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On the official imdb entry of the documentary on the Cartoonist Robert Crumb you can find the Taglines „Wierd Sex“ „Obsession“ and „Comic Books“ (in this order). This captures the plot of the story only rudimentary. Crumb sketches the character of the cartoonist quite comprehensively, and if you ever stumbled upon this man, you will know why he is what he is after watching this film.

One thing becoming clear during this documentary, as it focuses a lot on the childhood of the man, is that he had a) a talent for drawing and b) a messed up family. The father an overbearing tyrant the mother not much better. The 3 brothers (Charles, Maxon, Robert) became outsiders during the first years of high school. The three of them had to learn to adjust to reality. By judging the film only Robert managed to do so, mainly by accepting that he will never be part of the “normal” American way of life and by staying true to how he is. This way of life brought him a lot of troubles, mainly by people accusing him to be a racist, sexist or pervert. On the other hand this public dispute elevated his reputation as an artist.

On remarkable thing about the interviews is, that Robert Crumb reflects quite often very frankly on his life. One gets more and more the impression that this man is not necessarily the weirdo the press claims him to be, but just a man living within the degree of freedom an artist needs to adopt to (and yes this is most of the time on the verge what is considered tasteful by you and me). This self reflection probably results from the fact, that Mr. Crumb has put almost every major event of his life into a comic strip.

R. Crumb moved to southern France in the mid 1990s and was never a man seeking publicity. As far as I know no written biography exists and so this documentation gives the most intimate look into the live of this strange man.

Year: 1994

Imdb Rating: 8,0/10 (January 2015)

Superflicks Rating: stange 8,9/10

memeorable quote: none

Either you love Dustin Hoffman or you hate him. In any case there are films and especially characters, which allow an actor to show what he is capable of. In Midnight Cowboys an other famous actor, Jon Voight, actually the main character (Joe Buck), is outshone easily by the performance of Hoffman, playing Ratso, a crippled hobolike hustler of Italian descent, handicapped further by having somewhat of a strange speech disability (and incredibly bad teeth).

The story is not quite straight forward. Joe Buck, a brutally naive country boy from Texas, makes his was into the Big Apple. The plan is simple. Making an easy living by becoming a gigolo for mature rich women. It turns out, that despite his impressive appearance he is a rather insecure fellow, suffering from several childhood traumata, displayed to the viewer in flashback scenes. After getting conned two times, one time by Ratso, Joe runs out of money and finds himself in strange situations, including offering himself to cottagers. This happens also due to the fact, that Joe is not willing to except another job as a dishwasher. After running into Ratso once more, a strange relationship between the two men develops, resulting in them becoming best friends. The storyline takes an interesting turn when both of the men are attending a (Warhol) factory-like party.

Besides the Hoffman performance the flick shines through a classy camera work, putting some of the, not necessarily key scenes, into great effect. I remember the “hunting for women” sequence after Joes arrival in NYC quite vividly. The action taking place at the photographic laboratory ain’t bad either.

Year: 1969

Imdb Rating: 8,0/10 (September 2014)

Superflicks Rating: solid 9,1/10

memorable quotes:

– “The two basic items necessary to sustain life are sunshine and coconut milk.” (Ratso)

– “The only one thing i’ve ever been good for is lovin’ !” (Joe Buck)