20 Documentary Movies You Must See Before You Die

7. Crumb (1994)

Robert Crumb is exactly the sort of person who deserves his own documentary, because what else do you do with a man who apparently masturbates to his own cartoons?

That's not even the weirdest part of Crumb, a picture that really does have to be seen to believed; as the film moves forwards, it turns out that the name of the film doesn't necessarily refer to just Robert. There are two other Crumb brothers, both of whom are even stranger and more confused and disturbed than the egotistical artist of the title.

Dark, disturbing and incredibly funny, Crumb shocks and entertains in equal measure as audiences are introduced to the irreverent cartoonist's strange work and home life.

Aside from painting an intricate portrait of a brilliant and disturbed "genius" (quote marks are definitely necessary in this case), this is a vivid and creatively-rendered documentary that has the mark of its acclaimed director, Terry Zwigoff, all over it. Zwigoff would later move into feature films with works such as Ghost World and Bad Santa, but it's Crumb that remains his best and most memorable movie - not to mention one of the great docs.