Unlikely Film Stars

Dads are good at so many things. Teaching you how to catch a pop fly, committing to memory the entire chronology of World War II, keeping their cool during a seemingly endless family vacation -- all good stuff. However, dads generally aren't amazing at the art of the home video. Just think about how many blurry Christmas mornings you've had to relive, the woozy camera shots that whip around the Thanksgiving dinner table, the birthday-candle blowouts that look more like blackouts -- not so impressive. But there is hidden humor in those VHS tapes. Plastic gold, if you will, especially when these time capsules end up in the hands of the Found Footage Festival folks (www.foundfootagefest.com), who stop tonight at the Mad Art Gallery (2727 South Twelfth Street). At 8 p.m., FFF hosts Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher show off their funny Midwestern finds -- which include TV news pranks they conduct during FFF tours, home-shopping show excerpts and other treasures, in addition to the home video delights -- and offer a bit of commentary to go along with them. Admission costs $12, but if one of your family films ends up screening, that experience will be priceless.
Wed., Nov. 6, 2013