skullaria wrote:
These really are some strange, strange dolls.....very expressive art form. :)

Not strange...just a lot (but never too much) of Tim Burton.

-janelane

skullaria wrote:

These really are some strange, strange dolls.....very expressive art form. :)

If you are into strange dolls, it's worth checking out the film 4. On the whole, the film has both strong and weak points, but the scenes with the "masticating crones" are among the most surreal I've encountered. From the NYT review:

Sometimes a severed pig's head is just a severed pig's head, after all, though sometimes a weeping crone yodeling mournfully about the Volga River is also a symbol of a grotesque and nostalgic nationalism.

At cin-o-matic, you can get a broad set of views on the film. Slant Magazine nicely captures the crones:

[Director] Khrjanovsky eventually ends his epic on a somewhat hopeful note, but it's a small gesture incapable of overshadowing the preceding, stunningly foul third-act showpiece, in which a vodka-soaked bacchanalia culminates with two of the doll-making crones pulling, fondling, and pouring liquor on their naked bosoms. A depiction of a lost society's degeneration into unsalvageable debauchery? Or simply one last provocation perpetrated by a director intent on condemning his birthplace with full-throttled bad taste? Either way, it's a jaw-dropping moment that, like 4 itself, truly has to be seen to be believed.

adam wrote:
These really are some strange, strange dolls.....very expressive art form. :)

These would be awesome gifts if you have any nephew or nieces that you'd like never to sleep again.