Marathon UpdateCrumb Terry Zwigoff is not a typical Director of Shame. He's made 5 features. I'd seen 3 of them, but I didn't like the others. (Ghost World came closest.) This is considered by many to be his best film, and it is. It's a good film, a portrait of a unique artist and the outside forces that drive his work. The best bits are when he watches people and immediately draws them, filling the frame with his personal demons and insecurities. Crumb also makes an excellent defense for the sexism and racism in his work, spinning it back onto the people who find it offensive.
I really liked Crumb doing an almost apologetic commentary as he takes you through some of his creations. What wasn't as compelling was Crumb's family. Yes, they certainly provided context and set up the environment that created Crumb (and an entire family of artists), but Zwigoff is only using them for context. He isn't out to analyze the Crumb family, and so I got the point with them fairly quickly. The more time spent, the more it felt like Zwigoff was gawking at their odd behavior like characters at a carnival freak show.
RATING: * * *That's the last film on my list.
Awards? I guess in a bit.