Lily and Jim (1997)

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!).

This is a very good example of Hertzfeldt's style, along with his general theme of angry stick-figures with social dilemmas. Lily and Jim are two stick figures set up for a blind date, and they bring all of their angst to the restaurant resulting in that uncomfortable comedy one gets when two people with no self-esteem embarrass themselves.What makes it Don's is his shaky stick figures that are remarkably colored in with odd atmospheric painting... unusual to think about and even more unusual to see, it actually really captures the kind of background artistic expression around these characters who only know to avoid looking at each other in the eyes and try to think of clever and witty things to say (and ultimately failing).It's definitely not as random and crazy as most of his other works, but it's very enjoyable and poignant, perhaps a bit predictable but in that whole, "Ahhh, we've all been there..." kind of way.--PolarisDiB

I feel bad for Hertzfeldt. He has a great sense of humor, he's a gifted animator and he has some clever ideas. But he has yet to find a writing collaborator that can help him develop and project something as powerful as "Wallace and Gromit."This is a simple skit, along the lines of a Fieffer cartoon. The animation is irrelevant except for the ten seconds when they turn on the TeeVee.Otherwise, this is the absolute worst of his work, if you are looking around.Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

This is Don Hertzfeldt's third film, and arguably his best. This 13 minute film has as much heart as Woody Allen's "Annie Hall" with the sadistic edge of "Billy's Balloon," the followup to "Lily and Jim" played at the Spike and Mike Twisted Animation festival this past year.A brilliant, brilliant film.