CRUMB
The Preshow Entertainment was: RED HOT ROCK. We were having so much fun with this tape that when the pizza arrived, we stood in a line, mesmerized, watching. It's rock videos, all pre-1985, that contain nudity. The first video was a song called GIRLS by Dwight Twilley. The band frolicked amid the football players and cheerleaders, peeking at each other through holes in the lockers. Of course, Dwight, thin 80s tie and all, gets to leave with the babe at the end. Then came LOVELITE by someone (or some band) named O'Bryan (they had two videos on this tape). The idea of this one was a cute 80s girl (a waitress, I think) decides, for no reason, to go to a closed power plant at night and turn a few dials. The electricity starts the band playing a Ray Parker Jr-esque funk-a-thon, as well as ignites lovers into passion through the telephone wires (I think they meant electric cables). Lots of Jacko dance moves and hair. Then came THE CHAUFFEUR, by Duran Duran, with more skin.
But the question was raised, "Why?" Really, who did they make these videos for? Not MTV, although they may have alternate versions. Maybe clubs? I have no idea. Anyway, we turned it off during the opening of SPORTS FANS by The Tubes. The pizza was there and so was Fee Waybill's big hairy cock.
We'll have to watch the rest of the tape.
The movie was:
CRUMB. Now, I have to admit I am not a comic guy, and knew little to nothing about him, except that many friends did that "dude, you gotta see this" thing.
Wow. This is more than a documentary. This is a study in behavioral sciences. This should be required viewing for Psych 101 classes. Never mind Robert Crumb, wait till you meet his family. The Munsters were more grounded in reality. It's so sad and honest. In fact, I think honest is the word for the film. That's the key here. Everyone is honest. Maybe too much. But that too much gives one insight into the art and craft and mind of R. Crumb. An amazing man who created MR. NATURAL (Keep on truckin'), Fritz the Cat (the comic, he is disgusted with the film), and the Janis Joplin CHEAP THRILLS album cover (for which he was paid $600), Crumb despises generic America (Generica?), yet still smiles as he makes his observations. He's turned down millions to not sell out and have his stuff ruined. Honest.
Growing up with a "mollycoddling" mother and disciplinarian father, things were doomed from the get-go in the Crumb house. The two sisters refused to be interviewed for the film, but the brothers, well, if you thought THE RING was scary...
Writing this movie up, I feel a bit like Crumb himself. Things are just flowing and I'm just writing (I wish I could do that in real life), not really sure what I'm going to write next (that I CAN do in real life). So, I'll just sum up. CRUMB is a movie I think everyone should see. At times it's touching, creepy (I gasped more than once), sincere, sad, and funny. Like one of his comics displayed in the film, it's about a family and what goes on under the surface. It's life. No, it's more than life. It's life exposed.
Tags: random movie club, crumb, red hot rock
