If youย’ve got a sick sense of humor and dig cartoons, Spike & Mikeย’s Sick & Twisted Festival of Animation is your Sundance. Imagine everything parents never want a kid to see, and youย’ll get a good idea of the festivalย’s offerings. Since its inception in 1990, each incarnation of the traveling series has provided up-and-coming animators with the opportunity to reach widely scattered audiences with their work. Some of the shorts are tasteless, violent or disgusting ย— many are a magical combination of all three. Take, for instance, Matt Leeย’s Flock Off (one manย’s violent, excrement-laden interaction with a bird), and Mike Geigerย’s gag-inducing Cuddle Sticks (a mom feeds her kids popsicles made from frozen tampons ย— hey, we told you this was twisted). Donย’t miss out on this celebration of all things inappropriate, which helped spawn this generationย’s first truly twisted cartoon ย— Mike Judgeย’s Beavis and Butt-head ย— but do leave your kid brother at home. Through March 19. Alamo Drafthouse, 1000 West Oaks Mall. $8.50.


March 13-19, 2009

This article appears in Mar 12-18, 2009.