Oddball Films, with guest curator Lynn Cursaro, presents Unstoppable: The Many Moods of Momentum, an exploration of the forces of physics and emotion. Classic cartoons, crash test footage, experimental cinema and a school film or two depict all sorts of ceaseless activity. Hoffnung’s Palm Court Orchestra (1965) play on in the face of disaster. Is the stuff of life piling up or collapsing in Arthur Lipsett’s dream-like, experimental Free Fall (1964)? A staggering array of colorful playthings spin in Charles and Ray Eames’s Tops (1969). In Mouse Activated Candle Lighter (1967), a simple Rube Goldberg contraption is painstakingly explained. When a silent era wonder dog gets in on the chase in Teddy at the Throttle (1917), he’s a true star and action hero. Rendezvous (1977) puts you in the driver’s seat for a wild ride through Paris. Wile E. Coyote just won’t quit, as we will see yet again in Beep, Beep (1952) and Whoa, Be-Gone! (1959) And MORE! From the Kurator’s Kitchen: complimentary home-baked treats for all attendees!
Date: Friday, June 15th, 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
Highlights Include:
Tops (Charles and Ray Eames, 1969, color, 9 min.)
An Eames favorite! Whether set into motion by the twist of the fingers or the pull of a string, these colorful tops are even more beautiful seen through the eyes of Charles and Ray Eames. The stunning variety of the tops featured here is almost as dizzying as the whirling toys themselves. Composer Elmer Bernstein, a frequent Eames collaborator, spins the musical spell.
Free Fall . . . (Arthur Lipsett, B+W, 1964)
Manipulation of the found footage, images and sounds, at times still and quiet, at times frantic and jarring, suggest a surrealist dream of man's fall from grace. The filmmaker him self called it an “attempt to express in filmic terms an intensive flow of life – a vision of a world in the throes of creativity – the transformation of physical phenomena into psychological ones.”
Teddy at the Throttle (Clarence Badger, 1917, B&W, 7 min)
As early as 1917, the serial genre was already ripe for spoofing. Mack Sennett had just the folks to do it: Gloria Swanson needs a hero to save her from her villainous guardian Wallace Beery! Keystone Teddy, one of the early Wonder Dogs of Hollywood, comes to the rescue, his $350 per week star quality blazing in an action-packed chase.
Rendezvous (Claude Lelouch, 1977, color, 9 min.)
A high-speed drive through the empty streets of Paris. No dialogue, no script, no plot, no special effects and no editing… just a chance to show off a new stabilized camera with a single shot of an eight-minute drive through a city dawn. From Porte Dauphine to the Sacré Coeur, the unseen Mercedes-Benz 450SEL (driven by Lelouch himself) varooms across broad boulevards and swerves around tight corners, other cars and une grandmere ou deux, reportedly reaching speeds of 150 mph.
Creative Body Movement: Transportation (1969, color, 11 min.)
The kids from Perc, Pop, Sprinkle are back . . . and this time they’re whipping themselves into a fitness frenzy as boats, airplanes and trains. Is it some sort of torture? Their over enthusiastic gym teacher gives this gem the feel of a The 5,000 Fingers of Dr.T for P.E. world. The deliciously awkward drawbridge segment is a must see!
Plus! For the Early Arrivals!
Love, Honor and Oh Boy!
A Pathe newsreel featuring a dance marathon wedding as well as other novelty nuptials, and other surprises.
About the Curator
Lynn Cursaro is a local film blogger. Over the past two decades, she has worked in research and administrative positions a variety of Bay Area film organizations.