The Animation Show came to the Ross today, and I saw it not once, but twice. In the interest of informing my brother (and the rest of you), I shall do a brief film-by-film review:

The show is introduced by Bevis and Butthead in an appearance that can only be deemed gratuitous at best. Butthead points out that “buttcracks” will be shown in the feature, and they are. Woo.

Rabbit – The first film is about two nameless children (Dick and Jane -esque) who discover an idol inside a rabbit. It’s very odd, but it’s definitely in keeping with the general theme of this year’s show. I really have no opinion on it, as far as content goes.

City Paradise – WEIRD. This is about a Japanese girl who moves to London, and it is really freaking hard to understand. It’s kind of neat if you just try to move with the general ideas instead of trying to understand everything.

Everything will be ok – This is about Bill, a character from Hertzfeldt’s Temporary Anesthetics comic strip. Bill is slowly losing his mind, and this story kind of conveys his mundane/unfortunate life. It’s funny, but for the most part, it’s kind of sad. I really liked it, and would highly recommend it, despite the fact that it could be somewhat depressing. Definitely better than The Meaning of Life, which is also pretty good.

Collision – It’s just supposed to be pretty.

Nine – Here’s the crowd favorite. It’s about a ragdoll who’s trying to destroy his mortal enemy. It’s neat, 3D, pretty short, and cute. It definitely cool and serious, which is nice. The program this year was very serious.

No Room for Gerold – This is just a real-life type story about 4 animals who share a house. One of them is about to be kicked out. It’s very true to life, in my opinion. I like this one because it was funny and realistic. Gerold is one of the best characters in the whole program.

Guide Dog – A sequel to Guard Dog, this is all about the same dog trying to help blind people. Hilarious because the dog is so funny to watch. It doesn’t have a happy ending, but it’s not necessarily an unhappy ending, either.

Eaux Forte – This is about a smoker who is swept up in a tidal wave. I’m still not sure what I was supposed to get out of this, but it’s cool to watch.

vs. – This was the “bonus film” at the showing I attended. I think it should have been in the full program, because it was the funniest film. It’s about two islands, whose inhabitants are trying to claim a third island. The rest, as they say, is history.

Overtime – After a puppeteer dies, his creations attempt a “Weekend at Bernie’s” before coming to terms with the situation. Cute, although it could have been done a bit better.

Dreams and Desires – Funny to an extent. It’s not really my type of thing. Basically about a woman who’s filming a wedding and with the help of a dog, ruins the whole thing. This is the source of the buttcracks Butthead referred to.

Game Over – A video game fan’s animation, this is basically stop motion versions of famous arcade games. Naturally, the animator (player?) loses. Fitting final film.

So that was the program. I think the best were: Everything will be ok, vs., Nine, Guide Dog, No Room for Gerold and Overtime, in that order. Game Over could go in there, but it’s not really on the same level. It’s funny and awesome, but not in the same way.

This year had Don Hertzfeldt’s best (although the Trilogy is hilarious, I’d rather have serious), but besides that wasn’t quite as noteworthy as the first two. I think it was the strangest and most evocative, though. Hm.