FLARE

Event: “Fourth of July Film Orgy”. Guest curator Pete Gowdy and Oddball Films present an evening of bizarre Americana on film to celebrate our nation’s 233rd birthday. Highlights include: “Meet King Joe”, a Technicolor cartoon that shows why American workers have it best; “Sewage Treatment Workers”, from the Dignity in Work film series; “All American Meal”, a precursor to “Super Size Me” made in ’76; “Fireworks”, a kooky safety film with a bizarre fire puppet; “200”, the cult favorite psychedelic animation celebrating America’s bicentennial; “An American Time Capsule”, 200 years of American history in 3 minutes; “Not So Easy”, a motorcycle safety film featuring Peter Fonda and Evel Knievel; plus “The Star Spangled Banner”, vintage meat, bbq, beer and junk food commercials, some tributes to recently departed American icons and more Americana mayhem!
Date: Saturday, July 4, 2009 at 8:30PM
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco 94110
Admission: $10.00 RSVP Only to: 415-558-8117 or info@oddballfilm.com

“Fourth of July Film Orgy”
Screens at Oddball Films

On Saturday, July 4, Guest Curator Pete Gowdy and Oddball Films present an evening of bizarre Americana on film to celebrate our nation’s 233rd birthday. You can shiver in the cold and watch the fog er… fireworks on the Embarcadero, or you can celebrate and see plenty of fireworks and much more at Oddball Films’ Fourth of July Film Orgy. A wild assortment of American-themed shorts- from propaganda to junk food, the freedom of the road to searching for dentures in the sewer. Happy Birthday, America!
Showtime is 8:30PM and admission is $10.00. Seating is limited so RSVP is preferred to: info@oddballfilm.com or 415-558-8117.

Highlights Include:

“Meet King Joe” (Color, 1951)
Subtitled “Fun And Facts About America”, this animated, Technicolor propaganda short from MGM demonstrates how American’s are better off than the rest of the world, singling out the Chinese in particular with racist portrayals (America was at war in Korea at the time, often fighting North-allied Chinese forces). “Americans own practically all the refrigerators in existence… as we drive about in 72% of the world’s automobiles”, crows the narrator.

“Sewage Treatment Workers” (Color, 1970)
Part of the Dignity in Work series, this entertaining short focuses on 3 very New York sewage workers, their unusual jobs and how they get trough the day: with a lot of humor. “One thing- the wife never asks me what I did today”, says one of the men. The lost dentures story should keep you flossing regularly…

“All American Meal” (Color, 1976)
Long before “Super Size Me” and the just-released “Food Inc.”, this little gem of an educational film warned of the dangers of the burger, fries and a coke diet that Americans are still hooked on. Unlike last week’s “Bicycles Are Beautiful”, McDonald’s did NOT sponsor this film.

“Fireworks” (Color, 1970’s)
Educational safety film featuring a bizarre Sid and Marty Krofft-style fire puppet and lots of cool vintage fireworks.

“200” (Color, 1975)
Vince Collin’s supremely psychedelic animated celebration of our nation’s bicentennial, sponsored by the United States Information Agency. They just don’t make ‘em like this anymore. But then again, not as many LSD-inspired animators make it through the grant process.

“American Time Capsule” (Color/b+w, 1968)
Chuck Braverman presents the history of the United States up to 1968 in 3 minutes, utilizing a montage of 1300 images set to the music of Sandy Nelson’s Beat That Drum.

“Not So Easy” (Color, 1973)
Peter Fonda, with his trademark Captain America helmet, narrates and stars with that quintessential American Evel Knievel in this “hip” motorcycle safety film. Super heavy/generic acid rock soundtrack accompanies some trick riding and jumps along with more sedate riding along the PCH in Santa Monica. Some choice lines from Evel: “If I look like I’m rigging up for a trip into outer space, you’re right… they’ve saved a lot of hide, especially in accidents like mine”.

PLUS! “The Star Spangled Banner” with a full marching band, vintage meat, bbq and junk food commercials, a tribute to some recently departed American icons and more!

Event: “Surfin’ Tiki Luau”. Guest curator Pete Gowdy and Oddball Films present a night of rare surf, tiki and exotica films to kick off the true start of summer. Highlights include: “Hang Ten”, a psychedelic surf short; “Hawaiian Rhythm: Hawaiian Nights” from 1939; “Isle of Tabu”, an early Tiki featurette; “Polynesian Holiday” with bandleader Harry Owens; Hawaii: “State of Paradise”; plus vintage exotica burlesque, Jack Lord worship and more! Tiki wear encouraged, and a theme-appropriate thirst quencher will be available!
Date: Friday, July 3rd, 2009 at 8:30PM
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco 94110
Admission: $10.00 RSVP Only to: 415-558-8117 or info@oddballfilm.com

“Surfin’ Tiki Luau”
Screens at Oddball Films

On Friday, July 3rd, Guest Curator Pete Gowdy and Oddball Films present a night of rare surfing shorts, Tiki films and travelogues, and exotica burlesque! Let Summer truly begin!
Showtime is 8:30PM and admission is $10.00. Seating is limited so RSVP is preferred to: info@oddballfilm.com or 415-558-8117.

Highlights Include:

“Hang Ten” (Color, 1970)
Directed and produced by the team of Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman (cult surf favorite 5 Summer Stories and the surf sequences in Big Wednesday, plus second unit scenes in Blade Runner, The Shining and more), “Hang Ten” is a psychedelic riff on surfing and surf culture. Image overlaps, color shifts, reverse motion coupled with a bizarre, fuzz/chamber pop soundtrack by the mystery band Topaz.

“Hawaiian Rhythm/Hawaiian Nights” (B+W, 1939)
Two early shorts from Castle Films (later to become the leader of 8mm and 16mm films sold to consumers for in-home projection). Hawaiian Rhythms is a compilation of mostly angolo-Hawaiian Soundies with some great hulas and luau scenes, while Hawaiian Nights is more of a travelogue with music, including the slack-key master Sol Hoppii and amazing footage of Waikiki beach, outriggers and surfers in the days long before jet travel and high-rises.

“Isle of Tabu” (Color, 1945)
Two-hour musical epic packed into 17 minutes! 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”.

“Polynesian Holiday” (Color, 1955)
Filmed in stunning Kodachrome color, this rare short travelogue stars bandleader Harry Owens in a tongue-in-cheek island vacation, where he’s fanned and feted by beautiful native women. Harry established the “hapa haole” style of Hawaiian music (native music as interpreted by foreigners) and won an Oscar for his song “Sweet Leilani”.

“Hawaii: State of Paradise” (B+W, 1951)
Nice early 50’s tourism short on the yet-to-be-fully exploited/spoiled Waikiki. Great surfing shots and some Tiki/Luau action.

PLUS! Exotica/burlesque shorts including “Shereé: 3 Dances”, “Jungle Ecstasy“ and more leopard-skinned bump and grind, and a clip from “Mr. Mike’s M*nd* Video” starring Dan Akyroyd as the minister of the Mainland Church of the Perfect Wave- whose God is Jack Lord, and more surfing shorts. And, a special theme-appropriate libation will be available… Tiki wear encouraged!!

Event: “Vintage Bicycle Film Fest: Fat Tires, Monkeys and Choppers”.  Guest curator Pete Gowdy and Oddball Films present an evening of vintage films on bicycle safety, history and more.
Highlights include: the early 60’s cult favorite “One Got Fat; the kooky “Just Like A Car”; “Bicycles Are Beautiful” with Bill Cosby; “Riding On Air”, a 1959 short focused on the bike craze in Britain; “How To Protect Your Bike”, a hilarious 1970’s look at foiling bike thieves; “Bicycle Safely”, bike history and safety; plus early TV segments, “The Bicycle Clown”, vintage commercials and more!  Free admission for anyone in a full monkey suit.
Date: Friday, June 26, 2009 at 8:30PM
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco 94110
Admission: $10.00 RSVP Only to: 415-558-8117 or info@oddballfilm.com
Web: http://www.flarerecord.com

“Vintage Bicycle Film Fest”: Fat Tires, Monkeys and Choppers
Screens at Oddball Films

On Friday, June 26, Guest Curator Pete Gowdy and Oddball Films present an evening of vintage bicycle films- bike safety, maintenance, history and more.
Bikes are everywhere these days and gaining in popularity by the minute. Amidst the bicycle revolution taking place in San Francisco and other cities, for some it simply a great and healthy means of transportation; for many, it’s become a way of life.  There is now a Bicycle Film Fest touring the major cities (in SF July 14) featuring all new films about bikes: Oddball is happy to dust off some oldies but goodies from the 50,000+ archive that will appeal to the bike crowd, vintage and camp enthusiasts alike.
Showtime is 8:30PM and admission is $10.00.  Seating is limited so RSVP is preferred to: info@oddballfilm.com or 415-558-8117.

Highlights Include:

“One Got Fat” (color, 1963)

Bizarre/legendary bike safety film- 10 young cyclists acting like monkeys (wearing masks and tails!) head to a city park for a picnic.  9 out of 10 makes a bonehead mistake and suffers a major accident- all but one, who reaches the park and…
Here’s how a few of the characters meet their demise:
1. Tinkerbell (“Tink”) McDillinfiddy forgets to watch out for a stop sign, and is           hit by a large truck.
2. Phillip (“Floog”) Floogle rides on the left…POW!
3. Mossby Pomegranate’s bike is stolen, police can’t find it because it wasn’t            registered, as a result of running between one and nine blocks, his feet             arches collapse.
4. Slim Jim (“Slim”) Maguffny and Trigby Phipps ride double, due to Trigby’s         lack of vision because of Slim blocking his head, he steers right into an         open manhole covering.
Find out Friday the fate of the others!

“Just Like A Car” (Color, 1972)
Superior bike safety film utilizes lots of historical footage from early slapstick films as a boy attempts to cross town safely on his killer Raleigh Chopper.  Inspiration for the 1979 film “The Warriors”???

“Riding On Air” (b+w, 1959)
British film documents the nation’s post-war 9 million daily cyclists (1/5 of the population). To work, for work, for pleasure- everyone’s on a bike!

“Bicycles Are Beautiful” (color, 1974)
The ubiquitous Bill Cosby hosts this McDonald’s-sponsored bike safety, maintenance and lifestyle film.  Features the bike trails of Tiburon and some San Francisco scenes.  Music by Vince Guaraldi.

“How To Protect Your Bike” (Color, early 70’s)
Kooky film about protecting your precious chopper from thieves, made with the cooperation of the Santa Monica PD.  Filmed on and around the Venice Board Walk in Santa Monica, the wily thief (played by an unknown character actor who’s played the heavy in hundreds of 70s TV shows and movies).  Learn all the tricks!

“Bicycle Safely” (Color, b+w, 1974)
Short history of the bicycle from penny Farthings to early 70s choppers and 10 speeds, with a focus on safety tips.

“Industry On Parade” (b+w, 1954)
Segment from the TV serial entitled “Saving Young Lives!” showing a parade of youngsters who have transformed their bikes into crazy works of art- stoplights, tanks, hearses and more.

PLUS! “The Bicycle Clown” (b+w, 1958), a 1949 Penny Farthing race, vintage bike commercials and more!

Event: “Norman McLaren: Genius of Animation”. Guest curator Pete Gowdy and Oddball Films present an a tribute program to the great Scots-Canadian filmmaker Norman McLaren.  A true innovator who utilized a broad range of techniques over his career and hailed as a genius by Picasso, Truffaut and others, McLaren was a giant in the field of filmmaking and animation.  Films include: “The Eye Hears, The Ear Sees”, a documentary about and featuring McLaren; “Neighbors”, the Oscar-winning short- his most famous film; “Opening Speech”; “Begone Dull Care”; “A Chairy Tale”; “Blinkity Blank”; “Fiddle-de-dee”; “Boogie Doodle”; “A Phantasy”; plus a few surprises!
Date: Friday, June 19, 2009 at 8:30PM
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco 94110
Admission: $10.00 RSVP Only to: 415-558-8117 or info@oddballfilm.com

“Norman McLaren: Genius of Animation”
Screens at Oddball Films

On Friday, June 19, Guest Curator Pete Gowdy and Oddball Films present a tribute to the great Scottish-born Canadian filmmaker Norman McLaren (b.1914 – d. 1987).  Brought to Canada in 1941 by John Grierson, director of the newly form National Film Board, to head up their animation department, McLaren spent the next 40 years inventing new techniques, pushing the medium with great élan, humanism and humor. His films and the work he inspired and encouraged at the Film Board put Canada in a class by itself:

“Norman McLaren was one of the great polymaths of animation and filmmaking. Although many independent and experimental animators can, and do, work with a range of different techniques, few have explored the breadth of possibilities with such thoroughness and expertise as McLaren.  Cel animation, animation with paper cutouts, pastels, paint, three-dimensional objects, “pixillated” human beings, the light board at Times Square, and even “animation without a camera” are just some of the methods he used in his nearly fifty-year-long career.  In addition, he also painted and drew, wrote extensively about animation, collaborated with and inspired many other artists (including John Grierson, Benny Goodman, Oscar Peterson, Evelyn Lambert, Rene Jodoin, George Dunning, Alexander Alexeieff and Claire Parker, and Ravi Shankar, to name but a few), developed sophisticated optical printing techniques for live-action film, and is said to have invented the “traveling zoom” shot which inspired the “portal” sequence in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.  Nonetheless, though his technical accomplishments and aesthetic achievements have profoundly influenced animators all over the world, he often maintained that his films’ primary function was to convey his own feelings and to elicit an emotional response in his viewers. Towards the end of his life he said,  “I just would like to be remembered for having made some films which have touched people greatly or melted them or moved them in some way or excited them.” —Leslie Felperin Sharman

Showtime is 8:30PM and admission is $10.00.  Seating is limited so RSVP is preferred to: info@oddballfilm.com or 415-558-8117.

Films Include:

“The Eye Hears, The Ear Sees” (color, 1970, 58 mins.)
Career overview of McLaren up to 1970 with interviews and samples of his work.  A fascinating study of his techniques, motivations and his observations on the nature of animation. Grant Munro, fellow NFB animator and actor in “Neighbours” is also featured. “I have tried to preserve in my relationship to the film the same closeness and intimacy that exists between a painter and his canvas.” –Norman McLaren

“Opening Speech” (b+w, 1961, 7 min.)
Featuring McLaren himself, he tries to master a recalcitrant microphone at the opening of the 1st Montreal International Film Festival.

“Begone Dull Care” (color, 1949, 8 min.) w/ Evelyn Lambert
Vibrant, abstract images drawn directly onto the film. “Begone Dull Care” shines with masterful use of scratching and painting on film stock. The film gives warmth and movement to compositions resembling a constantly morphing Jackson Pollock or Willem de Kooning painting, yet never fails to remind us of its very calculated aesthetics when it suddenly adapts to the score’s slower movements and shifts from expressionistic and oversaturated explosions to minimalist vertical lines that vibrate accordingly to the score by the Oscar Peterson Trio.  Won six international prizes between 1949 and 1954.

“A Chairy Tale” (b+w, 1957, 10 min.) w/ Claude Jutra
A modern fairy tale, told without words.  A chair (animated by Evelyn Lambart) that declines to be sat upon and a young man perform a sort of pas de deux. The musical accompaniment is by Ravi Shankar and Chatur Lal.

“Blinkity Blank” (color, 1955, 6 min.)
Experiment in the use of intermittent animation and spasmodic imagery. McLaren plays with the laws relating to persistence of vision and after-image on the retina of the eye. He engraves pictures on blank film, with percussive effects added in the same way.

“Neighbors” (color, 1952, 9 min.)
Utilizing the new technique of animating live actors (fellow NFB animators Paul Ladouceur and Grant Munro), the Oscar-winning Neighbours is McLaren’s most famous and important film.  A parable of aggression and war, two men sit peacefully in lawn chairs when a flower appears on the boundary of their properties.  In the quarrel that ensues the flower is destroyed, and the men are killed.

“Fiddle-de-dee” (color, 1947, 4 min.)
A film fantasy of dancing music and dancing color. To “Listen to the Mocking Bird” played by an old-time fiddler, brilliant patterns ripple, flow, flicker and blend. Norman McLaren, painting on film, translates sound into sight.

“Boogie Doodle” (color, 1941, 4 min.)
Made without the use of a camera, in which “boogie” played by piano great Albert Ammons and “doodle” drawn by Norman McLaren combine to make a rhythmic, brightly colored film experiment.

“A Phantasy” (color, 1952, 8 min.)
Cut-out animation by Norman McLaren, and music for saxophones and synthetic sound by Maurice Blackburn. In a dream-like, meditative and surreal landscape drawn in pastel, inanimate objects come to life to disport themselves in grave dances and playful ritual.

PLUS a few non-McLaren surprises!

More on McLaren:

http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/cteq/05/35/norman_mclaren.html

Event: “Weirdsville: Oddities from the Archives”.  Guest curator Pete Gowdy and Oddball Films present an evening of rare, weird and some highly entertaining 16mm shorts, clips, trailers and commercials culled from the 50,000+ archive at Oddball Films. Highlights include kooky art film “No. 00173” (Color, 1966); “Two” (Color, 1971), rarity featuring Reneé Taylor; “The Mole As Painter” (Color, 1972), psychedelic cartoon from Czechoslovakia: “Nudism: A Way of Life?” (b+w, ?), you decide; “King of The Pins” (b+w, 1950), with Buddy Hackett; “Some Of Your Bits Ain’t Nice” (color, 1982), personal hygiene tips; “Hot Dog: How They Make Cardboard Boxes” (Color, 1972), featuring Woody Allen and Joanne Worley; “Munchers: A Fable” (Color, 1973), creepy animated dental hygiene; plus an Elvin Jones clip from the Rock ‘n Roll western “Zachariah” and more!
Date: Saturday, June 13, 2009 at 8:30PM
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco 94110
Admission: $10.00 RSVP Only to: 415-558-8117 or info@oddballfilm.com

“Weirdsville”
Bizarre, Offbeat, and Just Plain Kooky Films from the Archives

On Saturday, June 13, Guest Curator Pete Gowdy and Oddball Films present an evening of the strange, the bizarre, and the sometimes baffling short films, clips and trailers from deep within the Oddball archive. These “found” films surface in the process of research for other programs: too good to languish on the shelves, they demand to be screened!  A monthly companion program to the Strange Sinema series.  Showtime is 8:30PM and admission is $10.00.  Seating is limited so RSVP is preferred to: info@oddballfilm.com or 415-558-8117.

Highlights Include:

“Two” (Color, 1971)
Spoof of overwrought Italian films written by and starring Reneé Taylor (nominated for an Oscar for Lovers and Other Strangers).  Two lovers on the beach try to out-passion each other, then out-debase themselves until the woman walks away in disgust.

“The Mole As Painter” (Color, 1972)
Famous Czech animator Zdeněk Miler made a series of cartoons with a mole as main character. Here the mole is accidentally dropped into a bucket of paint, then proceeds to paint his woodland friends in crazy, psychedelic colors to scare off a marauding fox.

“Nudism: A Way of Life?” (b+w, ?)
An unbiased and unabashed exploration of the nudism movement which first gained popularity in Germany in the early 20th Century.

“King of The Pins” (b+w, 1950)
Buddy Hackett makes his screen debut in this World of Sports short featuring champion bowler Joe Wilman.  Joe demonstrates correct technique, while Buddy pantomimes the less correct technique.

“Some Of Your Bits Ain’t Nice” (color, 1982)
Animated personal hygiene short that demonstrates how much sweeter life is when “all of your bits are nice”.

“Hot Dog: How They Make Cardboard Boxes” (Color, 1972)
Saturday morning tv show where kids ask how something is made, get smart-alec answers from Woody Allen and Joanne Worley (Laugh-In), then off to the factory for the real answer.

“Munchers: A Fable” (Color, 1973)
Really creepy stop-motion animated teeth get duped and tortured by “Jack Sweet” until they turn the tide with whatever toothpaste put up the money for this funky little gem.  Great wah-wah guitar soundtrack.

“No. 00173” (Color, 1966)
Crazy art film by Polish director Jan Habarta quite possibly influenced the style and themes of Kraftwerk.

PLUS a wild clip from the Rock ‘n Roll hippie western bomb “Zachariah” featuring the drum genius Elvin Jones, trailers and commercials straight out of Weirdsville!