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I didn't have a chance to preview any of the feature films, but "Cause and Defect," "Johns," and "Institute Benjamenta" all look excellent, the latter being the first live-action film from the Brothers Quay, award-winning animators who have done groundbreaking stop-motion animation work. Terry Gilliam loves the film, and it has been compared favorably to David Lynch's "Eraserhead"- so it'll be far off into the land of trippy and weird.

I'll be darned if "Bottoms Up" isn't the strangest thing I've seen in a long time. Written, directed, and produced by UA Media Arts professor Beverly Seckinger and partner Joyan Saunders, "Bottoms Up" explores the stereotypes associated with being a lesbian. It's a short (25 minute), but it's well-edited and has a lovely sadomasochistic interpretive dance number thrown in the middle. Which is to say it's all pretty disturbing - while exploring the dichotomy of the femme vs. dyke debate, it focuses on S&M, whipping, a guide to household sex toys and has an extremely uncomfortable scene where a woman sinks a needle into another woman's chest. If nothing else, this film made lesbians and lesbian culture completely unappealing to me.

"Weed" manages to do the same for drugs and drug culture. Reminiscent of Mark Twain's "Innocents Abroad," the 65-minute film interviews Americans vacationing in Amsterdam for the Eighth Annual Cannabis Cup and Hemp Expo. It's a little like watching a news show done by "High Times" magazine - stoned-out hippies spew half-baked philosophies on the future of marijuana and hemp in the U.S. It's an interesting look at just who goes on drug vacations these days. Very few Europeans are interviewed at all, and the Americans are allowed to babble at great length, as Americans often do. It's pretty amusing, but not the eloquent critique of "the underlying medical, industrial, and recreational use" of dope that was promised by the schedule.

However "The Date" rocks, as does "Shock Asylum." Both are intelligent and amusing short films. Shorts, rarely seen in mainstream movie theaters, are an excellent chance for young filmmakers to learn before committing to the high price of a feature film. Although they may not be full-length films, both effectively tell a story in the time allotted. "The Date" chronicles a horrible first date gone awry in a lush, perhaps even commercial style. "Shock Asylum" is a black comedy about a routine checkup gone mad. It's actually part of a set of nine Dinello Bros. shorts showing at The Screening Room. And the filmmakers are planning to be there, as well ...