Upcoming Movie Nights

I'm seriously tickled to be bringing a pungent slice of our customary KFJC Psychotronix Film Fest style mayhem to the wine country. On January 17 at 7:00 p.m., the Mendocino Film Festival presents the Mend-O-Tronic Incredibly Strange Short Subjects night at historic Crown Hall, 45285 Ukiah St., Mendocino, CA 95460.

And I'm equally tickled to be the producer/curator of the following pop culture slice n' dice at a historic venue:



At the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum's Edison Theatre (the town nickelodeon 95 years ago), we will present a hallucinatory blend of outrageous clips from 1930's musicals, lecherous and absurdist comedy shorts, surreal cartoons, etc. - with a performance of ditties from the Pre-Code era by the fabulous Kitten On The Keys. Yes, LIVE IN PERSON, our hostess with the very mostest will m.c. and live up to her Sisters Of Perpetual Indulgence sobriquet, St. Tickle-The-Ivories.

Broncho Billy Film Festival At Niles

The Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum, Northern California treasure, mecca for historians, culture vultures and film geeks alike, will present The 11th Annual Broncho Billy Silent Film Festival all weekend, starting this evening.

History, particularly when it involves cross-eyed Ben Turpin falling on his butt, can be fun.

Cartoons And Clarinets At Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum - Friday, Feb. 23, 2007

Yours truly will be the ringmaster/producer/film programmer/emcee for, as the inimitable Ed Sullivan used to say, a "really big shoe" just down the block from the Niles Canyon locales where Charlie Chaplin and "Broncho Billy" Anderson made movies, drank beer and chased women (not necessarily in that order) way back in 1915.

"Cartoons And Clarinets" will feature live music and sound effects by Beth Custer (Clubfoot Orchestra, Trance Mission, Beth Custer Ensemble) and Ralph Carney (Tom Waits, B52s, CarneyBallJohnson) - who will bring their stalwart improvisational derring-do, vivid imaginations and joie de vivre to the party.

Cartoons will include surreal classics by Winsor McCay, Fleischer, Otto "Felix The Cat" Messmer, Ladislaw Starewicz (the Russian entymologist-turned-stop motion animation innovator) and many more. We'll also have an amazing Georges Melies "trick-film" from 1906 and a live-action comedy short, His Wooden Wedding, directed by Leo McCarey and starring Charley Chase, 1920's master of silly walks.

When: Friday, February 23, 2007 at 8:00 p.m.

Where: Edison Theatre, Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum, 37417 Niles Boulevard, Fremont, CA 94536-2949

Why: cartoon fun and kick-ass music

How much: $10

Online order form: http://www.nilesfilmmuseum.org/cartoons_clarinets_order_form.pdf

Webpage: http://www.nilesfilmmuseum.org/index.htm

Phone: 510 494-1411