30 Second Bottom Line: Topics as diverse as kindness and violence are addressed in a series of short films featuring live action, stop-motion, animation, clay animation and puppetry that give you plenty to think about. The films of Jan Svankmajer during this period are considerably more sophisticated than his series from1964-1972; this is not meant as a criticism but rather an observation of the growth of his talent.

Story Line: In a series of seven films, ranging from eight to sixteen minutes each, shown seamlessly back to back, Svankmajer provides a depth of illusion far deeper than what is implied by the term magical. When you see a potato move out of a basket and go to the other side of the room, in a non-animated form with no legs, it's a mind-expanding experience to observe. This action occurs in the short Down to the Cellar when a little girl is sent on an errand to fetch potatoes.

Manly Games gives us a perspective on violence in sports, both live on the field, as well as from the home of what must be the world's most devoted coach potato TV sports fan. Are soccer fans more interested in who wins the game or by how many players leave the field on a stretcher?

The soccer game and its commentary on violence links to the more sober film on the Death of Stalinism. As the story is told and the images of Stalin and other leaders are shown to us, it makes us wonder just how different the leaders are today from yesteryear.

The Pit, the Pendulum and Hope, is based upon the legend by Edgar Allen Poe. The entire film is seen solely through the eyes of a prisoner, who is strapped to a table beneath the sweeping pendulum blade, which is to be his executioner. His plight is hopeless as he observes the poker that methodically jabs at a bag of sand, which as it loses weight causes the blade to move faster and drop lower. He gains hope when he manages to place food on the ropes tying him down, that rodents crawl upon him to eat. This places something between him and the swinging blade.

Creativity and imagination are shown to their maximum in the film Food as we see three mini vignettes featuring people eating breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast depicts humans who literally are vending machines; lunch has two people being ignored by the wait staff to the extent that they eat an "alternative" meal and dinner takes us on a tour of a cannibalistic banquet.

Tell Me More About It: I am especially careful when using the "M" word…masterpiece…to describe something I've only seen one time, by someone I'd not heard of until recently. Jan Svankmajer has been around a long time and I'd say a great pleasure I've had this year as a movie critic is making this belated discovery.

Seeing this series of short films from 1979-1992 as well as the shorts from 1964-1972 is like taking a film class in one sitting. Svankmajer is exceptionally skilled at knowing how to illustrate the complex topics of love, fear and war without melodrama. Most of his short films are silent, other than the musical accompaniment that tells you all you need to know. It's because so few words are used that the story can move quickly and your mind can process the concept faster than listening to dialogue, which is a three part exercise of one person speaking and another hearing and processing. In a non-verbal film, the eyes, hears and brain operate closer to the speed of light.

We're familiar with the words animation, CGI and anime. In the city of Prague where Svankmajer lives, he has earned the right of having a distinct moniker for his work called "animace," the word for animation in Prague.

I've seen a lot of films and I'm comfortable in saying that in addition to being profound, unusual and different, Svankmajer knows how to put the "A" back in Amazing.