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Wednesday, Feb 19, 1997
I'm Only Happy When It Rains: The Comic Shorts of Kelley Baker
Director in Person It rains so much in Portland you just gotta laugh. And that's what Kelley Baker does. He laughs just to keep from drying. Baker's muggy, autobiographical movies are about strokes of bad luck, missed opportunities, faded love, and the little things that make life worth living, like the canned olives on Route 5. In Love the One You're With (1995, 9 mins), a stand-in re-enacts the failed romances of Baker's youth. A more apt title might be The Thwarted Lothario Goes Bowling, Instead. Finally married, he confronts the bad news bearers in You'll Change (1992, 3 mins) as a parade of male cohorts testify about the mind-altering benefits of fatherhood. In Enough with the Salmon (1996, 7 mins), Baker reminisces about his childhood dream of visiting southern California, once getting as close as Long Beach, Washington. Years later, he would move to that fabulous Eden just long enough to get a healthy case of asthma. Always humorous with just a touch of a chill, Kelley Baker is one of the benefits of a damp climate.-Steve Seid Other works by Kelley Baker to be screened: Stolen Toyota (1993, 7.5 mins). Friday Night (1994, 6.5 mins). That Really Obscure Object of Desire (1989, 5 mins). 12 Short Films without Glenn Gould (1996, 5 mins, 3/4" video). Tales From I-5 (1996, 9 mins, 3/4" video). New E-Z Devils (1996, 4 mins, 3/4" video).
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