Spike and Mike's 1998 Classic Festival of Animation

Arguably the event of the year for film animation buffs, the annual "Spike and Mike's Festival of Animation" (not to be confused with its evil twin, the "Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation") marks its 20th anniversary this year with 13 animation shorts that are almost all festival premieres (in most years, the festival is made up of only a few new shorts -- the rest are kept in the rotation after premiering during prior years). The shorts range from the lucid, hilarious stick-figure retelling of a blind date ("Lily and Jim") to the gloriously colorful, semi-twisted tale of an omnivorous cat ("Mons the Cat"). Many absorb you with bravura visuals while remaining incomprehensible; some are just incomprehensible. A wide range of animation artistry is on display here (pencil drawings, clay figures, computer-generated images), and you're overtaken by anticipation as one short fades to black and the next one begins; the good parts keep you glued to your seat, hoping for more of the same. At the Avon.

-- Danny Lorber