Oddball Films and guest
curator Emily Schleiner present Fooled By A Feeling!, an evening of films about self-fulfilling prophecies, wacky prejudice, and, ultimately, the
process of making difficult choices. Featuring excerpts from Optimist-Pessimist: Which Are You?, an edited version of the 1975 Pollyanna
story. Watch the fabulous animated
musical Dr. Seuss on the Loose: The Sneetches, The Zax, and Green
Eggs and Ham (1973), a classic bundle of stories that deal with themes like prejudice,
materialism, and compromise, vocals by Allan Sherman. See Square Pegs, Round Holes (1974) a kooky animation
about a walking and talking peg searching for a niche to call home! Will he settle for a less than ideal
situation? In The Superstition of the Black Cat (1934) a couple takes the
long way home after a cat crosses their path. Will their fearful predictions come true after they turn
around and recount a myth about black cats? Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are down on their luck in the
film One Good Turn (1933), living in a shantytown and going door-to-door
begging for work. Will things go
well for them if they get one good turn?! Finally, see a 70’s
documentary called Human Image: What is the Good Life?, a hilariously dated
query into the lives of everyday people.
Be impressed by the excellent mustaches and bellbottoms!  |
Life is just an endless chain
of judgements. . . .
The more imperfect our
judgement,
the less perfect our success.
- B. C. Forbes
|
Plus!
Watch an arrogant lion eat his words when he ends up needing help from a mere
mouse in the animated short The Lion and the Mouse (1959). Whether you want to see funky
animations, or a slapstick black and white, there is something here for
everyone!
Date: Friday, March 16, 2012 at 8:00PM
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco
Admission: $10.00 - Limited Seating RSVP to programming@oddballfilm.com or 415-558-8117
Featuring:
Optimist-Pessimist:
Which Are You? (1975, color, 10 min)
The
1960s movie “Pollyanna” was re-edited and released as a TV mini-series in
1975. In this episode little miss
Pollyanna is in a new town where the locals are pessimists. She tells them about her optimistic
view and is criticized vociferously.
Eventually, some of the townspeople begin to thaw towards her,
especially the local preacher, an old codger who is full of fire and
brimstone. This show aims to
communicate how optimism helps to form healthy attitudes that let one live life
to the fullest.
The Lion and the Mouse
(1959, color, 10 min)
In this flick the fable
‘The Lion and the Mouse’ is animated.
The king of the jungle is a ferocious and arrogant lion who laughs at
the idea that a tiny mouse could help him. He lets a captive mouse go when the
mouse tells him "I will have faith in you. And you will have faith in me that someday I will be able to
help you!" When the lion is
in a pinch, will the mouse be able to help?!
 |
We must make the choices that
enable us to fulfill the
deepest capacities of our real
selves.
- Thomas Merton
|
Human Image: What is the
Good Life? (1974, color, 20 min)
A
camera crew combs the streets asking people “What’s the good life?” Starting with strangers and then
focusing in on a few individuals for more in-depth interviewing, see the views
of four young adults on their ideal life. This 70’s self-help styled
documentary ultimately tries to help young people define the goals that will
best fulfill their potential as individuals and as citizens. Plus! Catch 70’s mustaches!
Square Pegs, Round Holes
(1974, color, 10 min)
This
wacky animated story is about a square peg different from all the other
pegs. This peg knows that its
destiny is different from the other pegs and sets out to explore the world and
find its niche. With dancing,
hand-drawn-lines, this film is in the style of a children-TV-show, but deals
with serious topics such as: stereotyping, conformity, and peer pressures. Finally, and lightheartedly, it
advocates a search for one’s own niche through experimentation with alternate
life styles!
Dr. Seuss on the Loose: The Sneetches, The Zax,
Green Eggs and Ham (1973, color)
Dr. Seuss explores the
world of attitudes in three short stories: The Sneetches are a group of vaguely
avian yellow creatures who live on a beach. Some Sneetches have a green star on
their bellies, and in the beginning of the story the absence of a star is the
basis for discrimination. The Zax
are resistance to change; a North-going Zax and a South-going Zax meet, quite unwillingly,
face to face in the Prairie of Prax and refuse to compromise. In Green Eggs and Ham, the reluctance
to try something new is played out in every circumstance!
 |
Life is like a game of cards.
The hand that is dealt you
represents determinism; the way you play it is free
will.
- Jawaharlal Nehru
|
The Superstition of the
Black Cat (1934, B&W, 10 min)
A black cat crosses the
path of a husband and wife who then recount an old story about black cats. This is the beginning of how people
came to believe that having one's path crossed by a black cat is bad luck. During this flashback, a witch sends
her cat to cross paths with two young peasant girls. When the witch captures
one of the girls, chaos breaks lose!
One Good Turn (1933, B&W, 20
min)
In this famous film,
Laurel and Hardy are poor and luckless; all they need is one good turn and
things will turn around for them.
Or will they? After leaving
their shanty-town, the dynamic twosome go door to door asking for work. When a woman takes them up on the offer
they get to work but misconstrue something overheard. In a rehearsal of a play, the woman says her landlord is taking
away everything. The boys are
concerned but one accuses the other of taking her purse. Will they work things out?! Full of slapstick chase scenes and
flying logs, watch as the stellar Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy navigate through
hard times!
Curator biography:
Emily
Schleiner is a Brooklyn and Davis CA-based new media artist and thinker. She has been writing since 2009 and has
shown internationally. She has
been published in the Trondheim's TEKS's 'Making Reality Real' Journal and has
presented at the 2nd Inter-Disciplinary.net Global Conference in Budapest. She
received her Masters from Performance and Interactive Media Arts department at
Brooklyn College, NY in 2010. More about Emily: http://www.cordial-emily.com/ .