Lily and Jim

I confess to not having seen a whole lot of Don Hertzfeldt's work (although I've thoroughly enjoyed what I've seen) but "Lily and Jim" is his most mature work so far. Nothing big, just the nervousness of two people on a blind date. And it's brought to life by grade-school artwork (except for the precision mouth synching, which show a talented hand at work). But it's the dialog that really makes this tick; the self-imposed barriers and flimsy excuses we erect to explain away a failed relationship . Not to mention the forced small talk. This is very true-to-life and it's a delight.

7/10

This short was in part four of the "Short Cinema Journal"--a film I rented from Netflix but which appears to have originally been a monthly film series for people who like mediocre modern short films AND love to have the DVD chock full of commercials. I have so far tried two of the Journal's DVDs and felt enraged at the horrible way that a viewer needs to navigate the disk in order to see the films. Talk about an over-produced and overly complicated way of doing this! While I have and will continue to see as many shorts as I can, I really doubt if I'll bother with the Journals because of these factors.

LILY AND JIM was probably my favorite film in the set, though it was rather slow going at first. It begins with two terribly animated and nerdy characters talking about going on a blind date. The artwork reminded me of Don Hertzfeldt's but I didn't know for sure until later that it was indeed his work. I knew for sure when the couple turned on the television--the art and especially the very sick (and funny) minute or so the set was on was the highlight of the film. Apart from this, the film is quite cute and it was very insightful into the hazards of dating--especially for folks who aren't as charming or clever as folks on TV (in other words, most of us!).

Although clearly a reference to Woody Allen (and more precisely "Annie Hall"), this fantastic short film reminds me very much of Todd Solondz's "Happiness" (though it was made earlier), in the way that *incredibly* awkward and uncomfortable situations are drawn out and out, and the scenes never allowed to end gracefully to save the characters from their shame and misery, but instead go on and on and keep getting worse. Sometimes it's almost unbearable to watch! (Which is even more credit to Hertzfeldt and the voice actors, since we are only watching the artist's trademark stick figures!). I laughed my head off with this gem. Hertzfeldt never lets me down, he's a genius!!

I saw this short recently and thought it was great - both poignant and funny. And the part where they turn on the TV was actually so funny that I laughed out loud sitting alone. I thought, why haven't I heard of this Hertzfeldt guy before, he's great. Turns out I had, but had forgotten. I'd seen both Rejected and Genre and thought, meh - I see what he's trying to do but the humor is too juvenile and too obvious. Kinda like South Park, or most of Cartoon Swim.

So, I think Lily and Jim is brilliant. And the violence and mayhem in the TV scene is just perfect. It works as parody there, funny and to the point. The violence and randomness in his other shorts doesn't work for me. Just making something weird and/or overly violent doesn't cut it.

For weirdness (even gross and violent stuff) that actually works because there's something behind it, see Wonder Showzen or Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job.

I saw this short as a part of the Spike and Mike Festival of Animation and it *completely* stole the show. Basically it's about two people -- who are obviously perfect for one another -- on the ultimate Blind Date from Hell, where things rapidly go from awkward to horrible to worse. I wish I dared to write down some of the absolutely hysterical dialogue, but that would be spoiling the fun for others. This is a brilliant, very twisted gem of a short film, and made me an instant fan of Don Hertzfeldt, the animator. See it and you'll become one too.