June 1998
FRI. JUNE 5, Midnight - Richard C. Zimmerman's BIRDHOUSE at the Castro Theatre with SPACE TRUCKERS starring Dennis Hopper, Debi Mazar, Stephen Dorff and George Wendt. This screening is part of the Dockers Classically Independent Film Festival.
SAT. JUNE 6, Midnight - BILL PLYMPTON IN-PERSON previewing his new animated feature "I MARRIED A STRANGE PERSON" at the Castro Theatre. This is part of the Dockers Classically Independent Film Festival.
SUN. JUNE 7, 9:15 PM, Danny Shorago, Todd Kurtzman and Luc Longin's MARYLOU with SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE, at the Castro Theatre (Dockers Festival).
MON. JUNE 8, Gerald Potterton's HEAVY METAL, 1981, Canada at the Red Vic. 7:15 & 9:15 pm.
THURS. JUNE 11, Pink Floyd's THE WALL contains a powerful animated segment by Gerald Scarfe, at the Red Vic, 7:15 & 9:25 pm.
FRI. & SAT. JUNE 12 & 13, THE 36TH ANN ARBOR FILM FESTIVAL, This is a touring 4 hour long package of animated and live action 16mm films (no video). Having seen a 2 hour preview of the show I'd say see it by all means if you enjoy independent work.
The animation in the program is a rich variety of works. Richard Reeves' LINEAR DREAMS is remarkable. It combines hand-drawn sound and pictures and takes McLaren's techniques in new directions. Reeves even creates snow covered landscapes. The film won an honorable mention at the S.F. Film Festival.
Jeff Scher's YOURS is a complex collage of images created with hand drawnings, stencils and other techniques. It is printed over a film of a group performing a love song in a 1940's "Soundie" (they were films made for juke boxes that showed movies of musical groups, long before Scopitone). Scher is a fine artist who lives in New York and it appears the film is inspired by Len Lye. The film was shown by the S.F. Film Festival.
Leif Godberg's HORSE HOLOGRAPH is a cut-out animation and live action work.
Eun-Ha Paek's PEEK A BOO combines puppets, cut-outs, hand drawn and computer animation. Paek lives in San Francisco.
Luke Jaeger's 5 DREAMS is a beautifully structured work by a former SF artist who now lives in Northampton, Mass. The film won the award for most technically innovative film.
Darya Farha's FULL SERVICE AUTOMATION is described as "A broken or failed xerox animation characterized by movement that is barely possible, incoherent or without apparent motivation." The artist is from Toronto.
Robert F. Arnold's THE MORPHOLOGY OF DESIRE uses digital morphing to animate romance novel cover figures. The film is remarkable looking and won an award for funniest film.
Yet another animated work in the show is David Moroski's CAVE PAINTINGS 1998.
Another reason to see the program is to see Jay Rosenblatt's HUMAN REMAINS, a 30 minute document that is almost entirely quotes by famous dictators from the past. They talk about women, their sex life, food and other subjects that have nothing to do with their significance in history. The film illustrates the banality of these evil world leaders. Rosenblatt, a local filmmaker who teaches at SF State, is to be congratulated for this powerful work with a unique structure.
The program is being presented in 3 locations in the Bay Area (see bellow for the location of shows in San Francisco and Marin County). The first two screenings are at 7 PM at Appreciation Hall (A-61) on the Foothill College Campus (650) 949-7099 or www.kfjc.org
SAT. JUNE 13, a Godzilla triple bill at the U.C. Theatre in Berkeley. DESTROY ALL MONSTERS at 12:30 & 5:45, GHIDRAH, THE THREE-HEADED MONSTER at 2:15 & 7:35 and GODZILLA VS THE SMOG MONSTER at 4 & 9:20
SUN. & MON. JUNE 14 & 15, THE 36TH ANN ARBOR FILM FESTIVAL, 7 PM at 111 Minna Street Gallery in San Francisco (co-sponsored by Film Arts Foundation) See Fri. June 12 listing for program details.
TUES. JUNE 16, The Bolex Brothers' THE SECRET ADVENTURES OF TOM THUMB, 1993, England, a remarkable surreal feature. Shown with the short Franz Kafka's It's A Wonderful Life, at the Red Vic, 7:15 & 9:15
TUES. & WED. JUNE 16 & 17, THE 36TH ANN ARBOR FILM FESTIVAL, 7 PM at the Lark Theatre in Larkspur, 549 Magnolia Ave. (415) 924-3311, see Fri. June 12 listing for program details.
SATURDAY, JUNE 20, ASIFA-SF shows ANIMATION FROM THE BAY AREA PRESENTED IN 35MM, 11 AM, free, at the Red Vic Theatre, 1727 Haight. See flyer on p. 9 for details.
SAT. JUNE 20, THE DARK SIDE OF DR. SEUSS at 9:45 pm. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. This unique show features animated Private Snafu cartoons and live action shorts written by Theodore Geisel a.k.a. Dr. Seuss. Some are really nasty government films made during WWII. Dennis Nyback, the curator of the show, has also found racist bug spray ads that were drawn by Dr. Seuss before WWII and run in national magazines. One that he showed me even included the "n word." Nyback has put these ads on film for all to see. 701 Mission St. in SF. This is a tiny screening room so buy tickets in advance. Call (415) 978-ARTSFORBIDDEN LOVE WED. JUNE 24, QUEER CARTOON II, 7 PM, Castro Theatre in the 22nd SF International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. The catalog says this is a selection of films (16mm & 35mm) and videos that Spike and Mike wouldn't dare show. Featured are several works by Corky Quackenbush: Switch Your Ride, Sex Toy Story and A Common Condom. There are two works by J.J. Sedelmaier: Ammbiguously Gay Duo in Queen of Terror and Ambiguously Gay Duo in Safety Tips. One that might be a laugh riot or just plain awful is Dirty Baby Does Fire Island by Todd Downing. It stars a child's toy with an open mouth.
Also in the show is Lewis Klahr's Pony Glass, Jeffrey Norris' Forbidden Love (Australia), Lorelei Pepi's Grace, Natalija Vekic's Sacred Heart, Hazel Grian's Baby-Cue (UK), Jay Wilson's Angst (Canada), Kip Lewis' Tangling and Abigail Steinberg's Jules (Canada). The show runs 90 min.
WED. JUNE 24, CRITICAL FILM EN MASS presents short films at Venue 9, 252 9th St. at 8 pm. The program is supposed to be posted at www.criticalfilm.com, but it wasn't. Perhaps they will show some animated works. They also have a show coming up at the same location on July 29.
FRI. JUNE 26, "PSYCHEDELIC CULT FILM MELTDOWN" includes Benny's Badekar (Benny's Bathtub) which is described in the program notes as "a psychedelic musical fantasy cartoon made for school kids, equal parts crazed hippie excess and
Scandinavian social realism." This strange sounding film was made in Denmark. The show also includes several anti-LSD drug scare films. At 8 pm, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. (415) 978-ARTS
MON. JUNE 29, DAN McHALE SINGS WITH THE SPOCKET ENSEMBLE - PLUS IDEAS IN ANIMATION This should be a fine evening of music and films by Scott Kravitz, Stacy Rozanski and Cheryl Cruz. Dan McHale is an animator with Wild Brain by day. The event is at 7:30 and 9:30 PM at the Minna Street Gallery, 111 Minna near 2nd St.
SUNDAY, JULY 5, a program of classic DR. SEUSS TV SHOWS at the Red Vic, 2, 4, 5:45, 7:30 & 9:25 pm.
