Liger vs. Wholphin

With issue No. 4, McSweeney's quarterly DVD magazine of "rare and unseen short films" has survived the delicate toddler years and is marching steadily into adolescence. Although the name Wholphin is almost defiantly McSweeney-esque -- it sits there like an anagram of the Inuit word for "Have a Popsicle!" or something -- it actually refers to something real, marine mammal-wise: the offspring of a whale and a dolphin. Similarly, No. 4 brings us a batch of head-scratching cinematic gems that have to be seen to be believed, the curiouser of which are shown tonight at the Wholphin screening. Featured films includes Toby MacDonald and Luke Morris' Heavy Metal Drummer, about a Moroccan teenager who won't put down the sticks, and Chris Waitt's Heavy Metal Jr., about a bunch of Scottish 9-year-olds who gear up to play "Satan Rocks" at their country fair. Olivo Barbieri's art in Site Specific Las Vegas definitely needs a witness: The photographer shoots Las Vegas from the air, then makes the city look exactly like a model of the city. And Lynn Hershman Leeson confounds with Strange Culture, her documentary about an artist who got arrested in 2004 for using bacteria in his work. The charge? Bioterroism. And he's still awaiting trial.