Weirdsville: Oddities From The Archives July 11, 2009

Event: “Weirdsville: Oddities from the Archives”. Guest curator Pete Gowdy and Oddball Films present an evening of rare, weird and some highly entertaining 16mm shorts, trailers and commercials culled from the 50,000+ archive at Oddball Films. This month’s highlights include: “Flatland”, an animated version of the famous story with Dudley Moore; “This Is Coffee!”, a celluloid love letter to our second favorite brew; “Best Foot Forward”, a boot fetishists dream; “Chickenomics”, economics explained by the San Diego Chicken; “Bird Circus”, vintage bird tricks; “Kick Me”, bizarre, funny/creepy animation; “Industry On Parade”, a 1955 space age diner; plus trailers and commercials straight out of Weirdsville!
Date: Saturday, July 11, 2009 at 8:30PM
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco 94110
Admission: $10.00 RSVP Only to: 415-558-8117 or [email protected]

"Weirdsville”
Oddities From The Archives
Screens at Oddball Films

On Saturday, July 11, Guest Curator Pete Gowdy and Oddball Films present an evening of the strange, the bizarre, and the sometimes baffling short films, commercials and trailers from deep within the Oddball archive. These “found” films surface in the process of research for other programs: too good to languish on the shelves, they demand to be screened! A monthly companion program to the Strange Sinema series. Showtime is 8:30PM and admission is $10.00. Seating is limited so RSVP is preferred to: [email protected] or 415-558-8117.

Highlights Include:

“Flatland” (Color, 1965)

Life in a two-dimensional world. Narrated by Dudley Moore (as A Square) and members of the “Beyond The Fringe” theatrical group, this early adaptation of the beloved Edwin Abbott novel was produced at Harvard’s Visual Arts Center. The story continues to delight mathematicians, philosophers and computer theorists, and was recently adapted into a musical and the 2007 feature film of the same title. Neither, however, had the wisdom of this film’s brevity, nor the genius of Dudley Moore!

“This Is Coffee!” (Color, 1961)
A more potent ode to the pleasures and proper preparation of coffee has never been filmed. A perfect blend of sprightly music (with a sprinkling of crime-jazz), stunning visuals and vintage kitchenalia that will have you jonesing for a nice, hot cup of java. A perfect, scientifically made cup of coffee. As the sonorous narrator relates: “Perfect… coffee: sending its glow into our lives around the clock”.

“Best Foot Forward” (Color, 1960’s)
Not the 1943 musical starring Lucille Ball, nor the record by REO Speedwagon, but the early 1960’s short film about Hy-Test Safety Shoes! This engaging short highlights the “Golden Shoe Club” and was filmed in stunning Kodachrome color. Lots of close-ups of shoes and boots in all their safety-toed splendor.

“Chickenomics” (Color, 1979)
“A fowl approach to economics”, this short instructional film on basic economics features the San Diego Chicken. Learn creepy economic theory like “Consumer Sovereignty” from the creepy narrator, while the Chicken does his chicken thing.

“Bird Circus” (Color, 1950’s)
Wacky bird tricks in beautiful early 50’s color. What these birds won’t do for a beakful of seed!

“Kick Me” (Color, 1975)
Weird animation of stick figure legs kicking a ball that morphs into hundreds of spiders with a surprise ending. Nominated for an Academy Award in 1976.

“Industry On Parade” (B+W, 1955)
From the famous short subject documentary series, this episode shows how the Sears Roebuck catalog was produced in the day, visits the Hershey Chocolate factory in Pennsylvania, and a new drive-in diner that uses two-way radios for car and table service, and a “pressurized cabin” dining room.

PLUS- Trailers and commercials straight out of Weirdsville!

Curator Biography:
Pete Gowdy (aka DJ Chas Gaudi) is host of San Francisco’s Shellac Shack, a weekly 78 rpm listening party and a DJ specializing in vintage sounds: soul, jazz, country, punk and new wave. A graduate of the Vassar College Film Program, he is an associate producer of Marc Huestis Presents, the long-running movie legend tributes at the Castro Theatre.

Official Website: http://www.flarerecord.com/?p=244