VIDEO: Spike Jonze Sundances With Robot Love Story Premiere

"At what cost?" is answered more specifically in the context of The Fence, Rory Kennedy's documentary about the $2 billion fence separating 700 miles of the United States from Mexico. The problem (among others): There are 2,000 miles of border between the two countries. The usually on-the-nose Kennedy starts her survey off as something of a farce: Montages showing huge gaps in the fence where Mexican migrants cross illegally; character sketches of exasperated, down-home border life; and a golf course occupying the no-man's land between a Texas portion of the fence and the Rio Grande ("Please do not hit golf balls into Mexico," blares a nearby sign). But as other implications of the fence become clear -- including its uselessness in our wars on terror and drugs, deadly flooding in Mexico and the separation of animals from their natural feeding habitats -- the scale of its failure grows.

As thorough as Kennedy's study is, it misses an essential factor for any social-issue documentary: Solutions. Neither living with the fence nor tearing it down are explicitly suggested. It just stands there, a monument to both our futility and the desperation of those it seeks to keep out. "They can build a fence," one anonymous migrant says matter-of-factly. "They can build 5,000 fences. There is no obstacle for a Mexican."

Next was Logorama, a mindblowing animated short featuring a Los Angeles composed entirely of brands, logos and other commercial iconography. The GOP elephant is kept in a zoo, the Pillsbury doughboy is a short-order cook, and the layered IBM logo is a multi-story office complex downtown. Oh, and wanted criminal Ronald McDonald just kidnapped Bob's Big Boy after a high-speed pursuit by a couple of foul-mouthed, undercover-cop Michelin men. It moves and feels like something Michael Mann would have filmed, swinging from handheld shots to aerial views to low, wide chase sequences; the aesthetic is impeccable. Its conclusion -- that all these brands may have a graver effect than anyone could have anticipated -- seemed less underdeveloped, but you can't argue with this kind of technique. Logorama has already been shortlisted for the Best Animated Short Oscar and will more than likely emerge as a front-runner after the nominations are announced in two weeks.

Finally we had Seeds of the Fall, Swedish director Patrik Eklund's absurdist comedy about a middle-aged couple, a diabetic tractor driver, a paralyzed neighbor, and the carpenter who comes between them. The less said about it the better, except to note that if you've ever wanted to know what a Wes Anderson's attempt to make an Ingmar Bergamn film might look and feel like, this would be it. Seek it out if and when you can.

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