Oddball Films and guest curator Landon Bates bring you Solo Cinema, a program of loners,
drifters and on-screen dreamers with cast comprised
of a band of outsiders. This
collection of films celebrates the solitary, and salutes the secluded. The cinema, after all, is our sanctuary: the
abode of the awkward, shelter for the shy.
And, who better to state this theme than that perpetual wanderer, that
lone wolf, the Tramp? In The
Tramp (1915), Chaplin’s iconic hobo-hero saves a farm girl from a group
of thieves, and, welcomed into her father’s house as a gesture of his
gratitude, Charlie finds the prospect of a new home glittering (mirage-like?)
on the horizon. The Tramp will be
succeeded by two other weary travelers, likewise looking for a place to settle
down: that eponymous duo of Roman Polanski’s brilliant early short, Two
Men and a Wardrobe (1958); undoubtedly influenced by Chaplin’s
slapstick antics. In this melancholic
comedy, our pair of pariah’s, always lugging a beloved wardrobe, just can’t
seem to find their niche in the modern city.
The Balloonatic (1923) is classic Buster Keaton. With gags galore, this film finds Buster bumbling
through each frame, finally whisked away by a rogue hot air balloon and dropped
into the woods to fend for himself. And,
finally, Buster’s balloon gives way to another: The Red Balloon (1956),
wherein a young Parisian boy’s best friend is his big red balloon. Theirs is a tender friendship only a special
sort of child could have, and one that ends up drawing the hostile attention of
humorless adults and envious peers. Before
the actual screening begins, we’ll be running Shy Guy (1947), an
educational film starring Dick York (of TV’s “Bewitched”), designed to bring
the antisocial adolescent out of his basement.
We similarly encourage you to emerge from yours, and enjoy—with us,
together--this evening of longing and laughter, melancholy and mirth.
Date: Friday, May 3rd, 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
