It hurts to be alone. It hurts to be rejected. It hurts not to be validated in the world. It is almost a painful realization of the vain aspects of one’s existence. Perhaps this is why the sting is so deep, and why countless artists try their hand at healing salves through film and song. On the other hand, to be loved is to be admired, to be cherished, to be valued. The worthiness....

  Election follows the path of despair for one unfortunate soul who is oblivious to his own unhappiness and dissatisfaction with his life. He masks his own self-loathing in an attack on a teenage girl who overachieves at everything she does. What’s terrific about the film is that it could have been presented with much darker overtones, akin to American Beauty. But it decided to stay....

Max, a famous comedian, is stunned to see the behavior of the parents of the teammates of his son’s baseball team. It stuns him so much he receives creative inspiration to make a film satirizing them. He begins then to interview each parent to learn how they tick, and ultimately to make an attempt to connect their mad antics with their personal lives.   By entering into each....