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My introduction to Don Hertzfeldt wasn't too long ago, though I have since become obsessed with his animated short Rejected, which is devilishly comical in each and every way. He's since done plenty, such as the ever-increasing-in-popularity It's Such a Beautiful Day from a few years ago to recently animating the opening couch gag for an episode of "The Simpsons". Now he delivers his latest short, a nearly 17-minute existential exploration of life, death and everything in-between in World of Tomorrow. With elements taken from his 2013 graphic novel "The End of the World" (how much I'm not entirely sure), World of Tomorrow tells the story of a young girl referred to as Emily Prime (voiced by Hertzfeldt's niece Winona Mae) as she is contacted by a third-generation clone of herself (voiced by Julia Pott) that takes her on a journey into a future filled with memories, sadness and plenty of comedy.

Netflix has a many, many films, shows and documentaries to watch. A lot of them you will know are there - great Netflix Originals like House of Cards, Orange is the New Black and Better Call Saul - but there is even more to discover that you might not think or even know to look for.

Here are some of our favourite Netflix hidden gems:

It's Such a Beautiful Day

Animator Don Hertzfeldt is a Digital Spy favourite, first coming to our attention with the bizarre, irreverent, melancholic and frequently obscene short Rejected. There is something undeniably beautiful behind the strangeness of the characters and scenarios he brings to life.

His first feature film, It's Such a Beautiful Day, spins together his previously released trilogy into a touching black comedy about hapless Bill and his hilarious, humdrum existence.

The Short Game

Chances are, this Netflix Original documentary will offer your...

Michael C. here. I couldn't wrap up my Sundance coverage without writing about this gem from one of my favorite filmmakers.

Fans of Don Hertzfeldt know there is little point in describing the plot of one of his films.  His animated shorts operate on the director's unique blend of absurdist humor, philosophical wonderings, and sophisticated visuals masquerading as crude scribblings, not on traditional story beats. So when I say his new short, World of Tomorrow, is spectacular, right up there with his best work, you just have to take my word for it, so difficult is it to capture its odd appeal in words.

Hertzfeldt took on World of Tomorrow as a quick project between two massively ambitious undertakings, the upcoming Antarctica, his first full length feature, and It's Such a Beautiful Day, his recent triptych of shorts which combined represent one of the new century's indisputable masterpieces. It's a...

Tim here. It's such a beautiful day to be animator Don Hertzfeldt, whose newest short, World of Tomorrow, premieres at the Sundance Film Festival tonight - his seventh film to play there, a record. It's an even better day to be a fan of Don Hertzfeldt, for in addition to WoT (which has been popping up on "most anticipated" Sundance lists all over, as well it should), news has come down today that Hertzfeldt is about to beginning working on his second feature, Antarctica. It's going to be the first project of his career made with an actual team of animators, owing to its unprecedented complexity compared to everything he's ever made (besides which, his last feature took over six years to complete, dribbling out in the form of three short films released as they were ready). And let me tell you, the notion of a Hertzfeldt film of unprecedented...

Snoot Entertainment, the production company behind You're Next, The Guest and Charlie Kaufman's upcoming animated film Anomalisa, announced today that they have optioned Don Hertzfeldt's script for Antarctica, an animated, genre-defying adventure which explores the world's coldest continent. The film will also be directed by Hertzfeldt drawing on his signature visual style. Snoot Entertainment's Keith Calder and Jessica Calder will produce along with Hertzfeldt. Hertzfeldt's manager Jeremy Platt will executive-produce and Snoot's Roxanne Benjamin will co-produce.

Hertzfeldt is premiering his new short film World of Tomorrow during the opening night of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. With World of Tomorrow as his seventh short film in competition, he has had more films play in competition at Sundance than any other filmmaker. Other projects Hertzfeldt has helmed include the Academy Award nominated cult favorite Rejected, and Everything Will Be Ok, which was awarded the 2007 Sundance Film Festival Jury Award in Short Filmmaking.

Considering it is the halfway point in this current decade of ours, 2014 is about as good a time as many to begin making "Best of the Decade (So Far)" lists -- which I have actually attempted to do over on Letterboxd -- and it seems the fine folks over at streaming site and film blog Fandor agree, as just yesterday video essayist Kevin B. Lee posted a video that counts down the 26 best films of the decade so far, as determined by a poll he took of "290 film critics and movie lovers on Twitter and Facebook." Lee took to Slate yesterday to explain the results a bit more in-depth, including the importance of social media played in the poll, how Cannes was a better predictor than the Oscars, how movies' fortunes rise and fall over time, and more. It's an interesting read, so if you want to check it out,...

The Simpsons' 26th season premiere may have had fans debating about which character would die, but they were completely taken aback by the show's couch gag.

Acclaimed animator Don Hertzfeldt created the episode's intro, taking viewers into a bizarre and somewhat haunting future world.

The abstract and surreal couch gag transports Homer to the deep future 'sun-date' of Septembar 36.4, 10,535, with rather dark and chilling results.

It reminds us a little bit of the 'Worker and Parasite' cartoon that Krusty was thoroughly confused by in 'Krusty Gets Kancelled'.

Last night (September 28) also saw a recurring character die in the season premiere, while Family Guy aired a special hour-long crossover episode in Springfield.

Hertzfeldt's other works include It's Such a Beautiful Day, The Meaning of Life, and the Academy-Award nominated Rejected. Watch the latter below:...

I can't say I'm an expert on animation, though I've seen my fair share of animated films. On viewing, I look for how the animation style matches with the story, and how I am meant to interpret one through the other. I had only a vague awareness of Don Hertzfeldt when I saw It's Such a Beautiful Day, but now I am going to seek out his work. It is beautiful, funny, sad, and imparts the kind of wisdom on life and love that is at once simple and profound.It's Such a Beautiful Day is a compilation of three short films (Everything Will Be Okay, I'm So Proud of You and It's Such a Beautiful Day), centring on the character of Bill. A narrator tells...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

I'm So Excited | The Eye Of The Storm | Gimme The Loot | Robosapien | Come Out And Play | Shootout At Wadala | 21 & Over | Dead Man Down | Dragon | Chimpanzee | It's Such A Beautiful Day | All Stars

I'm So Excited (15)

(Pedro Almodóvar, 2012, Spa) Javier Cámara, Raúl Arévalo, Carlos Areces. 90 mins

Almodóvar responds to his country's economic woes with camp hysteria and Carry On humour. In many ways this airborne disaster farce – anarchic, absurdist, garishly stylish and gleefully debauched – is a return to the Spanish auteur's subversive roots. But there's a serious subtext to the silliness, and the metaphors are brought back down to earth for a satisfying landing.

The Eye Of The Storm (15)

(Fred Schepisi, 2011, Aus) Charlotte Rampling, Geoffrey Rush, Judy Davis. 119 mins

The imminent death of Rampling's matriarch throws an aristocratic family's dysfunction into relief in this Aussie drama, whose overstuffed story is redeemed by three watchable leads.

Gimme The Loot (15)

(Adam Leon, 2012, Us) Tashiana Washington,...

His delightful blend of dot-eyed stickmen and dizzying existentialism – showcased in 2012's It's Such a Beautiful Day – makes Hertzfeldt an unstoppable force in stop-motion cinema

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We take Gromit's eyebrows for granted. The trusty pooch of dithering inventor Wallace projects a vast spectrum of emotions via that small wad of clay that sits above his eyeballs. Manipulating that segment of the model just a millimetre too far in either direction could be the difference between intense elation and unalloyed gloom. In exactly the same way, the sublime output of Austin-based stop-motion animator Don Hertzfeldt projects the complex psychologies of his characters through minute enhancements of facial features. Yet he hasn't given himself much creative wriggle room, as the stars of his movies are all near-featureless stickmen with dots for eyes and a single line for a mouth.

Take Bill, for example, the...

★★★★★ Two simply-drawn stick men approach each other on a field of white and share an awkward encounter as they pass. One of them, Bill, inexplicably stumbles through simple sentences and conflates words before they depart, never to see one another again. This was one of the character's initial appearances in animator Don Hertzfeldt's comic strip Temporary Anaesthetics, and reoccurs in his debut feature. The scene succinctly introduces the film's protagonist and also the surreal comic tone present throughout much of the outstanding It's Such a Beautiful Day (2012) - a compilation of the director's triptych of awards-laden shorts.

The story follows the unassuming Bill - recognisable purely by his hat - through an ongoing battle with escalating mental illness. This initially manifests itself as confusion and the odd moment of memory loss but in the proceeding three chapters transforms into pronounced amnesia, elaborate and disturbing hallucinations and physical debilitation. These...

Iron Man 3 | The Look Of Love | Bernie | Scarecrow | In The Fog | The Lords Of Salem | The ABCs Of Death | White Elephant | I Love New Year

Iron Man 3 (12A)

(Shane Black, 2013, Us) Robert Downey Jr, Ben Kingsley, Guy Pearce, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Rebecca Hall. 130 mins

Fears of post-Avengers superhero blowout fatigue are briskly swept away by Marvel's latest epic, whose snappy, poppy script packs in twists and quips between the bludgeoning (but technically seamless) action. It's Kingsley's Bin Laden-esque Mandarin and Pearce's creepy scientist who are out to de-swagger Tony Stark this time round, but there are surprises in store for everyone.

The Look Of Love (18)

(Michael Winterbottom, 2013, UK) Steve Coogan, Anna Friel, Imogen Poots, Tamsin Egerton. 101 mins

Despite the Soho excess, the retro kitsch, the racy subject matter and the great cast, this biopic of Britain's pornographer-in-chief Paul Raymond somehow never feels like it's telling the full story.

News.

The first of two crowd-funding projects to notify you of: Libbie D. Cohn (co-director of People's Park) is trying to Kickstart a feature film entitled Bad As Me described as "a wild romp through San Francisco tracing the misadventures of two lovers struggling with depression and Ptsd." Next up: via Kiss Kiss Bank Bank, Emilie Lamoine is looking to secure funding for her debut feature, Nevers. Starring Jean-Christophe Folly of Claire Denis' 35 Shots of Rum (and forthcoming feature, Bastards), the film is "a road movie by foot" about two African lovers lost in the French countryside. Vimeo is now streaming Don Hertzfeldt's It's Such a Beautiful Day on demand for a limited time. From Vimeo: "Hertzfeldt has seamlessly combined his three short films about a man named Bill (Everything will be Ok (2006), I Am So Proud of You (2008), and It's Such a Beautiful Day (2011)), into a darkly comedic,...

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association stopped Kathryn Bigelow's winning streak with her film "Zero Dark Thirty" and bestowed their Best Picture Award to Michael Haneke's "Amour." The runner-up for the Best Picture category was Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master." Anderson also took home the trophy for Best Director and Joaquin Phoenix was given the Best Actor award.

Here's the complete winners list of the 2012 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards:

Best Picture

"Amour"

(Runner-up: "The Master")

Best Actor

Joaquin Phoenix, "The Master"

(Runner-up: Denis Lavant, "Holy Motors")

Best Actress

Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook" and Emmanuelle Riva, "Amour" (tie)

Best Supporting Actor

Dwight Henry, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"

(Runner-up: Christoph Waltz, "Django Unchained")

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams, "The Master"

(Runner-up: Anne Hathaway, "Les Miserables" and "The Dark Knight Rises")

Best Director

Paul Thomas Anderson, "The Master"

(Runner-up: Kathryn Bigelow, "Zero Dark Thirty")

Best Screenplay

Chris Terrio,...

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association announced their 2012 film awards today where The Master took home the most awards but couldn't beat out Michael Haneke's Amour for Best Picture and yet, couldn't win Best Foreign Language film. Amour's Emmanuelle Riva also tied for Best Actress with Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook), but otherwise The Master took home Best Director (Paul Thomas Anderson), Best Actor (Joaquin Phoenix), Best Supporting Actress (Amy Adams) and Production Design. I updated the awards live and have left the rundown as the day went on directly below exactly as it played out. Beasts of the Southern Wild was the day's first winner with Dwight Henry starting things off with a Best Supporting Actor win (Christoph Waltz was runner-up for Django Unchained) followed by a win for Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin for Best Music/Score. Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables, The Dark Knight Rises) may...

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association are announcing their 2012 film awards and I'll be updating them as they come in. Beasts of the Southern Wild was the day's first winner with Dwight Henry starting things off with a Best Supporting Actor win (Christoph Waltz was runner-up for Django Unchained) followed by a win for Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin for Best Music/Score. Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables, The Dark Knight Rises) may be the front-runner for Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars, but with the La critics she could only manage runner-up, with the win going to Amy Adams (The Master). Best Cinematography will be an interesting category at the Oscars this year as there are so many to choose from and a wide variety of candidates and styles. The Los Angeles critical core decided Roger Deakins (Skyfall) was the best, but will it help the long-time nominated, but never won cinematographer at the Oscars?...

Warning this post will contain no photos of Zero Dark Thirty in protest. It's a film I thoroughly enjoyed but critical sweeps do great injustice to the art of cinema each year. No film or performance has ever been so great as to be the only achievement worth rewarding in its calendar year. The modern age of hive-mindedness also does great injustice to awards season which needs drama as fuel. This is not to say that one shouldn't vote one's mind if a certain sweeper is also your personal favorite but if everyone's personal favorites are always the same we automatically a) need fewer groups trumpeting the collective opinion or b) we need more critics who have idiosyncratic taste to keep the art of the discussion of cinema at its liveliest.

Los Angeles

We've already heard from NYC's top critics who gave three awards each to Zero Dark Thirty and...

The 2012 edition of Montreal's genre film mecca, the Fantasia International Film Festival, gave its top prize to Kim Jee-woon and Yim Pil-sung's "Doomsday Book," which received Cheval Noir Award for Best Film. Jason Banker's "Toad Road" took two prizes, for best director and best actor James Davidson. Also receiving two awards was Yeon Sang Ho's "The King of Pigs," which took the Satoshi Kon Award for Achievement in Animation as well as a special mention from the First Feature Jury. Best Screenplay was Alberto Marini's "Sleep Tight." Best Actress went to Majiana Jankovic for "Beast," with AnnaLynne McCord receiving a Special Mention for her performance in "Excision."     New Flesh Award for Best First Feature went to "Crave," directed by Charles de Lauzirika.  Best Animated Short Film was "It's Such a Beautiful Day," by Don Hertzfeldt ...

The 50th Ann Arbor Film Festival has announced its full line-up for this year.  The festival focuses on short films and experimental work and has almost 200 films being screened this year.  The Opening Night screenings offer an electic mix of shorts to begin the festival with highlights including: Ben Russell's "River Rites"; Jillian Mayer's "Life and Freaky Time of Uncle Luke"; Katherine McInnis's "Snakes and Ladders"; Hope Tucker's "The Sea [is still] Around Us; and the animated "It's Such a Beautiful Day," Don Hertzfeldt's final chapter of his "Everything Will Be Ok" trilogy.  The festival will be continuing its popular Out Night screenings this year which focuses on Lgbtq-themed films.  In attendance will be special guest Barbara Hammer to screen several of her films.  Other highlights being screened on Out Night include: "Jerovi," a 1965 short film by Jose...