Spike and Mike's Sick & Twisted Animation Show 2000 (various) - Yes, they're back, bearing another selection of definitely Disney-free dubiety, both old favourites and new candidates -- these reprobates screened South Park and Beavis + Butthead well before the mainstream took them on board. The styles on offer are wide and varied, from computer animation to stick figures and Claymation, and the results are equally diverse. Highlights included Die Hard in Under Two Minutes (80 seconds, to be precise), a super-condensation of Bruce's best from Konstantin Bronzit, and Bowlin' Fer Souls by Supergenius, an express elevator to hell. The Squirm-Inducing Oscar was tied between Horned Grandma - pretty much what it sounds like - and Tongue Twister, whose moral is best summarised as "don't lick lamp-posts".
Most of the films were by unknowns, though Powerpuff Girls creator Craig McCracken weighed in with some (rather disappointing) No Neck Joe ultra-shorts. More satisfactory was Bill Plympton's Surprise Cinema, a fine showcase for a variety of cruel pranks. Similarly vicious was Billy's Balloon, an official selection from Cannes last year, whose sparse animation was countered by the inventive psychopathy of the titular inflatable. Overall, there were more hits than misses, and with the longest film coming in at a mere six minutes, you were never far away from something amusing or memorable. Perhaps less 'sick' than I anticipated, yet there's no denying that 'twisted' is a highly applicable word.