s World (Color, 1966)

Jet around the world in this Pan Am promotional film from the heyday of luxurious air travel. From Thailand to Paris, Australia to England, this film takes us everywhere, or at least everywhere Pan Am flies. Plenty of great commercial fodder tossed with some spectacular footage from around the globe make this a travel mix-up not to be missed!

The Scenemakers (Color, 1960)

An unintentionally hilarious long-form commercial presented by Monsanto and J.C. Pennies. See America in style with Jan, Jill and Amy, three gals crossing the country, but always making sure to dress their best. The ladies take a ride on the Delta Queen river boat in their sporty twinsets. They tour a plantation in long evening gowns. One meets a gambler with an eye patch and plays blackjack. They change into short cocktail dresses and go to a nightclub in the French Quarter to listen to ragtime and jazz. They take a drive through Pikes Peak National Forest in a convertible and wear cowboy hats. They go to a beach in California, model their bathing suits, then build a bonfire in cable knit sweaters. They drive the convertible to San Francisco and stay at the Mark Hopkins Hotel. They ride a cable car in stylish daytime suits and dresses and go to the Japanese Tea garden, and drive down Lombard St. They fly home in style on an American Airlines jet, undoubtedly to buy more stylish clothes from Penney's.

The Romance of Transportation in Canada (Color, 1952)

Directed by Colin Low, animated by Wolf Koenig and Robert Verrall and narrated by Guy Glover “Romance…” was the National Film Board’s first attempt at a UPA style of animation for an educational film. Despite the rather dry subject, it has generous humor a beautiful mid-century style, and features a great bop/cool jazz soundtrack by Eldon Rathburn.

The film offers a humorous account of the history of transportation in Canada, looking at how Canada's vast distances and obstacles were overcome, beginning with Canada's First Nations. It also recounts the experiences of early pioneers, the construction of the Trans-Canada Railway and modern travel.

Not So Easy (Color, 1973)

Starring Peter Fonda and Evel Knievel, this motorcycle safety film aims to show you that even for the star of Easy Rider, driving a motorcycle is “not so easy.” Knievel contributes a few words in support of safety, and then proceeds to demonstrate his signature tricks. Filled with plenty of long shots of Fonda riding down the California coast, this short is better suited to showcasing Fonda’s effortless cool than it is to safety.

Toccata for Toy Trains (1957, color)

San Francisco’s Ageless Cable Cars (Color, 1955)

Traverse the classic haunts of San Fran through the eyes of the cable car. Andrew Hallide brought the cable car system to America after witnessing a terrible accident of horses and a carriage trying to make their way down a steep SF hill in the late 1800’s. Today, it is still the most appropriate form of transportation over and about San Francisco’s steep hills and valleys. This doc takes the viewer through the routes of the cars and illuminates its many characters and uses along the way.

Plus! For the Early Birds:

What On Earth! (Color, 1970’s)

If aliens looked at planet Earth from outer space, what would he or she see? In this film, automobiles are perceived as life forms – with particular habits and behaviors! See beautifully animated lines of cars, dancing figures and stoplights, and other objects dancing. This psychedelic simplified world of shapes and signs, emphasizes consumerism and the ways in which earthlings are being conditioned!

Creative Body Movement: Transportation(1969, color, 11 min.)
The kids from Perc, Pop, Sprinkle are back . . . and this time they’re whipping themselves into a fitness frenzy as boats, airplanes and trains. Is it some sort of torture? Their over enthusiastic gym teacher gives this gem the feel of a The 5,000 Fingers of Dr.T for P.E. world. The deliciously awkward drawbridge segment is a must see!

Oddball Films and curator Kat Shuchter bring you Learn Your Lesson...Scott Baio, the first in a series of programs highlighting the most ridiculous, insane and camptastic shockucational films and TV specials of the collection. Round one of Learn Your Lesson features a triple dose of Afterschool Specials starring 80's teen heartthrob Scott Baio (Happy Days, Charles in Charge). Watch little Scotty grow from a teen playing a young boy on the streets, to a young man playing a stoned and hilarious teen, to a full-grown man playing a High School kid with a drinking problem. We begin with Luke Was There (1976), an NBC Special Treat and one of the first credits on young Baio's resume. The 16 year-old plays a boy forced to a life on the streets after his mother is hospitalized, and he's reduced stealing food stamps from old ladies. In Stoned (1980), an ABC Afterschool Special, the now 20 year-old Baio plays sophomore Jack Melon, who's tired of being an invisible nerd and finds some new friends, self-confidence and a great sense of humor when he starts smoking pot. Strangers with Candy fans will delight in an eerily familiar outdoor rap-session with Jack's hip teacher. And finally, a 24 year-old Scott plays a senior with a bright future, but a bad habit of drinking and driving in the CBS Schoolbreak Special All The Kids Do It (1984, directed by Henry "The Fonz" Winkler). Will Scott Baio ever learn his lesson? Will You?

Date: Friday, March 15th, 2013 at 8:00pm

Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street San Francisco

Admission: $10.00 Limited Seating RSVP to programming@oddballfilm.com or (415) 558-8117

Featuring:

Stoned (Color, 1980)

ABC After School Special (ASS) starring that loveable rascal Scott Baio. Here he is lured into stonersville by a skateboard-riding dope dealer. The munchies and problems at school ensue, climaxing with the near death of his older brother when the stoned Biao clobbers him with a boat paddle.

All The Kids Do It (Color, 1984)

This time Baio’s a bit too old to be a teenage boozer who misses the diving competition after he wrecks his bitchin’ vintage ride. Directed by Henry “The Fonz” Winkler, All The Kids Do It is above average for a CBS Schoolbreak Special was and the killer soundtrack features The Plimsoles (Lie, Beg, Borrow and Steal) and Peter Gabriel (Shock The Monkey).

Luke Was There (Color, 1976)

In the first year of his Hollywood Career, 16 year-old Scott Baio stars in this tender tear-jerker about a young boy who must grow-up fast after his mother is hospitalized. He's placed in a group home, where he throws some hilarious tantrums, until Luke helps him out of his angry shell. But when Luke has to attend to his ailing mother, Scott hits the streets and tries to make it as a petty thief and a valet for old ladies. He meets an adorable orphan and decides that the streets are no place for little kids.

About the Afterschool Special
The ABC Afterschool Special graced the television airwaves from 1972 to 1997. NBC decided to get in the game in 1975 with their own offering: The NBC Special Treat, followed by the CBS Schoolbreak Special in 1984. These shows sought to present powerful and persuasive cautionary tales and melodramas for teens and preteens. With subject matter from steroid abuse to anorexia to teenage pregnancy, these shows were often preachy and schmaltzy, but always...always Special!

Oddball Films presents Strange Sinema 62: Cinema Sequences + Nut House Nuggets, oddities from the Oddball Archives featuring new finds, buried junk, weird smut and miscellaneous moving image mayhem. This program features an oddball assortment of amazing cinema sequences, including feature parts, excerpts, trailers and “nut house nuggets" -weird spoofs and kooky cinema oddities all culled from the rarities in the Oddball Archives. Sequences include Federico Fellini’s infamous Steam Bath Sequence (1963) from 8 ½starring Marcello Mastroianni; Reel 2 of Radley Metzger’s stylish adult film Barbara Broadcast starring Annette Haven, Jamie Gillie and CJ Laing; silent cinema trailers featuring Lon Chaney Sr. as Quasimodo in the Hunchback of Notre Dame (1925), and as a deformed phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House in Phantom of the Opera (1925) and Paul Leni’s expressionistic comedy horror film The Cat and the Canary (1927) inspired by Broadway stage plays and the cornerstone of Universal Pictures horror genre; excerpts, intros and vintage mouthwash, cigarette, and aspirin commercials from the legendary director’s television show Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962); nightmarish comedic scenes from Neil Simon’s A Prisoner of Second Avenue (1975) featuring unemployed ad executive Mel Edison (Jack Lemon) and wife Edna (Anne Bancroft) living in the heat of a NYC garbage strike; a bizarre 1950s spoof compilation of TV and commercials: The Nut House!! (1950s) featuring Gaines Horse Food (made from dogs), a woman telling time by beating a baby carriage with a dead fish and other oddities; Paramount Studios introduces their wacky comedic team of Martin & Rossi (1966) complete with glamour girls and eye-popping Technicolor; the very weird Universal Studios featurette Fraud By Mail (1944) focuses on bizarre dangerous mail order fraud: nose shapers, spine straighteners, eye mallets, pendiculators and more; Isaac Hayes performs the most over-the–top spectacular version of Shaft (1972) ever at the 44^thAnnual Academy Awards and two early silent films by cinematic pioneer Georges Méliès La Comedie et Magique de Méliès (B+W,1903)provide some of the first examples of fade-outs, dissolves, double exposures and other camera tricks.

Plus! a naked Marlboro cigarette ad-the strangest ever!

Date: Thursday, March 21 2013 at 8:00PM.

Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco
Admission: $10.00 RSVP Only to: 415-558-8117 or programming

@oddballfilm.com

Featuring:

Fellini’s 8 ½ The Steam Bath Sequence (B+W, 1963)

"I was a little shocked when I saw on a church door a poster that had my name on it that had a black border... the poster said, 'Let us pray for the salvation of the soul of Frederico Fellini, public sinner.'"

Now that we’ve chosen a pope, it’s on to the eroticism of religion.

This is Fellini's dramatic autobiographical film about a famous film director, Guido, (played by Marcello Mastroianni) who loses his inspiration in the midst of making a film. In this sequence Guido, the director, has a fantasy meeting with the Cardinal in a steambath. Guido's friends and associates exhort him to prostrate himself before the Cardinal and he does... but the Cardinal simply replies "There is no salvation outside the Church".

Barbara Broadcast (Last Reel)(Color, 1977)

Having established himself as a successful XXX director under the name Henry Paris, Radley Metzger quickly followed up his groundbreaking The Opening of Misty Beethoven with Barbara Broadcast, an attempt to fuse lavish visuals and sharp wit with down and dirty sex scenes. This time any semblance of a plot is purely accidental which is great for this program since we only have the last (well worn) reel of this classic adult film.

Silent Cinema Trailers (B+W, 1920s,)

Witness these silent cinema trailers featuring Lon Chaney Sr. as Quasimodo in the Hunchback of Notre Dame(1925), and as a deformed phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House in Phantom of the Opera (1925), all rounded out by Paul Leni’s expressionistic comedy horror film The Cat and the Canary (1927) inspired by Broadway stage plays and the film is considered the cornerstone for Universal Pictures school of horror.

Excerpts From The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (B+W, 1962)

Excerpts, intros and vintage mouthwash, cigarette, and aspirin commercials from the legendary director’s TV show Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962) with appearances by the director himself.

Scenes From Prisoner of Second Avenue (Color, 1975)

Choice scenes from the Neil Simon comedy starring Jack Lemon and Anne Bancroft. The action occurs during an intense summer heat wave and a prolonged garbage strike, which just exacerbates the recently unemployed Mel Edison's (Lemon) plight. With no end in sight, he and his wife Edna (Bancroft) deal with noisy neighbors, loud sounds emanating from Manhattan streets up to their apartment and even a robbery of their apartment during broad daylight. A sticky, comic nightmare!

Nut House Nuggets!! (B+W, 1950s)

This "Viewer's Digest” spoof of soap operas and other programs is a bizarre gem. Watch a simulated commercial for Gains Horse Food (made from dogs), a lodge meeting where a cake comes out of a dummy of a woman, "commercials" for Quigleys Menthol bubble-gum and Prudential Underarm Deodorant. "News bulletin" about a zookeeper who clawed a leopard to death." Later in a spoof of "amazing feats," a woman tells time by beating a baby carriage with a dead fish. The fish is 5 minutes slow, so they give her a watch!

Starring Kathy “Nut House Squirrel Girl". Brought to you by Maidenform Sweat Sox!

Presenting Allen & Rossi (Color, 1966)

Rare Paramount promotional short “introducing” their newest acquisition: the dopey comedy team of Marty Allen and Steve Rossi. Soon to star in their spy spoof The Last of the Secret Agents?, the comedy duo get a big push from poppa Paramount, complete with glamour gals and fancy cars- in eye-poppingly stunning color.

Fraud By Mail (B+W, 1944)

Speaking of fetish, this very weird Universal Studios featurette focuses on bizarre and quite dangerous mail order fraud: nose shapers, spine straighteners, electrical hair stimulators, eye mallets, pendiculators and more. Rather kinky.

Isaac Hayes-Theme From Shaft (1972, Color)

Isaac Hayesperforms the Theme From Shaft in this eye-popping, spectacularly (!) staged over-the-top performance from the 44th Academy Awards show in 1972. Hayes was the first African-American to win an Oscar in a music category.

La Comedie et Magique de Méliès (B+W,1903)

Two early silent films by cinematic pioneer Georges Méliès which provide some of the first examples of fade-outs, dissolves, double exposures and other camera tricks. In The Witch's Revenge, a witch uses magic tricks to take over a king's throne and get revenge. In The Inn Where No Man Rests, a man staying at an inn cannot get any rest because of strange happenings.

Oddball Films presents Creepy Cartoons - The Dark Side of Animation, a program of strange, dark, and unsettling animation from around the world. Cartoons are generally thought of as light entertainment for children, but the medium allows the viewer to explore dark and surreal worlds and subject matter at a two-dimensional distance. The devilish delights of this program include a pencil-drawn version of a 19th century British folk song Widdecombe Fair (1948) about an ill-fated trip to the fair on an old grey mare for Tom Pierce and a dozen of his closest friends. Comic strip Krazy Kat comes back to the big screen to fight off ghosts and other haunts, while his puppy fights with a skeleton in the silly romp Krazy Kat in Krazy Spooks (1933). Adorable bunny rabbits teach us a lesson about gun-violence and racial inequality in the justice system in The Punishment Fits the Crime (1972). Looney Tunes animator Paul Julian creates a dark and surreal vision of Maurice Ogden's poem The Hangman (1964). The Czechs bring us two pieces, the clever cutout animation The Sword (1967) and Bretislav Pojar's tale of global annihilation, Boom (1979). Yellow Submarine animator Paul Driessen gives us a strange vision of the Inquisition in a spider's web in Cat's Cradle (1974). And because we can't get enough of them, we will be bringing back two of our all-time favorite cartoons of the collection, Bruno Bozzetto's dark and sexy examination of the working man's Freudian subconscious, Ego (1970) and Betty Boop teaming up with Cab Calloway for one spooky night in Minnie the Moocher (1932).

Date: Friday, March 22nd, 2013 at 8:00PM.

Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco
Admission: $10.00 RSVP Only to: 415-558-8117 or programming

@oddballfilm.com

Featuring:

Widdecombe Fair (B+W, 1948)

Based on the Devon folk song, first published circa 1889, this pencil-drawn tale tells of Tom Pierce, who borrows his neighbor's old grey mare to take to the fair, only to load the poor creature with "Bill Brewer, Jan Stewer, Peter Gurney, Peter Davy, Dan'l Whiddon, Harry Hawke, Old Uncle Tom Cobley and all," eventually killing the horse and all it's many passengers.

Krazy Kat in Krazy Spooks (B+W, 1933)

Krazy Kat jumps back to the screen from the comic strip, (looking a lot like one Mr. M. Mouse) to battle ghosts, skeletons and gorillas in this silly short. Krazy Kat and his sweetheart (with a curiously tiny puppy in tow), head into a haunted house and squeal at everything! The puppy tangles with a skeleton to adorable and hilarious effect, but when the danger becomes real, will they be able to fight off a Poe-esque twist?

The Punishment Fits the Crime(Color, 1972)

Adorable bunny rabbits tackle the issue of racial inequality within the criminal justice system, in a fuzzy, light-hearted kind of way. With the outbreak of bunny-on-bunny violence, you will never think of bunnies in the same way again. With artwork by children’s illustrator, Steven Kellogg.

The Hangman (Color, 1964)

Paul Julian, previously known as an animator for Warner Bros' Looney Tunes, directs this haunting adaptation of Maurice Ogden's poem of the same name. A mysterious hangman comes to a small town, taking upon himself the responsibilities of town judge, jury, and executioner, but rather than questioning the stranger's arbitrary sentencing, the town's residents stay satisfied with their own well being, and look idly on as their community dwindles and their neighbors, one-by-one, face the noose-but might they too be beckoned by the hangman? Surreal in its visual style with long shadows and sharp color contrasts, and made all the more unsettling by an eerie jazzy sort of score. Is it about the Holocaust, playground bullies, McCarthyism? Discussion when the lights go up.

Boom (Color, 1979)

The global arms race as animated by the legendary Bretislav Pojar (Balablok). Takes a look at the history of aggression and the theory that might makes right. By extension, it carries us into the atomic and missile age, postulating various scenarios for planetary self-destruction, both planned and accidental. Without narration, using only sound effects and music, the film asks the question: is this THE END? Awarded the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes in 1979.

The Sword (Color, 1967)
This clever Czech cutout animation is short and er… to the point, The Sword is an allegory on the ignorance of people who enjoy their life to those who are suffering or dying at the very same instant.

Cat’s Cradle (Color, 1974)
Directed by Dutch animator Paul Driessen, one of the principle artists who worked on “Yellow Submarine” (and immigrated to Canada in 1971 to join the NFB), this curious piece is reminiscent of the Blue Meanies style, but with a darker tone. Witches, cloaked riders and other gothic characters in a tale about the hungry natural world.

Ego (Color, 1970)

Screened recently here as part of the Valentine's show, this brilliant animation by Italy’s Bruno Bozzetto (of the cult favorite Mr. Rossi series) demands a re-screening. Opens with traditional comic strip-style animation until the factory-working family man goes to sleep and unleashes his subconscious thoughts, sending him into a battleground of situations. Utilizes a number of animation styles including optical printing and pop art imagery. Features a wild soundtrack by the ultra-lounge master Franco Godi…

Minnie The Moocher (B+W, 1932)

End of the Reel: An Oddball Memoriam 2012 - Thur. Jan 17 - 8PM

Carnal Cartoons - Fri. Jan. 25 - 8PM

Strange Sinema 60 - The 5 Year Anniversary Spectacular! - Thu. Jan 24 - 8PM

Toot, Whistle, Plunk, Boom (Color, 1953)
ThisAcademy Award winner is in stunning Technicolor and a “beatnik” classic of mid-century animated design. It’s been ranked one of the top 50 greatest animated films of all time.

Off the Canvas - Art in Motion - Thur. Jan. 31 - 8PM

Oddball - The Musical - Fri. Feb. 1st - 8PM

Oral Exam - You Can't Handle the Tooth - Thur. Feb. 7th - 8PM

Pop! Goes the Classroom - School Films from the Golden Age of Groovy - Fri. Feb. 8th-8PM

Bad Movie Night - Ninja III: The Domination - Sun. Feb. 10 - 8PM

Stop-Motion Explosion II - Even More Explosive! - Fri. Feb. 15 - 8PM

Strange Sinema 61: One Sexy Valentine - Thur. Feb. 14 - 8PM

Snack Time! - Fri. Feb. 22nd- 8PM

More Oddball Oscar Obscurities - Thur. Feb 21 - 8PM

Signifying Nothing: Cinema of the Absurd - Thur. Feb. 28 - 8PM

Trance Cinema Live - An Evening of Ritual and Ecstatic States - Fri. Mar. 1st - 8PM

The Eames Legacy - Short Films by Charles and Ray Eames - Fri. Mar. 8 - 8PM

Wake Up and Smell the Morning: The Ritual and Routine of Breakfast - Thur. Mar. 7th - 8PM

Wanderlust - The Romance of Transportation - Thur. March 14 - 8PM

Learn Your Lesson...Scott Baio - Fri. Mar. 15 - 8PM

Strange Sinema 62: Cinema Sequences + Nut House Nuggets - Thur. Mar 21 - 8PM

Creepy Cartoons - The Dark Side of Animation - Fri. Mar. 22 - 8PM

Toot, Whistle, Plunk, Boom (Color, 1953)ThisAcademy Award winner is in stunning Technicolor and a “beatnik” classic of mid-century animated design. It’s been ranked one of the top 50 greatest animated films of all time.

Toot, Whistle, Plunk, Boom (Color, 1953)
ThisAcademy Award winner is in stunning Technicolor and a “beatnik” classic of mid-century animated design. It’s been ranked one of the top 50 greatest animated films of all time.