Try your luck with prize drawings featuring gifts from Libros Latinos, Weston Wear, Monument, Valhalla Books, Density, Maverick and munch on some delicious treats from Dynamo Donuts.
Date: Saturday, March 17th at 8PM
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco
Admission: $10.00 - Limited Seating RSVP to programming@oddballfilm.com or 415-558-8117
Featuring:
Lucky Draft Beer commercials:
Like Cassavetes was persuaded to work for beer. Also file under:
Alphaville without Irony.
This episode of The Fred
Waring Show is an Irish musical story, part Ernest Lubitsch,
part Saturday Night Live Lawrence Welk sketch. Terrible acting,
wonderful singing, bonnie lasses and the luck of the Irish.
The Superstition of Walking Under a
Ladder: Explained! By going back in time to revisit the original
Greek story of a thief and a brother’s revenge, all before a picnic
in the park. This hilarious short from 1934 is educational, if you
are interested in overacted death scenes.
Nation of Immigrants (part one)
Based on a book by John F. Kennedy, the remarkably JFK sounding and
lookalike narrator tells us why, exactly, the luck of the Irish is
not really that.
Telesports Digest: Motorcycles on
Ice: a little skill, a lot of luck. All set in the mitten of
Michigan.
Rarely, very rarely, does a doll look
so evil yet accomplish so much good. In the 1962 extended public
service announcement that is Safety Belt for Susie, we learn
all about why we should all have life sized, dead-eyed amanuensis.
Also: Crash Test Dummies!
Lucky Charms commercial. Pretty much as you remember it. Unlucky rabbit, annoying, hyperglycemic white kids.
The beloved Scholastic Rock (Xerox’s
answer to Schoolhouse Rock which didn’t quite catch on) presents
Lucky Seven Sampson, from 1973. There is so much to learn
about the number Seven, goofy rabbit animation, and the
anti-authoritarian tendencies of films in the 70’s. That, and prime
numbers.
Don’t Push Your Luck, a 1967
work safety film, has the psychedelic effects and deeply subjective
perspective that will remind you that Easy Rider was a product of
it’s time. But in this film, bad luck (or a bad workplace safety
decision) is worse than no luck at all. You might need to close your
eyes.
Icarus-like, the subjects of
Consequences: Spinal Chord Injury tried their luck at
hang-gliding, surfing and other exciting sports, only to discover
that the Consequences catch up to you, even on a trampoline.
Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom:
Marlin Perkins goes to the ends of the Earth to sell insurance to
Laplanders, while back at home, sudden injury makes your life
insurance policy the salvation of your family. Moral of the story:
You should have moved to Lapand when you had the chance.
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.
The Superstition of the Rabbit’s Foot: Explained! This series is too good not to revisit, as we learn about the superstition of the Rabbit’s foot, again from the Greeks. This one is unintentionally campy, with well-oiled Greek…scouts? In loincloths? There is luck written all over this one.
Wings To Ireland, a travelogue
sponsored by Pan-American Airlines, features a kiss of the Blarney
Stone and a sad eyed girl singing a lovely song.