Movies: Stop being so freaky.

Movie #-1, Pan's Labyrinth

Oh, hey look! To the left you will see the one image in this entire film that isn't absolutely horrifying or disgusting! Never mind the fact that in this moment, little Ofelia was being chased down a hallway by a murderous monster with eyeballs in his palms!

OK, I exaggerate a bit. There were certainly more moments than this that were beautiful and sweet. I think I remember three. But the vast majority of this film gave me the creeps. Nasty slithering, slobbering, grasping things. Brutal violence. Bugs everywhere! This is a film that I appreciate and respect, but I never want to see it again.

Movie #1, Animation Show 3

We saw this with a pile of smelly hippies and desperately earnest undergrads, so the films themselves had to overcome a lot from the outset. Some of them succeeded, some not so much. Don Hertzfeldt's "Everything Will Be OK" was of course a standout, as was Bill Plympton's "Guide Dog." "Rabbit" (shown above) was really clever, but did go on a little long for my taste. Some of the others felt like good attempts that just didn't work on a story level. It got me wondering about the submission process and if this is really the best animation out there right now. Anyway, we did have fun and Bud even won a t-shirt due to his deep knowledge of the Beavis and Butthead oeuvre.