Craigslist Joe

Setting out to explore whether America still has a sense of community where people help each other through hard times, 29-year-old Joseph Garner spends a month depending on the goodness of Craigslist posters for his survival.

Matt
Rating: 6 out of 10

It’s a great concept for a documentary. But with any documentary that focuses on the filmmaker pulling a stunt — like the infamous “Supersize Me” — it seems to take away from authenticity of the film.

However, that doesn’t mean they’re not entertaining and “Craigslist Joe” certainly is. It’s not going to blow the doors off your house, but it will keep you thoroughly entertained for for an hour and a half.

It’s definitely interesting to see some of the positions he’s in, the types of people he meets and the places he stumbles to. He’s very much going with the flow. He sleeps whereever he can find a place, gets a meal whenever he can, and a ride to wherever someone is willing to take him. But he also makes some real connections with people who help him along the way, and it’s the glue that holds this film together. It is a stunt, just like the guy who ate nothing but disgusting McDonald’s for a month. He could stop whenever he wants, but that just doesn’t make for good TV. I did walk away, though, satisfied. It was a fun road trip to watch unfold, and there were some heartfelt moments where people genuinely helped out a person who is — kind of — in need.

Exit Through the Gift Shop

Filmmaker Thierry Guetta had been casually documenting the underground world of street art for years, but when he encounters Banksy, an elusive British stencil artist, his project takes a fascinating twist. Unimpressed with Guetta’s footage, Banksy takes over filmmaking duties and Guetta reinvents himself as a street artist named Mr. Brainwash — and, much to Banksy’s surprise, immediately becomes a darling of the Los Angeles art scene.

Lauren
Rating: 9 out of 10

After waiting for “Exit Through the Gift Shop” to finally get to Las Vegas and about five failed attempts to see it with some friends, I snuck off on Saturday afternoon and caught the film in a small, crowded theater.

When reading the description of the movie, which started out as a “filmmaker’s” attempt to get the famous and elusive street artist Banksy on film but ended up with Banksy turning the camera on the “filmmaker,” I was confused. But, it doesn’t matter what the description is or why the movie was made. It is amazing from beginning to end. Even if I didn’t completely know what was happening until close to the end. I loved the art and laughed the entire time.

I can’t explain what happens without giving away the humor and twist of the story. All I can say is I loved it and can’t imagine that anyone wouldn’t. If you love art, if you think art can be joke, if you think street art is beautiful or if you think it was cool but now it’s not because everyone says it is, if you don’t even care about art, I still can’t imagine you wouldn’t be interested in this movie.

Crumb

Director Terry Zwigoff spent six years compiling this portrait of underground cartoonist Robert Crumb, an animation cult hero whose characters Fritz the Cat and Mr. Natural became counterculture icons. Candid interviews with Crumb’s friends, family and the artist himself render a compelling profile of a tormented man who transcended a harrowing upbringing. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

Brian
Rating: 10 out of 10

Terry Zwigoff’s “Crumb” is a tribute to the artistic process and proof that brilliant art doesn’t need structure. It only needs imagination and experience to fuel it.

There’s a brief scene in the film where Robert Crumb explains that great art has come from very oppressive governments, unhappy homes, and ideals and moralities that differ from what we could call normal. This isn’t a bad thing. Openness to art is part of the process of accepting what its message or intent may mean to us. Robert Crumb’s artwork to this day is seen as misogynistic, racist, and demeaning. But when you see this film and take in where the artist comes from, you start to see a much bigger picture and why the world feels so ugly and simplistic at times to him. There’s one great scene where Robert Crumb sits on a park bench and just watches the world go by on a city street and draws as he sees it. Some would call him mentally ill for the way he views the people walking by. His drawings of the people he sees makes them look almost zombie-like and self-centered without any motivation at all. His own family may explain his pessimism. His brother, Charlie, a great artist in his own right, lives with his mother and never leaves his bedroom. His entire life is spent reading and drawing far away from the world. His other brother Max, another great artist, suffers from mental illness and constant seizures.

Where am I going with all of this? Art is an extension of the inner feelings of the artist. Great art is not always pretty, but it’s ALWAYS honest. I’m proud to say I’ve rarely seen a film as honest as Crumb.

Rating: 10 out of 10

 

 

Terry Zwigoff’s Crumb is a tribute to the artistic process and proof that brilliant art doesn’t need structure.  It only needs imagination and experience to fuel it.  There’s a brief scene in the film where Robert Crumb explains that great art has come from very oppressive governments, unhappy homes, and ideals and moralities that differ from what we could call normal.  This isn’t a bad thing.  Openness to art is part of the process of accepting what its message or intent may mean to us.  Robert Crumb’s artwork to this day is seen as misogynistic, racist, and demeaning.  But, when you see this film and take in where the artist comes from you start to see a much bigger picture and why the world feels so ugly and simplistic at times to him.  There’s one great scene where Robert Crumb sits on a park bench and just watches the world go by on a city street and draws as he sees it.  Some would call him mentally ill for the way he views the people walking by.  His drawings of the people he sees makes them look almost zombie-like and self centered without any motivation at all.  His own family may explain his pessimism.  His brother Charlie, a great artist in his own right, lives with his mother and never leaves his bedroom.  His entire life is spent reading and drawing far away from the world.  His other brother Max, another great artist, suffers from mental illness and constant seizures.

 

Where am I going with all of this?  Art is an extension of the inner feelings of the artist.  Great art is not always pretty, but it’s ALWAYS honest.  I’m proud to say I’ve rarely seen a film as honest as Crumb.