Popular reviews

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  Review by Edgar Cochran ✝️ ★★★★★ 2

  Certainly the peak of the Quay brothers artistry. Suspenseful to the core, enygmatic, mysterious, engrossing, darkly atmospheric and rationally incomprehensible, this human-created nightmare is a stream of consciousness of inert objects searching to gain life, getting rid of the screws that attach them to lifelessness and literally resorting to meat (flesh) to incarnate the material covering of a living being. The puppet searches meaning in all of this and, probably, comes to the realization that he needs the same thing, since he is an artificial creation as well.

  It's indescribable. The rational side will never construct a coherent meaning for this masterpiece, leaving it frustrated, but for those that apply the Bressonian and Chaplinesque emotional approach to art, the experience…

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  Review by Rafael "Parker!!" Jovine ★★★ 1

  A very creepy looking stop motion short film that explores many themes left open for audiences to decipher. From war to a realization of loneliness and our inner demons, the score and production design does a great job displaying all these dark memories the directors been come to be known for.

  All in all, while its pretty short and its experimental nature doesn’t come with a straightforward story, which in turns hurts the film from time to time, if you are looking for something creepy and thought-provoking, I’ll give this one a watch.

  TODAY SCHEDULE
  The Music Box
  Street of Crocodiles
  This Film Is Not Yet Rated
  A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas

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  Review by Eli Hayes ★★★★½

  Hoop-Tober, year three, film #12:

  I've lost sight of my surroundings, scared to step into the shadows, suffice it to say that the sable of the shadows may be the shapeless, saprophagous sandman that had summoned me to its cellar years ago -- kept me here, unbeknownst to myself & my siblings, forever searching -- and I sit trapped somewhere between a scapegrace and a scout of sadness, far beneath this somber, sunless street; lurid, lifeless and lower than even the lizards care to dwell.

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  Review by DungeonSkramz ★★★★

  When your strings become unattached and you fall deeper into the void of life's uncertainties, it'll probably look something like this.

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  Review by James Betsalel ★★★★½

  Earlier I stated that today was my first foray into the Quay brothers. However after a couple of minutes into this I realized I had seen this some years ago. Probably when I was getting into Nine Inch Nails.

  Elegantly horrid, the movements of immovable objects rendered unnaturally innate. It's absorbingly vexing musically, something that seems to be a theme amongst their work but this is the strongest example out of what little I've seen. Few films give such a grimy aura of desolation and futility as faultlessly executed here. Definitely an experience and one of the most powerful short films I've ever seen.

  Absolutely recommend.

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  Review by sprizzle ★★★★★ 3

  In anticipation of Christopher Nolan's QUAY I have started my journey of the Quay brother's work. For those of you who aren't familiar (like I was) the Quay brothers are identical twins from Pennsylvania making stop motion films. They have been crafting their own little worlds since the 70s, ignored by the general public, picked up and loved by animation junkies. Their work being heralded by some as the most original work of the 80s. I start my journey with Street of Crocodiles, possibly the darkest, wildest 20 minutes in animation I've seen.

  Stop motion is not an easy medium to master, and master is not exactly what's happening with the Quays. Street of Crocodiles is rough around the edges.…

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  Review by Paul Elliott ★★★★½ 1

  Adapted from a book by Polish writer Bruno Schulz and directed by Stephen and Timothy Quay, Street of Crocodiles features a live-action opening before evolving to be a wordless fantasy of wonderous stop-motion animation. The twenty-one-minute film observes a puppet protagonist being unrestrained from his strings and warily commences in roaming the dusty and darkened rooms surrounding him. It draws heavily on a myriad of ideas and often employs a somewhat absurdist approach in its juxtapositioning of images which incites a great deal of ambiguity. Czechoslovakian animator Jan Švankmajer is an evident influence, and the nature of objects such as disfigured dolls are heavily symbolic. The handcrafted and arduously created animation breathtakingly shifts fluidly through an opaque and claustrophobic macrocosm. This is a remarkable piece of work.

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  Review by StormofCuteness ★★★½ 14

  1st thought: this reminds me of the Nine Inch Nails' video for Closer. (Turns out it was heavily inspired by it.)

  2nd thought: This is like if Varda's artist junk gleaners made a short.

  3rd thought: Why do I have such a hard time not falling asleep when there's no dialogue?

  4th thought: This is super creepy and will infiltrate my nightmares.

  5th thought: Fans of Stalker and La Jetee will love this! Quay Brothers may have been fans too.

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  Review by Hutch ★★★★★ 2

  Timothy and Stephen Quay are identical twin brothers, born in Philadelphia, based in London, yet belonging to the world of early twentieth century Central European culture. Their films are heavily influenced by the literature of Franz Kafka, Robert Walser and Bruno Schulz, although their style shares more with the logic and emotion of music, than it does with decipherable narratives.

  It is one of Schulz’s intoxicating short stories that serves as the inspiration for Street of Crocodiles. The references are clear enough, however the Quays’ stop-motion animated version is quite a bit darker than Schulz’s often richly atmospheric writing. From their deep investment in Schulz's imagination, the Quay’s conjure an astonishing world of miniature detail, caked in dust and neglect,…

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  Review by Jules🥨 ★★★½ 3

  In the wink of an eye we may no longer be who we think we are.

  the haunted places, the eerie corners,
  the shadows are the home of this creepy mourners.

  the walls full of dust and desolation,
  there is nothing here but silhouettes, emptiness and isolation.

  explore the house, beware the darkness,
  look at the creepy puppets and befriend the madness.

  haunting surroundings, silent as the pictures on the wall,
  suspenseful but peaceful, the night falls.

  always with our weird-but-awesome style,
  we will dance on the Street of Crocodiles.

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  Review by Sally Jane Black 1

  An amazing little stop motion short that shows a puppet lost in some sort of mechanical puppet world, where he involves himself in the construction of another puppet (maybe?). It's dark and aloof, but with a sort of cabaret grimness that makes me think of Tom Waits' Rain Dogs or a Beat Circus album.

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  Review by mosquitodragon ★★★★

  I am just a worthless liar
  I am just an imbecile
  I will only complicate you
  Trust in me and fall as well

  Taps into a weird dread I never consciously recognised before. An entirely aesthetic one to do with vague images like broken dolls and dust and dead insects. Maybe this is like an ancient inherited fear like the fear of spoiled food. Because nothing screams death more than broken toys under layers of dust - symbols of life departed.