Recent Reviews for Crumb
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MCT:July 21, 2008Not so much about the comics of R. Crumb, so much as the very, very, personal life of the man. Few documentaries get this deep under a subjects skin, even for Crumb, who always drew and wrote with his "Id" completely exposed anyway.
The film neve...(read more) r let's your feeling's about Crumb settle or congeal into an easy interpretation, at times he's just a normal guy, others a sex addict, a misogynist, a crotchety old man, an absent and loving father, an abused son, and a younger brother living in the shadow of an even more disturbed older brother. Not to mention the younger Charles who panhandles meditating on a board of nails, or his two sisters who wont speak to him because of his work.
Crumb's work is disturbing, funny, grotesque, pornographic, and surreal, and it completely imitates and represents the man and his life, it's not always enjoyable, intelligible, or decent (how does Crumb respond to "White-Man" arguably his most "racist" comic, "It's about my father I think....", and after watching this, I will give the guy his daddy issues, and take him at his word.)
This isn't a good movie, because Crumb is such a great artist, he's a hugely important and prolific figure in the world of comics and graphic arts, but this movie is good, because it's a great documentary, it asks all the right questions, and it's arranged as compellingly as any "fiction" movie", and it has at it's heart something sadly lacking in many of Crumbs best works, "empathy". Terry Zwigoff who would later direct the Dan Clowes comic "Ghost World", to similar success, of humanizing the absurd and morose.
Even in the parades of his sexual fetishes (R. Crumb was the champion of the big butt and "thick powerful thighs", years before Sir Mix A lot), political and social disgust, arrogance and neurosis...a real human being manages comes through out of a man who worked his life into a caricature. -
MCT:July 18, 2008Terry Zwigoff is one of the masters of combining the absurd with the pathetic, and this fascinating documentary proves it. I admit to being ignorant about R. Crumb before seeing this, except for liking the first Fritz the Cat film (which Crumb hated!), but now my curiousity is piqued and I'm going to look into this fascinating, enigmatic man's work.
Would make a good double feature with PORN STAR: THE LEGEND OF RON JEREMY. -
MCT:July 6, 2008some (not all) of the philosophies on humanity and mannerisms crumb possess reminds me of daniel plainview...
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MCT:July 2, 2008
A documentary that is both light-hearted and very dark. Meet the disfunctional family of underground cartoonist, R. Crumb.
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MCT:June 22, 2008
This is my favorite documentary ever. You don't have to know anything or want to know anything about Crumb to find this illuminating. This is the most tragic, f****d family ever in a movie, fiction or documentary. Crumb was saved by his art. Pretty uplifting film in the end.
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MCT:May 8, 2008
Crumb is Terry Zwigoff's quintessential documentary about legendary underground artist Robert Crumb, famous for his unique, highly strange and sexualized style, and for revolutionizing the comic and art world with it. I was vaguely familiar with the man before seeing this, but not as much with his art, but luckily Crumb is a very good introduction to the man, as well as a wonderfully constructed, very entertaining examination of Robert and also his more troubled but also talented brothers. Zwigoff leaves no stone unturned and really gets to the root of the matter, and by the end one has gained a great understanding and appreciation for the subject matter, which is generally the purpose for a documentary of this nature (about an artist or a particular body of work). To my understanding, this was a very well received film critically and won an award at is premiere at Sundance or some major festival, and I can see why. I would put this on a list of essential documentaries.
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MCT:April 12, 2008In September of 1973 DC comics came out with a short-lived spoof called Plop! My friends, who were into other offerings like Superman and Batman, and myself, a Tales from the Crypt junkie, were taken with this new, offbeat publication. It was unlike anything else we'd ever seen. Once a month I would race to the Arcade Newsstand to grab the latest issue and marvel over the out-of-this-world artwork and outrageous humor.
Plop! - DC Comics
Now, to my knowledge, Robert Crumb had absolutely nothing (directly) to do with Plop! It's too mainstream and too commercial. But I don't think I'm going too far out on a limb here when I say that without Crumb and his underground comic contributions, there would never have been a Plop!
Crumb, the documentary, is fantastically fascinating and, at the end, slightly disturbing. It's a real-life Revenge of the Nerds, but a thousand times more interesting. -
MCT:March 4, 2008
A bold and unflinching examination of an (socially edgy) artist and his equally talented but more troubled male siblings. Deserved its Grandy Jury Prize at Sundance
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MCT:March 1, 2008
I'm not sure how to review a documentary, you know. I haven't done it before much, certainly not any full-fledged reviews. And this film I heard a lot about prior to watching it, and of course had some familiarity with Robert "R." Crumb's work. I stumbled across some of his work ages ago, and found it mysterious, titillating, dense (in a visual sense) and sort of hypnotic. I certainly didn't understand it, nor did I pretend to, and mostly just sort of peered, intrigued, at the carefully cross-hatched images he put together into that strange form that is so easily recognized. So, I saw this film with a lot of existing weight behind the subject matter.
Robert Crumb, if you're somehow unaware, is a cartoonist and comic book author, famed primarily, as he points out himself in the film, first for "Keep on truckin'," second for the Big Brother and the Holding Company Cheap Thrills album cover, and third for Fritz the Cat because it was animated without his consent and to his open disgust. However, he's also known to be a very talented, creative and open artist in all senses. He's known for controversial, provocative, disturbing, offensive and extremely taboo material gracing the pages of all of his works. Little twitchy bits of him bled out in movies that followed this one, like American Splendor (about fellow underground comic author Harvey Pekar, whose stories Crumb has illustrated) and director Terry Zwigoff's own Ghost World, based on Daniel Clowe's graphic novel, which has a character who bears some resemblance to Crumb portrayed by Steve Buscemi--who is sort of a less awkward and more attractive lookalike to Crumb. Alternately accused of genius and being a sexist and racist pervert, Crumb is not a man who keeps his mind private--it bleeds out in everything he writes and draws, and he makes no bones about that being what is occurring. Often he illustrates himself narrating these things, or thinking them, or interacting with them, and he does so without fanfare or softening of his own self-loathing.
Zwigoff manages, by interviewing Crumb, his two brothers, his wife, ex-wife, son and various critics, to both introduce all of this and elaborate on it. Those who know nothing of Crumb are likely to come away with an actual understanding of some kind, and those of us who know something are likely to learn something--and I imagine even those intimately familiar with his work would have found something of interest here, at least in seeing and hearing his brothers speak, even if that is the only thing. Crumb comes off as someone who is intensely awkward socially, infamously (to viewers of this film) turning down a request for an autograph that betrays his social inadequacies but is interpreted in two very different ways. I happen to think it is a failing of his social graces based on a principle and idea he holds; he sees autographs as silly and something not of the world he idealizes, the one of the 1940's, has room for. It doesn't make sense to him, and so he attempts to express this, not realizing how offensive his words are, because the world he inhabits is not the world most people do. This is, of course, a dangerous path to take--then are the seeming racist undertones (or overtones, depending on who you ask--if they even think they are a symptom of Crumb's own feelings) simply another "misunderstanding" that comes from his different mental location? I'd argue that--from what I've seen--they are usually used to illuminate the opinion and view of the white majority when approaching other races, rather than endorsing it. As someone in the film points out, the sexism is in some ways simply an acknowledgement of some desires. Crumb never has written--nor does he speak here--as if he feels these things are acceptable or "okay," and is at a loss for words when confronted by someone who experienced his work as a very, very young woman and was scarred by it.
Essentially, he does not come off as angelic nor demonic, but as a human being like all, who has been contorted by the course of events, along with his brothers, into something different from the normal, trapped in a mind that wishes for a different time to continue that has already passed. I did not lose my respect for his work, and was not surprised by the person I saw--not a heroic figure, nor a victimized one (at least not now), but one who is simply outside the general understanding of things, but who manages to make some backward connection through his art, even if it isn't for the same reason he draws it. -
MCT:February 8, 2008
Fascinating doc. I thought the film was going to be about underground comic book artist Crumb's work and how it revolutionized the comic world, so I think everyone was shocked when viewing the life of his very disfunctional family. Robert Crumb art itself is a great subject matter but when his whole background and family are added it becomes a classic documentary far outdoing what could have been a fan film. One of the best documentaries ever.
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MCT:January 23, 2008
Seeing this movie explained, well, .... A LOT about the man who did so much for comic books, & the industry as a whole, at a time when we probably needed it most.
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MCT:January 1, 2008Fascinating but a tad overrated documentary. The Life of seriously disturbed comic book artist R. Crumb is discussed in this low-budget documentary from the filmmaker that brought us 'Ghost World' and 'Art School Confidedntial'. My largest complaint with the movie is it is a tad too long. Crumb is an interesting fellow and there's a lot of interesting things to tell about his life through interviews with him and his two extremely neurotic and creepy brothers Maxon and Charles, but it just gets a tad old after the first hour of the movie. Creepy doesn't even begin to describe it though. These people really unsettled me, as I think they were supposed to. Crumb is described as a sexual introvert, someone so uncomfortable and nervous about his sexuality and he deals with it by writing his extremely violent, misogynistic and racist cartoons. At the end of the film you'll want to wish you'll never encounter this disturbed individual or his deranged family. Interesting viewing, but again it drags a bit for my taste. Grade: B
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MCT:December 28, 2007Wow...this movie will make you feel better about the family you have...cause this one is so f*@#ed up. An amazing artist with no respect for anyone really. If you are a woman who gets offended by sexist pigs...don't watch this. But for the rest of you...it is very interesting.
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MCT:November 20, 2007
Its a great documentary about a guy who draws chicks with GIGANTIC asses. Its hilarious, poignant, and sad all at the same time. His brother is actually more insane than he is, which after watching this film will show you, says a whole fucking lot.
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MCT:October 15, 2007
easily the best documentary ive ever seen...utterly engrossing...i cant think of a more strange and fascinating individual...not to mention his family...this is a true masterpiece of the genre
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MCT:October 1, 2007
there are a few handfull of films that ilustrate why sometimes movies are much better than any other art form too make us feel like somebody else. this is one of them
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MCT:September 24, 2007
Un portrait fascinant du créateur de Fritz the Cat et de Mr. Natural. Impossible de ne pas être troublé par ce documentaire. Robert Crumb à lui seul contient assez de névroses pour occuper un psychiatre pendant vingt-cinq ans, et comparé à ses deux frères, il a l'air d'un individu tout à fait normal et balancé. Pour moi, les meilleures parties du film ne concernaient pas Crumb et son oeuvre, mais bien tout ce qui entoure sa famille, son enfance, son adolescence. Son frère Charles en particulier est absolument captivant. Zwigoff n'a pas de parti-pris. Il présente Robert Crumb comme il est, sans censure ni manipulation, qu'on l'aime ou pas c'est notre affaire. C'est selon moi ce qui rend ce documentaire si efficace. Crumb nous fera tantôt réfléchir, suscitera toute notre admiration, puis tantôt nous donnera envie de l'étrangler, nous dégoûtera au plus haut point. Un film brillant et glauque sur des êtres certes tordus, certes déprimants, mais attachants à leur façon.
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MCT:September 6, 2007
What an interesting documentary. I'd never heard of Robert Crumb but do recognise some of his work.
Crumb show what a loser nerd Robert Curmb but also how open, talented and individual he can be. This helps this documentary in the fact that although he's a talented star that you can admire for his expression and creative genius, hes' not really cool and is in fact the opposite to everything you'd look for in a role model. Half the time I wanted to punch his weedy, nerdy, synical, disturbed face in, the other half I thought he was true to reality and one the best artists ever.
The interesting thing about this film is Robert Crumbs brothers, who although are equally as talented as he is, are also uniquely crazy, weird, synical and depressing individuals. -
MCT:July 9, 2007
This documentary simply puts under the microsCope-- the life, genius and madness of the revolutionary underGround comic-book writer Robert Crumb; Crumb changed the idea of what comic books could be and what they could do..starting in the late 60's. Some say that his drug use is the real writer of his comics..but i really know that these sparks of genius where already there, just waiting to be born*** A top-notch film, as far as documentaries are concerned***
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MCT:June 18, 2007
The comic book genius and about his influences and experiences.
Thought it was directed by David Lynch. -
MCT:February 19, 2007
One of the best documentaries ever made. Following the odd ramblings and lifestyle of comic-genius Robert Crumb, his life is shown to have unfolded like a rather awkwardly sticky edition of Bizarre magazine. Long live Crumb
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MCT:January 9, 2007
Highly watchable documentary about R. Crumb & his super-dyfunctional family. You'll wonder how he turned out as normal as he did.
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MCT:January 4, 2007
A poignant, honest documentary about the life of artist Robert Crumb and his family. It's directed by Zwigoff, who also did Ghost World (some of the pictures in Enid's sketchbook were done by Crumb's daughter). The sexual frustrations tackled and revealed from the film is gutsy and handles it in a very indie sort of way. I was fascinated, inspired, and at the very same time saddened when I first watched this film. There is so much truth and humanity I can relate to since it deals with some of the madness it takes to be an artist of the same integrity as R. Crumb. It's over ten years old now, but the ideas portrayed are timeless. A favorite for personal reasons.
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MCT:December 14, 2006
Don't watch it . . unless you want to know what it takes to become an artist or, otherwise, were doubting about whether or not psychotherapy might save you from yourself. Perhaps the best documentary ever mad. Very real. Too real. Wonderful.
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MCT:July 28, 2006
one thing that makes a brilliant documentary is when they end up filming things they nover intendended to, therefore changing everything the movie is about. Sherman's March might be the best example of that, but it holds true for crumb as well. this movie was probably going to nothing more than a peice of PR, but thanks to crumb's nut job family, not to mention crazy crumb himself, it turned into something far better, but also far sadder.
