FILM: Florida Film Festival Animated Shorts!

Even if you're one of those lame-o's who's all "I don't like going to film festivals because I don't know what's good", you still have no excuse not to attend the 18th Annual Florida Film Festival. Why? Because, my ADD-addled friend, there's still the Animated Shorts! You can't seriously tell me you can't sit still for an hour and a half and watch a bunch of cartoons, can you?

I went to the screening at the Enzian last night, and there is a lot of good to be found (and a little bit of lame, but hey, that's life). There is going to be one more showing of the animated shorts tomorrow, Friday April 3rd at the Regal Winter Park at 8 p.m., so you still have time to catch it! Here's what you have to look forward to:

• Birth - A sometimes crude but often touching (and hilarious) look at a teenage girl's pregnancy and the different views of femininity that effect her perceptions of the thing growing inside her.
  
• Botnik! - Part Blake Edwards-y, and part boring send-up of the beatnik lifestyle, about an artist who builds a robot to make his art. It's kind of dull at first, but revs up nicely once the robot shows up to breathe life into a stale premise.
  
• From Burger It Came - A strange, kind of unfocused short featuring the a man remembering how, as a boy, he thought everything he came into contact with would give him AIDS. The animation styles are all over the place, which is neat, even if they don't have a cohesive purpose.
  
• Elephant Girl - I dunno. What I got out of this computer-animated short was: lesbians, sticky goo, gothy animals, and, um, lots of bugs. This is the second part of some adventure, I think, but god help you if you're assigned to make sense of it.
  
• Tales of Mere Existence - This is another three episodes of the perennial favorite "cartoons" (which are actually live action shots of the illustrator/narrator drawing the scene from behind tracing paper) about live, work, and love from the eyes of your average (but hilariously insightful) young guy. The final episode, featuring the protracted non-dating relationship he had with a girl and co-narrator is some of the best work he's done to date.
  
• The Royal Nightmare - A slick, stark black and white whimsical story about a king protecting his keep from a wandering peasant (and birds, and an executioner, and ghosts...). Really fun physical humor and downright deadly comedic timing.
  
• Kaleidoscoptics - 6 minutes of yarn explosions. A lot of them. This is your bathroom break.
  
• Flute Babies - Sketchy animation that features a lady alligator in a bikini, a cat smoking a pipe, and lots of splishy splash sound effects. It's kind of like a dream you would have, if you dream about alligators seductively stripping for you.
  
• Sebastian's Voodoo - A nice, compact computer animated short about the sad fate of voodoo dolls. What, you thought it was only the victims under the curse who suffered? It's brief and abrupt, but that helps make it effective.
  
• Horn Dog - It's a Plymptoon, what more needs saying? You will laugh a lot.
  
• I Am So Proud of You - The sequel to 2007's amazing "Everything Will Be Ok", about a stick-man named Bill who is recovering from a near-fatal illness and musing on his family history, impending demise, and a boy with aluminum hooks for arms. Twistedly funny (mummified cat heads... ha!), brilliantly paced, heart-breaking, and thought-provoking stuff. If you're not familiar with Don Hertzfeldt, you will be amazed by how much his stick drawings will make you feel.

One of the reasons I seriously urge you to head out and see these is that this may be your only chance to watch these animated shorts. They usually don't see distribution, and you have to look hard to catch them on DVD. Take them in while you have the chance.