That was an excellent one.

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

In 1994, David Lynch presented to the world Terry Zwigoff's documentary on one of the raunchiest yet introverted souls in the comic industry, Robert Crumb. It garnished critical acclaim and even won the Grand Jury Prize Documentary at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. As for the movie itself, what could have been painful to watch given the subject matter ends up being strongly insightful about the man's life, influences, and personal demons.In spite of his disturbing inner sexual demons, Robert Crumb also displayed an awkward innocence and vision of appreciating beauty that displayed him as one of the biggest introverts of American culture. Even when he made his own self-indulgent fantasies like Joe Blows (a satirical incestuous family orgy), what always remained intact were his visions of the absurdity of human life that conflicted his view on the media. Growing up with a strictly abusive father, a depressed brother who stayed isolated to the point of suicide, and being a dork in high school would lead to his disdain for marketism and exploitive cultural aspects, only further contrasting with his "impaction of lusting, suffering, crazed humanity in sorts of bizarre, gargoyle-like, allegorical forms." (Robert Hughes) To think that a horny kid who lusted over Sheena of the Jungle and Bugs Bunny would turn himself into one of the most controversial yet innovative comic artists of his time is no wonder that some of his work still remains in museums to this day. He may have barely liked squat when it came to pop culture and the entertainment media (the less you ask him of the movie Fritz the Cat, the better), but that never stopped him from making what he believed in. As Crumb said it best, "I don't work in terms of conscious messages. I can't do that. It has to be something that I'm revealing to myself while I'm doing it. It's hard to explain. Which means that, while I'm doing it, I don't know what it's about. You have to have the courage...to take that chance, you know? What's gonna come out? What's coming out of this? I enjoy drawing. It's a deeply ingrained habit." Keep on truckin' no matter what comes your way.

Years before 'Ghost World', Terry Zwigoff first made a name for himself with this documentary about Robert Crumb, author of 'Fritz the Cat' and other raunchy comic strips. The film strikes a nice balance between interviews and montages of Crumb's work; a lot of time is spent on the camera gliding over the inventive images that Crumb generated over the years. His images are provocative and Zwigoff again strikes a great balance between interviewing those who hate his work (believing it sexist, racist and worse) and those who think he is misunderstood. Crumb himself gives sadly little insight into the rhyme and reason behind his work. Early on, he claims to never work with "conscious messages" and later on he admits to having no idea where the inspiration came for a fake advert. Crumb's brothers are also interviewed, and while Robert is the famous one, it is Charles and Maxon who are the most intriguing. Both seem disturbed, whereas Robert is actually well-adjusted and happily married with a doting preteen daughter (though his choice to make her watch 'Goodfellas' is odd). It is hard not to wonder how different the film may have been with Charles and Maxon more in focus. Charles was in fact an accomplished artist himself but unable to ever restrain himself, while Maxon has some perversions, almost as odd as those seen in Robert's comics. 'Crumb' is an interesting documentary either way and even if one finds some of Robert's images offensive, there is no denying the artistry and imagination required to come up with such bizarre concoctions.

Documentaries rarely get to the true heart of their subject, at least, none more than Crumb, Terry Zwigoff's passion piece on the work and soul of one Robert Crumb, comic-book innovator, serial piggy-back rider and loather of practically everything modern. The notoriously reclusive Crumb, who self-proclaims that he doesn't like to interact with people he isn't completely comfortable with, would normally be a near- impossible target for any self-respecting documentary film-maker to get even an interview out of. But life-long friend Terry Zwigoff, who reportedly threatened to kill himself if Crumb wouldn't allow him to film him, achieves an immaculately intimate portrayal of what drives the man, and how this strange and often extremely dark-humoured man came to be.Born in 1943 and growing up closely with his brother Charles and Maxon (he also has two sisters who declined to be interviewed), the brother's developed an early fascination with comic-books, mainly thanks to Charles' obsession with the medium. Living with a tyrannical father who often beat them, the three boys grew up extremely damaged and socially inept. Charles was good-looking but, as he describes, there was "just something wrong about me,", but Robert would use these experiences as amusing pieces in his sketches. As he got older, Robert wrote for Zap! Comics, and was one of the front-runners in the underground comic-book scene, where he developed the Keep on Truckin' serial, as well as his most famous characters Mr. Natural and Fritz the Cat.Given what seems like unprecedented access to Crumb, Zwigoff doesn't bombard the film with archive footage or talking head interviews (though there is a bit of the latter), he instead allows the story to be told by Crumb interacting with his family and friends, who all seem to regard the man with a lot of love, regardless as to how damaging he has been to their lives. We meet his two brothers - Charles still lives at home with his mother in a room piled high with literature, discussing his inability to get an erection due to the vast amounts of medication he has been given, and Maxon, having recently discovered his own artistic potential, is compelled to sit publicly on a bed of nails and pass linen through his body to cleanse his intestines. This isn't your typical all- American family.Which makes it interesting is that the idea of a husband happily greeting his wife and kids after a hard day's work to sit down to a wholesome dinner in middle-class suburbia, became one of the focal points of Crumb's work. It is something that obviously appals and amuses him, this idea of 1950's all-American perfection where consumerism took centre-stage and capitalism reared it's ugly head. He frequently refers back to a simpler time, where America lay relatively untouched, when people's problems were real and poured their souls into the blues songs he so obsessively loves and collects. His piece A Brief History of America, where a peaceful and green bit of land slowly gets taken apart and replaced by all manners of ugly wires, pylon's and advertising boards, shown here in the film, is especially powerful.Zwigoff isn't afraid to show the dark and ugly side of Crumb either. Shown sketching random passers-by on the street, he formidably judges and satirises them without uttering a word to them. This is a man whose opinion of humanity is nigh-on misanthropy, voicing his disgust at the brands and slogans people feel compelled to wear. His work also went places that most people would leave untouched, such as N****r Hearts, where a perfect, all-white family sit down to a dinner of African- American organs, or the sketch in which a man and his friend rape a woman with no head (later revealed to have been simply pushed down within her). He's certainly a troubled man, but all great geniuses are, or at least should be, and Crumb the film lays it out on the table. Undoubtedly one of the greatest documentaries ever made.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

Robert Crumb came out of the 1960s as the leading underground comic book artist. Sexually explicit material, usually with women drawn with huge buttocks were his signature. Album covers, including Janis Joplin's Big Brother and the Holding Company being the most well known, show a real and unique artist at work.Filmmaker Terry Zwigoff brings his camera into the Crumb family home; can you say dysfunctional? ? The word is not strong enough to describe this modern day Adam's Family. Robert's brother Charles looks like Lerch and despite his agoraphobia is also a creative genius. The Crumb's interactions are a train wreck in the making that you can't take your eyes off of. The brothers are both certifiably insane and yet hugely talented. Crumb is one of the best documentary's ever made.