It's practically impossible for me to sit here and list the top ten short films from 2006. Not only are there thousands of shorts to sift through, but the majority of them are not available online. So, how does Erik go about putting together a list of the best short films from 2006? Will he randomly spew out names and titles for films you'll never be able to see unless you just happen to show up at a specific festival on a specific day at a specific time?

Of course not. What I've actually done is comb through all the previous Eat My Shorts and chosen my ten favorite short films that I've written about this year. Most (if not all) of them are not from 2006, but they are available online and all of them are wonderful, fantastic and definitely deserve your attention. This has been an amazing year for short films, and I like to think (in my own bizarre fantasy world) that Eat My Shorts truly helped spread the word -- that it helped bring more attention to an art form that desperately needs to be back in front of a mass audience. Oh, and thanks to you for being a part of the revolution. Viva la Shorts!

First off, let me just say I had a blast choosing the selections for this week's edition of Eat My Shorts. With thousands of short films available, it was nearly impossible to bring you the very best. Frankly, it would have taken me weeks to sort through them all, which means I will definitely need your help the next time we re-visit this topic. Which topic, you ask? Oh, just a tiny little thing called a fanfilm.

The closest I've come to being involved with a fanfilm was three years ago, when a friend of mine needed to create a Halloween-themed short as part of a contest he was entering. I forget the idea, but it was a spoof that included Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger and, of course, Michael Myers. Although the movie did not win (I believe it placed third overall), it was fun to watch how excited my friend became as he mulled over the different ways in which he could use three of his favorite horror-related characters in one story. While I've never been a huge fanfilm dude, his motivation and determination showed me just how meaningful fanfilms are, not only to the fanfilm community, but also to people like me ... who just want to be entertained.