PunchB 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.

Polaris_DiB 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

tedg 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.

rdh210 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.