Crumb

One of the most intriguing and unsentimental documentaries ever made, this insightful film, directed by Terry Zwigoff, paints a fascinating portrait, not only of underground-comics pioneer Robert Crumb, but also members of his highly eccentric and dysfunctional family. Spending a generous amount of time on Crumb's artwork, which is alternately crudely grotesque and intricately beautiful, the movie also gets into the mind of the restless artist, revealing his unfiltered thoughts, particularly his obsessions with women (and drawing women) and vintage blues and jazz music. This unguarded glimpse into Crumb's life is partially due to Zwigoff's friendship with the notoriously moody artist and writer, a familiarity that leads to interviews with, among others, his remarkably grounded wife, Aline, and his incredibly unhinged brothers, Charles and Maxon. Interestingly, Zwigoff recruited David Lynch to "present" Crumb, even though the revered director had nothing to do with the documentary—still, it's a fitting endorsement, with many of Crumb's off-the-cuff monologues sounding like Lynch's strange and disarmingly blunt characters. As Crumb vents about mass-market pop culture at one point, "I get so disgusted after awhile with humanity for not having more intellectual curiosity about what's behind all this jive bullshit." For those that have some of the same frustrations and aesthetic appreciations, Crumb is cinematic manna from heaven.