One of the best ways to experience the abundance of creativity that runs rampant in a film festival is with a collection of shorts. In the case of Shorts 2: Animation Nations, fresh filmmaking is freed from the standards of live action and breathing in its own animated universe, with some worlds we couldn't even imagine. As much as live action shorts are an art in themselves, animation seems to always top itself with how far it can transcend boundary. And even if some of these shorts don’t offer the most interesting of narratives, they at least offer a unique, challenging visual experience. CLICK HERE for complete Chicago International Film Festival coverage

Remaining showing times at Chicago International Film Festival Festival: Sunday, October 18th, 1:45 pm and Monday, October 19th, 5:45 pm

Logorama (France) - A view-worthy spectacle even just by concept - every object and person in the world is a logo. What proceeds is a chaotic damnation of advertising which has Ronald McDonald as a mass killer, AOL icons as civilians, and Mr. Peanut as the victim of a stray bullet, just to name a few.The theory that we see 3,000 ads in one day? Both mocked and promoted by this absolutely wild, purely original short. Featuring voice appearances by David Fincher and Seven screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker, Logorama deserves to be seen just to share its insane experience. Score: 8/10

Attached To You (Sweden) - The dedicated claymation of this short is something to be appreciated, but its story of a mother that refuses to cut her son's umbilical cord doesn't have the same excitement as the visuals do. One of the more plain selections in this compilation, it's an odd film from the beginning but has a nice heart at the end. Score: 6/10

Horn Dog (USA) - Considering the notoriety that cartoonist Bill Plympton has (he created the famous "Rejected Cartoons,") this short will probably earn the widest audience of all Animation Nation shorts should it ever hit Youtube (legally, of course). This particular short film deserves to be seen however, as the story about a pup desperately trying to impress another is as hilarious as his earlier championed work. Score: 9/10

Runaway (Canada) - By comparison to its peers, its animation appears a bit more straightforward, but the real energy of this quite funny episode about a runaway locomotive is in the story. An odd course of events is promoted by the film's bizarre sense of humor, which is then portrayed with near childlike simplicity. Runaway has a Dr. Seuss-like imagination with the destructive instinct of a grown man who would still get a kick out of smashing a train set. Score: 8/10

Red Revenge (USA) - A woman reflects on her childhood memories of being picked on and dreams of revenge in her present, mature day. This is a bizarre film with some eerie imagery, but it's all a bunch of hot air in a brief short that can't end fast enough. Score: 4/10

Rabbit Punch (UK) - Sparse animation makes a statement in the odd Rabbit Punch, one of the briefer shorts in this collection. In the short film, two kids do various "pranks," one that involves killing a rabbit. Kudos for the filmmakers for not bothering with credits, and the seemingly complicated story is a nice contrast to Rabbit Punch's etching animation style. Score: 7/10

Photograph of Jesus (UK) - The stupid requests for images made by actual human beings are realized by this high energy short that brings photographs to life while using a live-action background. This wonderful exploration into the Getty Images archive has a great sense of humor as it pretends that such photographs like Hitler at the 1948 Olympics do exist. Photograph of Jesus is one of the most accessible of shorts, certainly one that doesn’t deserve to be stashed away in the archives just yet. Score: 10/10

Cherry On The Cake (UK) - A young girl shrinks on the day she should be given the most attention - her birthday. Like in other events, she struggles to get their attention. This short is cute at the very least. But like the character in the film, Cherry On The Cake can be easily forgotten, especially when other interesting things are going on (in this case, more effective shorts). Score: 5/10

Please Say Something (Ireland) - The turbulent romantic relationship between a cat with a giant head and a tiny mouse is explored by the heavily digitized Please Say Something. As crazy as this short is, its exaggerations of companionship remain somehow true to real life. Keeping up with the computer style, the cinematography at times is more reminiscent of a game like “The Sims” than anything else. Please Say Something is visually fascinating, with some bizarre realities of a pair's tension thrown in the mix. It's also the only time we’ll probably ever see a mouse ask a cat, “Where the f**k is the remote?” Score: 9/10

Skhzein (France) - A man's fear of a meteor crashing to Earth causes him to become 91 centimeters distant from his body (he is literally beside himself). The beautiful imagery stands out the most in this murky short, which in turn causes Skhzein to present with great complication a simple yet fascinating contemplation. Score: 8/10