Strange Sinema 51 - Sat. April 28th - 8PM

Oddball Films presents the 51st monthly screening of Strange Sinema, featuring new finds, buried junk and avant-garde gems from the archive. Films include the Ingmar Bergman spoof The Dove (1968); Claude (A Man and a Woman) LeLouch's remarkable stream of consciousness Shah's eye views of Iran (1971) complete with 70s wah-wah guitar infused euro-pop soundscore; Chemical Booby Traps (1960s) GE's explosive how-not-to industrial short; what Rick the slob spread the soap around in Personal Health for Boys (1971); the famed erotic short Lovemaking (1970) by film-pioneer Scott Bratlett, Elda Hartley's Islamic Mysticism: The Sufi Way (1971) shot in Morocco, Turkey and India with entrancing footage of whirling dervishes and the search for god, Ken Rudolph's Gallery (1971), a history of world art in 8 minutes! Plus! Oddball Films fan favorite The Cat Who Drank and Used Too Much (1987) about a alcohol and drug-using cat! 

Date: Saturday, April 28th, 2012 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 

Monkey Time - Fri. April 27 - 8PM

Monkey Time! Apes, Chimps and Gorillas, a program featuring, pseudo human activities, animal antics and anthropological histories. Shorts include a rare episode of the TV series Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp , Chimp the Cowboy,  Zippy the Chimp, Planet of the Apes movie trailers, Snow Monkeys of Japan, Chimps in Training and Show Business (!) and Monkeys, Apes and Man: The Chasm, with Dian Fossey and mountain gorillas, Jane Goodall with chimpanzees, and Wisconsin scientists studying rhesus monkeys. Plus! King Kong, Chimps in Space and more!

Date: Friday, April 27th at 8:00PM
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco

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

*****Free Admission and Bananas to folks who show up in full monkey costumes****

While similar in physical appearance to humans monkeys are very far removed from us so-called thinking beings. Still, humans insist on dressing up monkeys for their own amusement. While these animals certainly have a better fate than cows, pigs or chickens they nonetheless suffer for our amusement. In this program we examine and explore the hilarious and sublime lengths humans go to entertain us via these proxy mammals. Before the heyday of television and the domination of cinema, vaudeville, theater, circus acts, magic shows, impossible and death-defying stunts were all that amused thrill-seeking audiences across the US. Animal acts were a big hit and monkeys basked in their glory.

Road Trip USA - Thurs. April 26 - 8PM

Oddball Films and guest curator Hannah Airriess present Road Trip USA. Just as everyone is gearing up for summer, this program showcases road trips of all kinds, from turn of the century trolley rides to space-age amusement parks. In the promotional film America for Me (1952), we see America from the vantage point of a cross-country Greyhound bus ride, filmed in beautiful Technicolor. The educational shorts Highway Mania (1942) and Not So Easy (1973) warn the viewer against the dangers of the open road; in Highway Mania we are warned against crazed, murderous drivers, and in Not So Easy, Peter Fonda and Evel Knievel explain the basics of motorcycle safety. Brooklyn Goes to Las Vegas (1956) features a caustic Brooklynite’s night in Sin City, featuring dazzling lights and vintage signs. To conclude, we will screen examples of road trips from the distant past and future. A Trip Down Market Street (1906), a “road trip” in a very literal sense, showcases San Francisco’s Market Street just days before the devastating earthquake the destroyed much of what is filmed. Finally, Westworld Production Short (1973) goes behind the scenes into a Michael Crichton film about futuristic amusement parks for the ultra-wealthy. Interspersed throughout the program will be home movies from the ‘40s to the ‘60s, documenting road trips throughout America.

Date: Thursday, April 26th, 2012 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

Body Shop - Fri. April 20 - 8PM

Oddball Films presents Body Shop, featuring a myriad of films exploring the human body in all its forms from biology, physical hygiene, venereal disease to erotica. A beautiful and bizarre look at the human body in all its forms this program includes, Soapy the Germ Fighter (1951) which will teach you that being clean doesn't make you a sissy; a wonderful U.S. Navy training film, Swim and Live! (1943), stars many shirtless men, helping other shirtless men who will swim their way to winning the war; a young overweight and lazy boy "cleans up his act" and his nether regions in Personal Hygiene For Boys (1971); and social guidance shockmeister Sid Davis' Boys Aware (1973) presents four case histories portraying homosexual advances toward young boys. Two strikingly animated colorful shorts by W*lt D*sney Production, The Story of Menstruation (1946) sponsored by Kotex Feminine Hygiene, and VD Attack Plan (1973). Plus! learn Mrs. John Barrymore's tips on How to Undress in Front of Your Husband (1940s) and a collection of ads with Sex Appeal from the 60s and 70s. 

Date: Friday, April 20, 2012 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

Surfin' Tiki Luau - Sat. April 21 - 8pm

Oddball Films presents Surfin' Tiki Luau. An evening of surf, tiki and Polynesian serenades offers an array of breathtaking, mesmerizing and rare films about an idyllic Hawaii. Highlights include psychedelic short Hang Ten (1970) by the surf film masters Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman; pre-jet travel footage of Waikiki beach and music by Sol Hoppii in Hawaiian Rhythm: Hawaiian Nights (1939); and Tiki featurette Isle of Tabu (1945). Extremely rare and in stunning Kodachrome, Polynesian Holiday (1955) stars bandleader Harry Owens and features his Academy Award winning Sweet Lailani; and a classic tourism short, Hawaii: State of Paradise shows the soon-to-be exploited island in all its splendor. Plus! Hawaiian Soundies and more! 

Date: Saturday, April 21^th, 2012 at 8:00pm

Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street San FranciscoAdmission: $10.00 Limited Seating RSVP to programming@oddballfilm.com or (415) 558-8117

Pick Your Poison - Thurs. April 19 - 8PM

Oddball Films presents Pick Your Poison: Medicine and Madness. This truly bizarre program of medical, psychoactive and mental hygiene films features the campiest, most eye-poppingly lurid, informational and coldly clinical gems in the Archive that are sure to give us thanks for our own "sanity." Highlights include, Pain and Its Alleviation (1961) a drama-laden, horror inspired mental hygiene film produced for the UCLA Nursing School; watch a tweaked out Ohio teen talk about Quaaludes and other relaxants in Addictive Sopers (1978); learn about the effects of sedative hypnotics, opiates and opiods, stimulants, psychedelics and alcohol on the human body in Psychoactive (1976); and the classic mental hygiene film, with the prototypical 1950s cash register dad in Ulcer at Work (1957). Plus! Patient Porky Pig visits the hospital in this 1940s WB cartoon.

Date: Thursday, April 19, 2012 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

Crazy Cats! - Fri. April 13 - 8PM

Oddball Films presents Crazy Cats! This evening of films about wacky cats, cat fights, and people dressed as cats! The program's centerpiece is the extremely rare feature film Eye of the Cat (1969). Penned by Psycho writer Joseph Steffano and directed by David Lowell Rich, this offbeat mod thriller was shot on location in San Francisco and tells the tale of an eccentric old lady who plans to bequeath her fortune to her colony of cats. Her nephew gets wind of this and plies to re-instate himself as the sole heir, despite his severe ailurophobia (fear of cats) and his conspiring brother and auntie’s cosmetologist. Plus! Oddball Films fan favorite The Cat's Meow (1976) and erotic burlesque teaser The Fabulous Cat Girl (1950s). 

Date: Friday, April 13, 2012 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

Weird Science - Sat. April 14 - 8PM

Oddball Films and guest curator Jeremy Menzies present Weird Science, a compendium of eccentric, unknown science films from 70 years of scientific discovery.  These films cover a range of disciplines and topics, from the biological impulses and social situations of rats to men handling raw electricity.  Films in this sampling include; Carrol Ballard's Crystallization (1975), An Experimentally Produced ‘Social Problem’ in Rats (1948), Snails: Backyard Science (1962), Facts of Faith, Invisible Forces: Everyday Science Experiments, Magnetism, Arcs and Sparks,Moody Institute of Science's Blind as a Bat (1955), the slightly disturbing Protist Ecology (1975), a beaker full of the bizarre trailers and More!

Date: Saturday, April 14, 2012 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

Scared Straight - Thurs. April 12 - 8PM

Oddball Films presents Scared Straight: Vintage Drug-Scare Films an evening of drug-scare films from the 1960’s through the 1980’s.  Aimed at school-age kids, these films were produced to be shown in schools or on TV- whether they kept anyone away from drugs is debatable; that they are hilarious today is not. Featuring: the all time classic and howler Narcotics: Pit of Despair (1967), Beau Bridges hosted educational film on the history of drug use The Perfect Drug Film (1971), and Scott Baio stars in ABC After School Special Stoned (1980). Plus! As seen on TV, filthy hippies druggies get what's coming to them in Dragnet: Little Pusher (1969). 

Date: Thursday, April 12th, 2012 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

Life on Earth - Fri. April 6 - 8PM

Guest Curator Soumyaa Kapil Behrens and Oddball Films present Life On Earth -  an evening of strange and wonderful films depicting the ethereal condition of our home planet. Includes haunting, and stylized animations -- with Beyond the Stars: A Space Story (1981) by Karla Kuskin, Irra and Don Duga. Works from the ground up like Ethiopia (1986) show an astounding natural world by award winning director, Robin Lehman and Two Grasslands: Texas and Iran (1970) keenly compares cultural and economic lives of people living off similar lands but very different cultures. Chasing the Tornado (1987) explores these giant forces as scientists race to track them down and Eclipse demonstrates the delicate dance between the sun, the moon and planet earth including footage from the rare 1937 total solar eclipse event in Japan. Peppered with shorts on other earthly elements like rain and winter geysers, this show is sure to be full of surprising feasts for the eyes and a sensory journey of what its like to take refuge on the third rock from the sun.

Date: Friday, April 6, 2012 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

Sugar Shock - Sat. April 7 - 8PM

Oddball Films and guest curator  Lynn Cursaro present, Sugar Shock: Sweet Visions of Candy, Culture and Industry. This taffy pull of gooey ephemera is sure to please both sweet tooths and film fans. From the rustic, snow-covered tapping camps of the 1920’s Maple Syrup and Sugar to the modern Hershey bar conveyer belts of the The Great American Chocolate Factory it’s a big job satisfying the yen for ambrosial treats. The perfectly piped icing of a highfalutin royal wedding cake is only one mind-blowing work of Artistry in Sugar, he can even make edible dishes. Kids get into the act in At Your Fingertips: Sugar and Spice, a guide to molding sparkling crystals into Christmas and Easter treasures! Vintage cartoon fantasies of an all sugar moon beckon in Candy Town. We haven’t forgotten to include the stunning dental hygiene claymation The Munchers. The usual suspects are giving and getting pies in the face: The Three Stooges in Scheming Schemers and anti-gay rights activist Anita Bryant in news footage. And MORE! Plus, home-baked  gingerbread “sugarcubes” will be among the complimentary treats from the curator’s kitchen.

Date: Saturday, April 7th, 2012 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

Urban Dictionary - Thurs. April 5 - 8PM

Oddball Films and guest curator Christine Kwon present Urban Dictionary: That Black and Yellow Ish. Some call it soul, others swagger—whatever it was, urban life of the 60s and 70s produced some of the most iconic images, trends, and leaders of that generation. Urban Dictionary kicks off with trailers ranging from Diana Ross’s electrifying Mahogany to Sidney Poitier’s Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner, then into the rare short film Bessie Smith: St Louis Blues with the iconic Blues singer fighting for her good-for-nothing man. A travelogue segment on San Francisco’s Chinatown in Routes of American Airlines: Chinatown opens a time capsule into the Bay’s Asian American communities, and plays in direct opposition to Kwan Chung Yen, a rare home-movie type documentary that provides a fascinating look at drug use in young Asian Americans. This verite document is followed by Why People Smoke, a hilarious and confounding cartoon (think School House Rock), about stupid people who smoke, then rounds out with Of Black America: Body and Soul, Part II, in which Ray Charles narrates the vital role music played in his Southern youth, and raw news footage of Black Panthers: Liberation School, featuring compelling footage of Angela Davis (subject of an upcoming doc Angela Davis: Free All Political Prisoners, with footage provided by Oddball) and the Black Panther Party protesting the killing of Bobby Hutton, to give a glimpse into the powerful African American and Asian American cultural revolutions of that time.

Date: Thursday, April 5^th, 2012 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