Crumb

Rating:
Summary: Extraordinarily intimate and honest
Review: Robert Crumb is the influential creator of seminal underground comics icons such as Mr. Natural and Fritz the Cat. It would be difficult to have any awareness of American pop culture without being aware of his images. Terry Zwigoff's powerful documentary chronicles Crumb's life, his work, and his family and friends with an honesty that is frequently shocking. One may revile Crumb's work as pornographic and misogynistic (a charge that he would not dispute) or appreciate it as a fearless, honest revelation of psychic baggage that most of us keep deeply and safely hidden, or a combination of the two, but it quickly becomes clear that such judgments are mostly irrelevant: Crumb creates what he does because he has no choice. At a couple points in the film, he questions whether he should have committed certain images and themes to paper. He is compelled by his own inner demons and neuroses; his art is what has saved him from falling into madness. Interviews with his brothers, Charles and Max, show just how high the stakes were for him; Charles in particular, though highly intelligent, was extremely maladjusted and suicidal and spent much of his life in one room. "Crumb" is an extraordinary document of the power of art as therapy.

Rating:
Summary: Strangely compelling
Review: With his Mr Magoo glasses big enough to reflect a film crew, Goofy-like body and mouth transfixed into a seemingly permanent wry grin, the satirical artist Robert Crumb looks like a bizarre cartoon even in real life. It is the first thing one notices in Terry Zwigoff's intense and weirdly moving documentary portrait Crumb, about the man who signposted the Sixties generation with the likes of Keep on Truckin' and Fritz, the randy cat. The next is Crumb's opening comment that if he doesn't draw, he feels 'cranky and suicidal', yet the same feelings creep into him when he is inspired to put Rotring to paper. If ink seeps through his veins, it is like some bad blood that runs in the family. Zwigoff turns his camera on Crumb's tormented brothers Charles and Max, men who gave up the pen long ago and consequently shut-down. A group photo of them as kids depicts them in their Sunday best with sharp, Fifties crew-cuts and flannel-polished complexions. But behind all the neatness, their's was an 'Ozzie and Harriet hell' made particularly difficult by sadistic father. It's a familiar story of dysfunctional values and the children's subsequent escape into a world of cartoons.
Only the twist is that Robert found that such respite already had a charge to it " he confesses to having been sexually attracted to Bugs Bunny at the age of six.
Zwigoff, who has known Crumb as a friend for more than 25 years and took six years to make the film, elicits the most candid of interviews with his subjects " to the point that they at times feel like a family-therapy session that includes the artist's ex-wives and girlfriends as well as his current spouse, the cartoonist Aline Kominsky. All have a line on his sexual obsessions, both off and on page. Indeed, the film carefully argues through his more extreme and grotesque visions of women. This is, after all, a man who sniggers as Max tells him how he used to molest girls. No doubt about it, the Crumb siblings are in pieces. The film ripples with a bleak humour regarding their situation which prompts a nervous laughter, while in the end the profound question that haunts Crumb is just how Robert drew himself out of the depths of madness that his brothers drowned in.

Rating:
Summary: Just not made for these times
Review: I`m not a big comic book fan but I was quite aware of American artist Robert Crumb and his crazy drawings.Since this film is done by close friend Terry Zwigoff,we are afforded a very rare glimpse into the life and strange times of cartoonist Robert Crumb....really facinating but it can be kind of difficult to watch at times.Since we get such a personal view of the man behind the pen,curiously,you don`t have to know about his work to enjoy this strange and beautiful picture - Zwigoff captures the essence of his friend giving you a film that unflinchingly exposes Crumbs troubled family life,sexual exploits and his own heart of darkness.The film is dedicated to older brother Charles and with good reason...his story is just as compelling as Roberts.
Funny yet sad,Crumb is one of the best films you`ll ever see.

Rating:
Summary: so this is american film...
Review: classifying this film is simple: it's really an apple and oranges type thing. for those looking for a universal medium in the film, some kind of generic entertainment or moral conflict that just might appeal to the entire cosmos, look elsewhere, but certainly not in any other of director terry zwigoff's films (which includes ghost world, louie bluie (?) and, now, bad santa). but if you like apples and hate oranges, and if by some miracle you do have an opinion, this film and especially the world of r. crumb will latch on to you and stare forever blankly over your shoulder to the appaling, unfolding world of a consumer's day. with inspiration drawn from kafka and goya, crumb acknowledges the horrific and absurd condition of man and because of this, zwigoff is hardly needed here. the film lacks pretention. such a task need only r. crumb, his twisted family and film. this is a true and fine american story made even greater by the lack of a script or hollywood bullsh**. in an alternate universe, i may have not appreciated this film, the art, the purity of its reason. because i believe i do, however, i cannot move crumb aside or dismiss its cynicism; r. crumb is no taoist and certainly has no yin-yang tatoo on his ankle. the blinding clarity of which zwigoff portrays crumb's world, both in and out of his brain, is so bloody truthful it hurts. crumb is the most sensitive cynic i have ever witnessed, an artist (emphasis on 'artist'). a dying breed?

zwigoff, a longtime friend of r. crumb, deserves praise for wading through his depression to produce this (at the time of production zwigoff, himself, was suicidal), though i kinda believe both want solely to speak (though fame and fortune may tempt), not get watered down in their own grandeur. what other cateogory of film other than the documentary might better explain the world of r. crumb; how else could zwigoff store a homeless man, at crumb's feet, so deeply in my conscience (where so many films before had attempted the same and failed)? this film WAS walking down a city street, staring into the eyes of so many well adjusted busy bodies. it is a film of use to people who want to be of use. american film at its finest.

Rating:
Summary: ---
Review: crumb is important to me because i watch a lot of movies and i think documentarys as a whole are important because they avoid a lot of the escapism that is key with most movies... plus crumb is fascinating because he's such a difficult person on a lot of levels and it's interesting to be a voyeur into his life. celebrity sensationalism without silicon-injected stars maybe.

Rating:
Summary: buy crumb, be happy
Review: some people find r.crumb weird, strange and a sicko, but I relate to the guy, from his taste in music to his disgust of money grubbing modern culture. i first saw his art in high school in the early 90's and have been a fan ever since, though a lot of people do, I don't find it offensive, then again I don't find anything offensive. that's what art is for, when i'm pissed at someone i draw a really violent drawing, i don't hurt people. same with crumb, he expresses his urges and feelings though his art. he spills out everything, something that very few artists do. crumb says in the movie that when he listens to old music it's one of the few times he has an actual love for humanity, I feel the same way, about that, and about crumb and his art. plus, any movie with a geeshie wiley tune in it can't be all that bad can it?

p.s.- there it is, my first and last review i've ever written, what a waste of time...and no crumb's not a racist.

Rating:
Summary: Body floss, anyone?
Review: R. Crumb, comic artist and weirdo, laid bare in a documentary about his life and very dysfunctional family. At one point his brother is describing his affinity for 'body flossing' where he swallows a very long strip of fabric that goes all the way through his body. Wow. Yeah, these people are so out there and I was facinated by the film. The man is racist, sexist, pathetic and warped, but I found the film highly entertaining.

Rating:
Summary: Repugnant and sympathetic at the same time
Review: Having been both appalled and amused by Robert Crumb's work over the years, one can truly say the same for this film. On one end, Crumb comes off as an amusing and likeable eccentric (you almost want to break out in laughter at his appearance when he first comes onscreen, but he kind of grows on you as the film proceeds). Much has been said about his family in this film and I have nothing new to add to that. But as we get into the outrageously crude racism of Crumb's work (I for one have never been fond of his depiction of Blacks) and the outlandish sexism of his work and personality, he begins to turn you off. One can only wonder how his wife Aline (who comes across as rather appealing) tolerated the scenes where he cavorts with the Leg Show models. We also get a bit TOO MUCH INFORMATION in regards to he and his brohters' sex fantasies. But in either case, it's an interesting portrait on a controversial artist that will certainly provoke thought and discussion.

Rating:
Summary: Great movie, bad DVD
Review: Crumb is a fantastic four star delight. People will line up for miles to tell you how great this movie is and why -and I'd agree with all of them.

But it's disappointing that such a great movie would get such a lousy transfer to DVD. The back of the box says the film is presented in its original aspect ratio. Then the film starts with a message that says Crumb has been altered to fit your screen.

I could live with that. What's annoying is that the picture quality on the DVD is so poor. I'm not being picky. It looks like a copied videotape. The original preview of Crumb is included and looks far superior to the movie on the disk! A lot of movies first appeared on DVD this way and were fixed the second time around. Hopefully a better version is on the way.

Rating:
Summary: Keep On Truckin', right over to the video store.
Review: I probably can't say anything that hasn't been said in the previous reviews, but... what an amazing documentary. It tells the story of Robert Crumb, a famous underground cartoonist who began his career in the San Francisco area in the 60s. We learn about his youth, the history of his work, and get to meet his family, including his wife, ex-wife, and children (with the exception of his sisters, but who could blame them for not partaking in this).

And what a family it is. Wow. As odd as he is (and that's ODD!), his family takes the cake. One brother is probably near genius intelligence, reads voraciously, doesn't shower, doesn't leave the house, is suicidal and psychopathic, tells about his homicidal thoughts, is on medication, and lives in a house with their mother and at least one cat. I could almost smell the funk that must have been that house. I wonder how the crew did it. The other lives alone in an apartment in San Francisco, has obvious high intelligence also, paints, practices yoga, sits and meditates on a bed of nails (in public), has a history of uncontrollable lewd behavior (he describes for a about once de-skirting a woman in public), and doesn't seem to have any other friends either. Watching Crumb visit with these people is one of the oddest things I have ever seen. He understands them and is willing to talk to them about anything in front of the camera. During their conversations he often looks at us almost disbelievingly and with a smirk, as if to say, I may be nuts, but not THIS nuts! Like he's in on the joke with us. But strangley enough, so are his brothers; they KNOW they're screwed up.

There are abundant shots of his cartoons here, and they are definitely for a select audience. He's not a children's cartoonist. Mysogynistic is too subtle to describe his work. We get to see him working and he takes us through and explains some of his previous work. It's fascinating.

By the end, we have had an incredible view into the life of Robert Crumb and, love him or hate him, one has to be in awe. Compared to his family, this is a men who has done very well for himself and has used his talent as a cartoonist to assuage the demons that may have overcome him like they did his brothers.

This is a high recommendation. Although it's not necessarily a buy recommendation, so I only give it four stars. It at least should be rented. You'll be amazed, guaranteed.