CINEMANIC

SPIKE AND MIKE'S

CLASSIC FESTIVAL OF ANIMATION

When we were young, oh, those days were grand. We certainly do miss those good old days with recess and naptime. And now that we've grown up (okay, well, we can pretend), we have so much more to worry about: i.e., work, work, work. So even a trip to the movies seems to take up more brainpower than one would like. Well we've found something that plays like a movie but requires half the intellectual capacity, and it has all the laughs and drama one would ever want. Imagine stick figures on blind dates, skinny men stealing underwear and old men playing chess by themselves. What are we talking about? It's Spike and Mike's Classic Festival of Animation featured at the Coolidge Theater!

Okay, so you're thinking, that's great, but what's in it for me? Well, we'd like to impart to you some valuable information we learned from watching the series of short animations in the classic festival. The exhibits of international origin ranged from paper drawings to clay figures and computer animation. Take heed of these applicable lessons we learned from these animations that address the issues facing students today. Lily and Jim taught us how blind dates work. Pretty average story: shy stick girl goes on blind date with anti-social stick guy. This stick couple with big eyes and awkward limbs went through blind dating's worst nightmare. With nothing in common, Lily and Jim entertain the audience by their awkwardness and incompatibility, topping off the night with an allergic reaction on Jim's part, resulting in a bloated and utterly repulsive Jim. Lily and Jim discourages anyone considering blind dating to take the risk. Believe us, it's not worth it. Besides, who dates at Harvard anyway?

Don't you hate it when you haven't done your laundry in two months and realize that you have no underwear left at all? A solution is in our midst. In Underwear Stories, a sophisticated yet eccentric male figure deviously enters a woman's undergarment store. He flings his trench coat open, subtly passes by a rack of women's underwear, and stuffs some into his coat. Now we're not making moral judgment, but when times get desperate, even girl's underwear is appropriate. So another life lesson is passed on...if only the pre-frosh knew. There really is something for everyone, compliments of Spike and Mike. We have learned, laughed, and just had a jolly good time. So we leave you with the ever-wise words of stick-figure Jim: "Relationships are like those small packages of condiments you get in fast food restaurants...once you open them, they spoil really quickly."