Solo Cinema - Fri. May 3rd- 8PM


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

Jew Ought to be in Pictures: Choice Comedy Rarities from the Chosen People - Thur. May 2nd - 8PM

Oddball Films and Jewish curator Kat Shuchter bring you Jew Ought to be in Pictures: Choice Comedy Rarities from the Chosen People.  This program of comedy masters features rare films with Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Sid Caesar, The Marx Brothers, Lenny Bruce, Jack Benny, Andy Kaufman, Tom Lehrer and more.  All four Marx Brothers bring us ridiculous warfare that includes dozens of costume changes, parliament breaking into song and Harpo Revere in This is War? (1933, excerpts from Duck Soup).  From Mel Brooks, we have his Oscar-winning animated short The Critic (1963) and a live performance with Carl Reiner of the 2,000 Year Old Man (1961).  Sid Caesar stars as the lord of the underworld trying to lure Ronald Reagan's wife away in GE Theater's The Devil You Say (1961), based on a story by Rosemary's Baby author Ira Levin. Bobby Rydell flusters Jack by impersonating him in a segment of the Jack Benny Program (1961). Song satirist Tom Lehrer's Pollution (1969) gets the montage treatment for one hysterical political statement. Woody Allen's early career and process are revealed in the documentary Woody Allen: An American Comedy (1977). Madeline Kahn stars in her first speaking role in the Bergman spoof De Duva (1968) Plus! Lane Truesdale sings Who's Yehoodi? to a lecherous painting of a hassid, Lenny Bruce's Thank You Mask Man (1968), Rodney Dangerfield peddles Miller Lite, Sammy Davis Jr. sells Alka-Seltzer, film trailers with Peter Sellers and Jerry Lewis, a super-rare interview with Andy Kaufman as Tony Clifton and much much more! So, grab your yarmulke, your tallit and your torah and get ready to laugh your tuchus off!


Date: Thursday, May 2nd, 2013 at 8:00PM.
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco

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

The Feminine Aesthetic: Pioneering Women Artists and Filmmakers - Fri. April 26 - 8PM

Oddball Films presents The Feminine Aesthetic, a program of vintage films by and about pioneering women artists and filmmakers; featuring groundbreaking animation, entertaining documentaries and breathtaking experimental works. We will begin the program with a trailer for The Seduction of Mimi(1972), Lina Wertmuller's breakthrough film (she went on to be the first woman nominated for a Best Director Oscar). Lotte Reineger made the very first animated feature and we celebrate her exquisite artistry with two of her most beautiful silhouette shorts, The Magic Horse(1953) and Galathea: Das lebende Marmorbild (1935). Maya Deren spearheaded the crusade for the poetry of experimental film and her piece Meshes of the Afternoon(1943), with its languid beauty and surreal suspense inspired countless generations of mainstream and avant-garde filmmakers. Woo Who? May Wilson (1970) is a genuine and ballsy portrait of a grandmother turned cheeky New York Art Star. Canadian animator Evelyn Lambert's Mr. Frog Went A-Courtin' (1974) is simultaneously beautiful, charming and slightly disturbing. The Lady from Sands Point (1967) is local legend George Kuchar's zippy portrait of mixed-media artist Betty Holliday. Hermina Tylova's Czech animated darling Ferda the Ant (1941) features the very first use of wire figures in stop-motion and some very cute ants. Plus excerpts from Underground Film (1970), an exploration into the work of influential filmmaker (and SF Cinematheque foundress) Chick Strand.



Date: Friday, April 26th, 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

The Cine-Circus is Coming to Town! - Thurs. April 25 - 8PM

Oddball Films presents The Cine-Circus is Coming to Town! Step Right Up, Step Right Up to the Oddest Show in town; a program of vintage gems and oddities about The Big-Top. Behold Blonde Bombshell Mae West ride elephants and shoot at tigers in excerpts from I’m No Angel (1933). Witness the amazing feats of the underwater Submarine Circus (1940s), complete with aquatic hot-dog stands. Bend your ears to crooner Rudy Vallee pining for Lydia the Tattooed Lady (1939). Marvel at the childlike wonder instilled in artist Alexander Calder as he plays with his kinetic sculptures in Calder’s Circus (1963). Shiver in fear at the overpowering creepiness of clowns in Clowns are for Laughing (1972) and Bicycle Clown (1958). W.C. Fields stars as a crooked carnival owner in Circus Slicker, a condensed version of You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1933). Go on the road with Australia's Circus Nomads (1975). With original theatrical trailers for Fellini's The Clowns and Nick Nolte and Jodie Foster in Carny, a vintage circus Pre-show and more! So come on down to the Oddball Big Top and get ready for your senses to feast on this Carnival of Wonderment!



Date: Thursday, April 25th, 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


Sonic Oddities at SOMArts' Night Light: Multimedia Garden Party - Sat. April 27th - 10:10PM


One night only, 8PM- 12AM, the group exhibition Night Light: Multimedia Garden Party blankets SOMArts in site-specific luminous art installations, live music and performances, and digital and cinematic projections by more than 50 artists.
Night Light includes a film projection performance by Stephen Parr/Oddball Films titled Sonic Oddities a cinematic and auditory collision of film shorts, clips, fragments and reprocessed sounds set to live improvisational electronics by Jakarta musician Iman Fattah. Drawn from Parr’s company, Oddball Films’ 16mm film archive of 50,000 works, this cinematic trek through the auditory oddities of film history features bizarre commercials, religious propaganda films, campy movie trailers and Italian spy films colliding with scenes and sounds of bush-devil dancers, audio test tones and European animation.
Date: Saturday, April 27, 2013, 8pm–12am, performances 9pm–12am, Sonic Oddities at 10:10pm
Venue: 934 Brannan St. (between 8th and 9th) San Francisco, CA 94103
Admission: $10 in advance, $12 at the door, cash bar; get tickets here

Click here for a complete list of the evening's events.

Selling the Dream- From Sex to Sedans - Fri. Apr. 19 - 8PM

Oddball Films presents Selling the Dream: From Sex to Sedans, a program of vintage portrait documentaries and instructional films heralding the self-made man.  Whether peddling smut, ice cream, fried chicken or used cars, this evening will truly show you the depth of the salesman. Films include The Most (1963) featuring the Pl@yboy Prince of salesmen- responsible for selling sex to America for over half a century- Hugh Hefne® in the height of his reign;  The Man Who Made Millions Think (c. 1950), a rare long-form commercial gem from the 1950s featuring Lee Harris, king of hair products, giving an unbelievably passionate performance; Franchise Opportunities (1970), a fun, campy instructional film to help you on your way to selling Cookie Pusses and Fudgy the Whales at your own Carvel franchise; in Trader Vic's Used Cars (1975), Charles Braverman takes us into the gumption behind the car salesman; the hilarious documentary The Colonel Comes to Japan (1984) shows what it takes to sell Kentucky Fried Chicken in the japanese market, and all the wheeling, dealing and sake-bombing behind the scenes; the trippy training film A Sharper Focus (1972) utilizes pop-art imagery and puppetry to train young salespeople; plus an eye-popping segment of Special Edition featuring Frederick's of Hollywood


Date: Friday, April 19th, 2013 at 8:00PM
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco
Admission: $10.00 Limited Seating RSVP Only to: 415-558-8117 or programming@oddballfilm.com


Bobbed Hair & Bathtub Gin: Fitzgerald’s Jazz Age - Thur. April 18 - 8PM


Oddball Films and guest curator Lynn Cursaro present Bobbed Hair and Bathtub Gin: Fitzgerald’s Jazz Age. The Roaring 20s get the Oddball treatment with a sleight of Jazz-Age gems and some timely adaptations of F. Scott Fitzgerald's best work.  Robert Redford, the screen’s best known Gatsby, portrays the mysterious millionaire in an excerpt from 1974’s The Great Gatsby. Shelley Duvall and Bud Cort (Harold and Maude) star in the saucy adaptation of Fitzgerald's Bernice Bobs Her Hair (1976), a timeless tale of female treachery set at the dawn of the Flapper era.  The legendary Bessie Smith is filmed for the first, last and only time (before her tragic death) in the short, hauntingly beautiful musical St. Louis Blues (1929).  A chorus girl has a madcap adventure when everyone wants to get their hands on her frilly undergarments in Reckless Rosie (1929). The manic Merrie Melodies cartoon Smile, Darn Ya, Smile (1931) brings some hotcha to the ‘toon world. We'd be saps if we left out Betty Boop! Everybody's favorite jazz baby is runnin' wild in Minnie the Moocher (1934) with the great Cab Calloway! The curator’s notorious home-baked gingerbread will be among the complimentary home-baked treats for all. Hot socks! If you know your onions you won't miss it!


Curl Trouble

Date: Thursday, April 18, 2013 at 8:00PM.
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco
Admission: $10.00, RSVP Only to: 415-558-8117 or programming@oddballfilm.com

Strange Sinema 63: Weirdest Animated Hits! - Thur. April 11 - 8PM


Oddball Films presents Strange Sinema 63: Weirdest Animated Hits! oddities from the Oddball Archives featuring new finds, buried junk, weird smut and miscellaneous moving image mayhem. Tonight’s program is a surreal sampling of the weirdest, most entertaining, and offbeat animated “hits” from the broad range of Strange Sinema programs.  Films include: The Interview (1960), the brilliant Ernest Pintoff beatnik rant, Help My Snowman is Burning Down (1964), Carson Davidson’s surreal short about a man living on a boat dock with only bathroom furnishings (With music by the Gerry Mulligan Quartet); Closed Mondays (1974), Will “California Raisins” Vinton’s breakthrough claymation tour de force; Ersatz (1966), brilliant and funny mid-century Croatian Oscar-winning wonder; Bruno Bozetto’s Italian “psychedelic screwball” wonder Mr. Rossi Buys a Car (1966); Kosmodrome 1999,  kooky Eastern European spoof of everyday space travel,  Hunger (1974), mesmerizing pop art computer animated short, The Calypso Singer (1966), bongo beatin’ beatnik tells the “Day-O” yelling calypso singer to cool it, The Wizard of Speed and Time (1979) Mike Jitlov’s high speed mind-blowing magical short;  Fantasy (1975), San Francisco filmmaker Vince Collins way-out and weird animated psychedelic trip fest, Your Face (1987) one of the most popular short films ever made, this film started the career of famed animator Bill Plympton, Thank You Mask Man (1968) the legendary animated short by satirist Lenny Bruce. Watch Tonto and the Lone Ranger let it all hang out in Bruce’s take on sex and race! Plus! Blame it on the Samba (1948) a mesmerizing Technicolor mix of live action and animation created by Walt D*sney and starring Ethel Smith, the Dinning Sisters and a dizzying array of animated characters.

Date: Thursday, April 11, 2013 at 8:00PM.
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco

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

Learn Your Lesson Girls - Shockucational Shorts for the Ladies - Fri. April 12 - 8PM


Oddball Films and curator Kat Shuchter present Learn Your Lesson Girls - Shockucational Shorts for the Ladies, the second in a series of programs highlighting the most ridiculous, insane and camptastic shockucational films and TV specials of the collection. This second helping is all about the girls; from predators to puberty, hitchhiking to hairstyling and a lot of uncomfortable and hilarious places in between!  Learn how to be a popular young lady and not a cheap slut in the antiquated etiquette primer Are You Popular? (1947).  Girls Beware (1961) teaches us you don't need Dateline to catch a predator, you just need to keep your guard up and your eyes peeled and the knee-slapping Self-Defense for Girls (1969) gives us the moves to turn the tables on an attacker (after your attacker becomes your instructor all of a sudden).  Judy Blume's classic of pre-teen awkwardness and overcoming your fears comes to life in the ABC Weekend Special Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great(1991). A girl's first period is an emotional time, full of questions, peer-pressure and making out with smiley-faced pillows in Dear Diary: A Film About Female Puberty (1981).  Plus! one girl plays "The Fat Game", three girls sing "The Itty-Bitty Titty Committee," Trailers, Commercials and for the early birds; Cindy's friends have all gone off to exciting careers as secretaries and teachers, will she find her own way with Beauty for a Career (1962)? Will these girls ever learn their lesson?  Will you?



Date: Friday, April 12th, 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

CROSSROADS 2013 - April 5-7 - Victoria Theater


CROSSROADS is San Francisco Cinematheque’s annual film festival, a celebration of recent and rediscovered avant-garde film/video work.  CROSSROADS 2013, curated by Cinematheque Artistic Director Steve Polta, will take place April 5–7, at the Victoria Theatre (2961 16th Street, SF). This year’s festal will feature a total of 51 films, videos and performance works by 48 filmmakers from around the world screened over 8 feature-length programs.
April 5–7 at San Francisco's Victoria Theatre 2961 16th Street (at Mission)
festival sponsored by Ninkasi Brewing, Cole Hardware and Puffin West.
thanks to promotional partner Oddball Film+Video
download our complete press release here
complete program details available here
or on Facebook
festival pass available here