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Films as social media

IN THE AGE of Netflix, watching films can be a solitary pastime. Cinema 16 aims to make it a shared, engaging affair, and one that can never be experienced the same way twice.

Tonight three silent, avant-garde films will be screened at International House, accompanied by a live performance of an original score. In previous incarnations, Cinema 16 musicians have ranged from an experimental cello player to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. And the films have ranged from the 1920s to the 1980s, making each evening wildly different from the previous one.

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Cinema 16 is named for the post-World War II film society created by Amos Vogel in the West Village. Vogel showed experimental, documentary and even public-service-announcement-style films. "It aimed to get people to interact with moving images more than typical, passive movie watching by engaging them in less-linear narratives," said Cinema 16 curator and creative director Molly Surno. Though Vogel's film society fell out of vogue during the '60s, it continues to be revered for its contributions to experimental film.

In tonight's Cinema 16 presentation, 1960s and '70s-era short films "Asparagus," "Kusama's Self Obliteration" and "Lusting Hours" will be shown over an ethereal electronic score performed by New York-based musician Hiro Kone. It's like nothing you'll see in your living room or the multiplex.

Cinema 16, International House's Ibrahim Theater, 3701 Chestnut St., 8 tonight, $7-$9, ihousephilly.org, 215-895-6535

- Kailey Kluge

HITCHCOCK ON THE FLY

"Stage Fright: An Improvised Homage to Hitchcock" captures the suspense and psychological tension of Hitchcock's films, but the all-star live cast coaxes out the often-overlooked gallows humor in his material.

Hitchcock was famously controlling as a director, even referring to actors as "cattle." "Stage Fright" unleashes the improvisational skills of these cattle to bring the auteur's work to the stage. The audience contributes to the suspense by suggesting the Hitchcockian setting, psychological obsession and other factors for the actors to improvise upon.

This isn't strict, scripted Hitchcock, more like "What would Alfred do?" The late director would likely approve of the inevitable improvised plot twists.

"Stage Fright: An Improvised Homage to Hitchcock," Adrienne Theater, 2030 Sansom St., 10 tonight, 3 p.m. tomorrow, $12, comedysportzphilly.com, 877-98-LAUGH.

- Alissa Falcone

COMIC RELIEF