THURSDAY 2 - Inside Outsider Cinema
Programmed by: Addison Wood
An ode to the anarchic pleasures of fringe cinema from 1954 to 1977, Inside Outsider Cinema promises cheap thrills, psychedelic visions, and buckets of blood. Each week represents a different style or genre all pushing the boundaries of the medium. Relegated to less-than-glamorous venues, these forays into exploitation and splatter films, animation, early video, and abstract art offered outlets for directors from all walks of life in an era of outwardly hostile commercial environments. These are the stories of college dropouts, sexed-up felines, Black power radicals, the filthiest people alive, and the Mexican spitfire herself! There’s plenty of edge in these pictures!
This assortment of celluloid wonders represents a network of Americans producing ever more outlandish experiments in the heydays of the underground movie. Dipping your toes into the Thursday II slot? Come for Pink Flamingos and Eraserhead, two exemplars of the midnight movie. Limited attention span? Our shorts night featuring Bleu Shut is just for you! Are surreal musical collages your thing? We’ve got both Kenneth Anger’s Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome and José Rodríguez Soltero’s Lupe.
Recommended for those with strong stomachs and appetites for the absurd. Arrive on time, shorts before (almost) every show!
Strip Strip (1968) / Pink Flamingos (1972)
Pat Rocco / John Waters · 5m / 93m · Digital / 35mm
Restoration of Strip Strip courtesy of the Outfest UCLA Legacy Project at the UCLA Film & Television Archive. Showing 2: Pink Flamingos only.
You won’t believe your eyes! The filthiest people alive fight for supremacy in a farce of bad taste that only a depraved mind like John Waters could cook up. Never before have such grotesque displays of perversion been put on screen. We’ve got shrimping, dog shit eating, rectal antics, and cannibalism! Bring the whole family. Preceded by Strip Strip, courtesy of the Outfest UCLA Legacy Project at the UCLA Film & Television Archive.
Thursday, March 21st 9:30PM · Friday, March 29th 10:15PM
Excited Turkeys (1966) / Eraserhead (1977)
Willard Maas / David Lynch · 12m / 89m · 16mm / DCP
Showdate 2: Eraserhead only.
David Lynch’s first foray into narrative(?) cinema, Eraserhead has maintained its status as the ultimate midnight movie. The anxieties of a young father and awkward in-law dinners only scratch the surface of what the film has to offer. The best date-night screening in the series, you’ll be humming along to “In Heaven” until the sun comes up. Preceded by Excited Turkeys (1966).
Thursday, March 28th 9:30PM · Friday, April 5th 9:30PM
LSD Wall (1965) / Deadly Weapons (1974)
John Hawkins / Doris Wishman · 7m / 75m · 16mm / DCP
God bless Doris Wishman! Deadly Weapons is the revenge thriller to end ‘em all. Crystal must avenge her lover at any cost, and who better to take on the mob than a woman with the natural talents of Chesty Morgan? Also starring Harry Reems (ask your dad), this jaw-dropping sexploitation caper will knock you out. Preceded by LSD Wall.
Thursday, April 4th 9:30PM
The Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954) / Blood Feast (1963)
Kenneth Anger / Herschell Gordon Lewis · 38m / 67m · 16mm / 35mm
Showdate 2: Blood Feast only.
Just look at those titles! Total decadence and total depravity. Is there anything else you could possibly want from a Thursday night? From the lavish hues of a jewel box surrounded by satin and gold tucked away in Kublai Khan’s pleasure dome to the crimson gore of a Miami food caterer’s latest victim, this night is all delight.
Thursday, April 11th 9:30PM · Friday, April 12th 10:30PM
What Really Happened to Baby Jane? (1955) / Dementia (1963)
Ray Harrison / John Parker · 56m / 31m · DCP
Restoration of What Really Happened to Baby Jane? courtesy of the American Genre Film Archive, UCLA Film & TV Archive and Outfest Legacy Project.
Two fever dreams incoming. A nightmarish vision of skid row Los Angeles sans dialogue and a drag recreation of the ultra-camp What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, we promise you a truly unforgettable night.
Thursday, April 18th 9:30PM
Lupe (1966) / Flaming Creatures (1963)
José Rodriguez-Soltero / Jack Smith · 50m / 43m · 16mm
Outrageous! Tonight is devoted to the greats of New York queer filmmaking. Raided by police, screenings of Flaming Creatures were raucous affairs provoking a litany of litigation and truly underground showings for years to come. Lupe on the other hand is a poetic take on the death of the Mexican Spitfire, Lupe Vélez, featuring a killer soundtrack that would make Kenneth Anger blush.
Thursday, April 25th 9:30PM
Scape-mates (1972) / She Was a Visitor (1970) / Eye Music in Red Major (1961) / Bleu Shut (1971)
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Ed Emshwiller / Donna Deitch / Marie Menken / Robert Nelson · 28m / 2m / 6m / 33m · 16mm
Who needs narrative cinema anyway? Tonight is all about the weird, wild, wonderful world of short filmmaking. This screening will feature dancers stuck in neon videoland, early psychedelic light studies, and a yacht-naming quiz show with a lot of tongue. Really, this night is better seen than truly understood.
Thursday, May 2nd 9:30PM
Cosmic Ray (1962) / Fritz the Cat (1972)
Bruce Conner / Ralph Bakshi · 4m / 78m · 16mm
Fritz the Cat courtesy of the Academy Film Archive.
Total smut forever. Fritz is an oversexed anthropomorphic cat fed up with the hippies and yippies of a strung-out Greenwich Village. Surrounded by stereotypes only a 1972 adult animated movie could produce, Fritz is, well, a product of his time. Nonetheless, you’re in for a good time with this one – and, come early for Cosmic Ray (1962), an outstanding mixture of Ray Charles, WWII, full frontal, and Mickey Mouse himself!
