Solondz is some kind of national treasure. Probably the most fearless filmmaker I can think of working today. The thing that always baffles me is how the hell he secures funding for his works?! He's saying very honest things about the so-called American Dream and this is not a message that travels lightly. In my younger days, I wrote a vicious little comedy about a wealthy family gathering together for a bar mitzvah - - the proceedings spiraled into a drunken blur of carnage, rape, and murder. Multi-character piece, Altman-esque. I eventually put it away because I don't pack the stones to potentially offend that many people (not the least of which, members of my own family). So I have nothing but respect for what Solondz does every time out of the gate. Believe it or not, even though he does take the worst impulses of humanity and flaunt them for the world to see, his films DO actually have a fair share of hope to them as well. Er, except, perhaps, Palindromes... that one... yikes.