Oddball Films Media
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Aug 10, 2014
Oddball Films presents Strange Sinema, a monthly screening of new finds, old gems and offbeat oddities from the archive. Drawing on his collection of over 50,000 16mm film prints, Oddball Films director Stephen Parr has compiled his 79th program of classic, strange, offbeat and unusual films. This installment Strange Sinema 79: Psychoactive is an exploration into the cinematic stimuli of moving images. It destabilizes and reconfigures concepts of moving image programs by recontextualizing discordant film footage cast-offs into a cohesive, "entertaining," yet disturbing mutation. Psychoactive utilizes clever bits of camp, cultural kitsch, musical mayhem, severed film frames and narrative and non-narrative techniques. It is also an experiment in purpose, perception and patience giving new meaning to the phrase "What the f*ck kind of film is that?" Expect to see anything from Pavlovian dog experiments, low-tech science segments, behind the scenes clips from adult films, and just plain WEIRD CINEMA. It’s dark, disturbing, edgy and campy! Films include Home Movie Hi-jinks with Front Yard Bob (1960-1962) featuring the ludicrous hi-jinks of ”Front Yard Bob” as he juggles flaming torches in front of his house and plays a pipe organ in his garage next to his Ford Thunderbird!, First Race Golden Gate Fields (1962) trained horses run wild in the mud, De L’Organe Endolymphatique (1940s), French sea creature experimentation, Creepy Christmas Basket (1950s), elders dissect selected items from a basket of mundane gifts-hilariously surreal!, Industrial B-roll (1960s) watch the abstraction of mechanical lubrication in industry-who knows what parts are being made?, Candy Girl (1970s) one of the most outrageous stunts you’ve never seen at a movie theater-a concession stand gal gets down and dirty with popcorn and candy!, Wild Elephant Roundup (1950s) Indian elephants rounded up to work!, The Effect of Frontal Lobotomy on Generalized Tics (1940s), a shockingly bizarre experimentation on a human subject-all for naught!, Michael, What is This? (1950s), Clinical audio testing of a young boy with his parents, Bulb Snatcher (1950s, kinescope), Early GE commercial for electric lights-don’t let the bulb snatcher steal your light bulbs! San Francisco Police Bombing (1970) The aftermath of the infamous Park Station bombing in San Francisco and a surprise bomb attack at a police funeral, Wexler Allergy Test Film Outtakes (1950s), see patients injected with allergens react in these hyper real medical clips, Untitled Russian Reel (1960s), Watch blind students in Russian academia and industry in this offbeat propaganda film-in French!, Remington Model 1100 (1950s), state of the art shotgun demonstration illustrates high technology in gun manufacture and the values of American manhood-ludicrous!, Blind Children with Pony (1960s) a heroically inept television reporter interviews blind children as they saddle up and mount a pony. Also! A hysterically comic Colt 45 Malt Liquor (1960s) commercial shot on the beach in a “war zone” and the mind-melting cinematic closer Caprice: The Love Car (1960s) a long form promo for a sexy and sensual erotic car! Plus! Airplane wing tests and more! Psychoactive premiered at Chicago Filmmakers as part of their series "Odds and Ends: Exploring the Cinematic Junk Drawer”.
Date: Thursday, August 14th at 8:00PM.
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street San Francisco
Featuring:
Home Movie Hi-jinks with Front Yard Bob (1960-1962)
Bizarre home moves unearthed from a local flea market. Watch the ludicrous hi-jinks of ”Front Yard Bob” as he juggles flaming torches in front of his house and plays a pipe organ in his garage next to his Thunderbird! Later some elderly “Tiki” girls get the burlesque urge!
Bizarre home moves unearthed from a local flea market. Watch the ludicrous hi-jinks of ”Front Yard Bob” as he juggles flaming torches in front of his house and plays a pipe organ in his garage next to his Thunderbird! Later some elderly “Tiki” girls get the burlesque urge!
First Race Golden Gate Fields (B+W, 1962)
Trained horses race in the Bay Area mud in this apocalyptic instant replay.
Industrial B-roll (Color, 1960s) Watch the abstraction of mechanical lubrication in industry-who knows what parts are being made?
De L’Organe Endolymphatique (B+W, 1940s)
Watch this tactile French sea creature experiment in all its silent glory.
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Creepy Christmas Basket (Color, 1950s)
Married elders dissect selected items from a basket of mundane Christmas gifts-hilariously surreal-in eye-popping Kodachrome!
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The Effect of Frontal Lobotomy on Generalized Tics (B+W, 1940s), a shockingly bizarre experimentation on a human subject-all for naught!
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San Francisco Police Bombing (Color, 1970)
The aftermath of the infamous Park Station bombing in San Francisco and a surprise bomb attack at a police funeral!
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outtakes.
Bulb Snatcher (B+W, 1950s, kinescope)
Early GE commercial for electric lights-don’t let the bulb snatcher steal your light bulbs!
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Dopey gun demonstrations illustrate high technology in gun manufacture and the values of American manhood. Shotguns are fired repeatedly, thrown into a stream and tested mercilessly in a high tech laboratory. We are assured that the model 1100 is capable of discharging live rounds in any situation. Ends with skeet shooters and huntsmen happily shooting things to bits with wild abandon.
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Untitled Russian Reel (Color, 1960s)
Watch blind students in Russian academia and industry in this offbeat propaganda film-in French!
Colt 45 Malt Liquor (1960s) In this wildly absurd malt liquor commercial, shot on the beach in a “war zone” a man gets an unexpected delivery of his favorite brew.
Caprice: The Love Car (1960s)
This long form promo for a sexy and sensual erotic car blends sexuality and purring jazz vocals-a real show closer!
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Curator's Biography:
Stephen Parr’s previous programs have explored the erotic underbelly of sex-in-cinema (The Subject is Sex), the offbeat and bizarre (Oddities Beyond Belief), the pervasive effects of propaganda (Historical/Hysterical?) and oddities from his archives (Strange Sinema). He is the director of Oddball Film+Video and the San Francisco Media Archive (www.sfm.org), a non profit archive that preserves culturally significant films. He is a co-founder of Other Cinema DVD and a member of the Association of Moving Archivists (AMIA) where he is a frequent presenter.
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Oddball films is the film component of Oddball Film+Video, a stock footage company providing offbeat and unusual film footage for feature films like Milk, documentaries like The Summer of Love, television programs like Mythbusters, clips for Boing Boing and web projects around the world.
Our films are almost exclusively drawn from our collection of over 50,000 16mm prints of animation, commercials, educationals, feature films, movie trailers, medical, industrial military, news out-takes and every genre in between. We’re actively working to present rarely screened genres of cinema as well as avant-garde and ethno-cultural documentaries, which expand the boundaries of cinema. Oddball Films is the largest film archive in Northern California and one of the most unusual private collections in the US. We invite you to join us in our weekly offerings of offbeat cinema.