See the wonderment of all the A/V Geeks DVDs!

One of the greatest films in the A/V Geeks collection – a violent kid’s version of Diamonds are Forever! Available on the “Be Your Own Blockbuster” DVD.

Think back to that magical time before you knew how to use the telephone. This Sid and Marty Krofft-influenced film describes the mechanics of using the telephone, speaking and listening techniques, dealing with emergencies and displaying good manners with songs and goofy costumes. This film was made during a time when kids being kidnapped by a man in tights was magical and not creepy.

This film is available on A/V Geeks Greatest Hits DVD

What makes an image moving? We tend to watch and re-watch those films that speak to us, which contain a captivating story or an outright beauty that is enhanced by repeated viewing. Rarely do we return to mundane movies brimming with insipid imagery or sleep-inducing scenarios. That is, until now.

In true Unessential Cinema fashion, film collectors/archivists Skip Elsheimer (A/V Geeks), Andrew Lampert (Anthology Film Archives), Stephen Parr (Oddball Film) and Greg Pierce (Orgone Cinema)  have each sifted through their vast reservoir of reels to cull favorite footage that others might term tedious, difficult, dreary, lackluster, lifeless or even uninteresting. But it just ain’t so. Admission $9.

7:30pm, Tuesday, April 6th, Anthology Film Archives, 32 Second Avenue New York, NY 10003 (212) 505-5181

Now, what could be worse than to have a little boy become a sissy? The A/V Geeks present an evening of classic campy 16mm school films that examine the behavior of potential wimps and what has to be done to fix it. Admission $13/$9 for members.

Films include:

SOAPY THE GERM FIGHTER (1951) Billy Martin is concerned that being clean is tantamount to being a sissy. Perhaps a giant cake of soap in pantaloons can convince him otherwise.

WILLIAM’S DOLL (1985) – William is an athletic kid but his fascination with baby dolls has his father concerned and his friends picking on him. Can Grandpa fix things with William’s birthday gift?

NEUROTIC BEHAVIOR – A PSYCHODYNAMIC VIEW (1973) – College-aged Peter has problems talking to girls. Could stern toilet training be making him a sissy?

7:30pm, Wednesday, April 7th, Cinema Arts Centre 423 Park Avenue, Huntington, NY 11743 631-423-FILM (3456)

How To Be A Man

For centuries, parents have struggled to usher their children through the magical, often treacherous, journey to adulthood. But in mid-century America, a new form of tutelage was engineered: the classroom film. Suddenly, the prickly issues of sexual development and juvenile delinquency could be addressed in tidy, ten-minute sermons disguised as dramas. To deal with the subtleties of behavior and the importance of fitting in, social guidance films were made on such topics as coping with failure (Planning For Success) and teasing (The Other Fellow’s Feelings). The films in this collection-curated and introduced by Skip Elsheimer, founder of the A/V Geeks educational film archive sample some of the lessons that were routinely taught to boys. In them, one sees slices of Americana, discovers the world of educational cinema (with a language all its own), and gains an insight into the hopes and fears of the parents and educators who relied on the power of cinema to initiate, educate and indoctrinate the young.

How To Be A Woman

As the daughters of the baby boom reached adolescence, the American school system struggled to educate them on matters of sexual and social development lessons that were not always being taught at home. To the teacher uncomfortable with such topics, classroom films were a godsend. They depicted the reproductive system in anatomical detail (Growing Girls) or through puzzling symbolism (The Wonders of Reproduction, produced by the Moody Institute of Science). Beyond sex education, classroom films addressed a wide array of social issues, from the importance of cooking skills (You’re the Judge, starring a young Bonnie Franklin), to self-defense (Attack) and how to appear more pleasing to others (Improve Your Personality). Often corny, sometimes frightening, these cinematic life lessons curated and introduced by Skip Elsheimer, founder of the A/V Geeks educational film archive provide a fascinating window to the hopes and fears of parents and educators in mid-century America.

Churchill – Wexler Films, 10 min 45 sec Shows how a gold-mantled ground squirrel at Crater Lake National Park has learned to solve problems connected with getting food. Illustrates how an animal can learn to find food that is hidden from view or out of reach.

This is one of the AV Geeks favorite films, mostly because Squeak is somewhat of a working class hero who, inspite of what obstacles “the Man” puts in his way, always perseveres.

This film is available on the Those Naughty Animals DVD-R

Our animated hero questions his sanity after blowing his top and driving his car into a police station.

This film is available on the Angry Night DVD