| It Came From Kuchar |  | Director: Jennifer M. Kroot
Actors: John Waters, B. Ruby Rich, Buck Henry, Atom Egoyan, George Kuchar
Studio: IndiePix Films
Category: DVD
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $13.83
as of 7/29/2010 23:36 MDT details
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Seller: -importcds
Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 44,114
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
Running Time: 86 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: IPXDIP4078D
UPC: 845637000920
EAN: 0845637000920
ASIN: B00346I950
Theatrical Release Date: 2009
Release Date: June 29, 2010 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 One of the best documentaries I've ever seen in a while June 27, 2010
sf_guy (San Francisco, California USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical about seeing this documentary. Even though I had seen only snippets of Kuchar films throughout the years, I just didn't feel that their artistic oeuvre was consistent with my own.
Fast forward a few months. A friend who took class with George Kuchar at the San Francisco Art Institute invited me to a screening of this film where George and Mike would be appearing afterwards. As I hadn't seen this friend in a while and wanted to spend time with him, I reluctantly accepted his invitation.
From the opening credits, which were amazing, I was hooked. Jennifer Kroot has done a skillful job of juxtaposing the canon of Kuchar films with a more personal and intimate look at the brothers' lives.
It's not easy to blend pathos with humor, especially in a documentary, without it being maudlin or camp, and I was pleasantly surprised at how seamlessly this conbination was achieved in this film.
I was also suprised at how many directors I have admired over the years were influenced by the Kuchar films. Wayne Wang, Atom Egoyan, John Waters, just to list a few.
Although the Kuchar films may not be everyone's taste, "It Came From Kuchar" certainly has something for everyone. I have now seen this film three times, and I learn something new each time. I give it my strongest recommendation.
 Steer clear June 14, 2010
biomimetic (CA United States)
0 out of 7 found this review helpful
Bad movie about bad movies, made by bad people from an unfortunate time in underground film. Enough with the glorification of the losers around the Warhol's 'Factory'. An inch deep by a mile wide unfunny misogyny. Knowing you're unfunny doesn't make it alright.
 A touching tribute to an influential pair of underground filmmakers June 13, 2010
Nathan Andersen (Florida)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
How come I'd never heard of the Kuchar brothers? They have had an incredible influence, and were part of the film underground in its heyday, celebrated by the likes of Jonas Mekas and screening alongside the likes of Stan Brakhage and Andy Warhol. Their films, for all their low-budget schlock-style filmmaking feel, nevertheless show a keen sensitivity to the ways that images work, and how they can be cut together and juxtaposed with music and sound to create feeling and impact. Yet they always continued, quite deliberately, to work with an ultra-low-cost vibe in ways that intensified feeling, and maximized the unusual, combining comic effect and naked self-revelation. It's strange stuff, but not hard to see why filmmakers like Wayne Wang, John Waters, Atom Egoyan, and Guy Maddin love their work and were inspired by it, even while they all moved closer to the mainstream. While Mike Kuchar's films seem to be a bit more artistic and serious explorations of erotic themes, George Kuchar's films are over the top cult classic style movies. He seems to combine something of the prolific inventiveness of a Lloyd Kaufmann with the gross-out sensibilities of early John Waters and a strong hint of guilt acquired from a Catholic upbringing. Still, it's intriguing stuff.
Apart from a few flourishes, such as the delightful 3-d cutout opening title sequence, the documentary itself is pretty conventional, combining talking heads with archival footage, as well as a depiction of the George Kuchar on the set with a class he teaches in San Francisco, creating his latest low budget wild affair, about a female Frankenstein-type character. Still, the subject matter is fascinating, and the brothers are both seriously out there and genuinely sincere and talented, and each has a unique auteur-vision that is clearly on display. Definitely worth catching for lovers of independent and inventive cinema, and for stories about unique American lives.
The Documentary June 7, 2010
Amos Lassen (Little Rock, Arkansas)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"It Came From Kuchar"
The Documentary
Amos Lassen
"IT CAME FROM KUCHAR" is the definitive, feature documentary about the legendary, underground filmmaking twins, George and Mike who have inspired two generations of filmmakers, actors, musicians, and artists with their zany, "no budget" films and with their uniquely enchanting spirits. They grew up in the Bronx in the 1950's making "no-budget" film with their aunt's 8mm, home-movie camera. The New York underground film scene embraced them as the "8mm Mozarts" and their early films deeply inspired many filmmakers, including John Waters, Buck Henry, Atom Egoyan, Todd Haynes, Cory McAbee and Wayne Wang. "IT CAME FROM KUCHAR" includes numerous clips from the Kuchar brother's early films including "HOLD ME WHILE I'M NAKED", "SINS OF THE FLESHAPOIDS", and many others. It also features interviews of many of the filmmakers, artists and writers who've been inspired by the Kuchars. The film also features interviews of key "actors" from the Kuchars' films, ranging from the earliest days in the Bronx through today. For close to forty years George has taught film production at the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI). His class is unbelievable in a circus-like, Fellini-esque style that generates tremendous enthusiasm from his students. "IT CAME FROM KUCHAR" follows his latest class production as they make an over-the-top "monster picture".
Don't feel bad if you're never heard of the Kuchar brothers. After all, unless you were a regular attendee of underground cinema during the 1960s, you are not likely to be familiar such titles as "The Naked and the Nude," "I Was a Teenage Rumpot," "Sins of the Fleshapoids," "The Craven Sluck" and many, many others.
The brothers were motivated by a passion for filmmaking rather than a desire for fame or riches, they were content to work on the fringes. Their films attracted many devoted fans, some of whom went on to become filmmakers themselves. Among those interviewed here are John Waters ("They should be knighted," he declares, before describing how the infamous turd-eating scene in "Pink Flamingos" was directly inspired by a similar moment in a Kuchar film), Atom Egoyan, Guy Maddin and Wayne Wang.
Featured prominently is friend and fan Buck Henry, whose deadpan comments about films like "Thundercrack" -- "It certainly lives up to its title" -- are some of the doc's most amusing moments. If you have never seen "Thundercrack", then you must.
It is one of my all time favorite films and it certainly wins every award for bad taste.
Jennifer M. Kroot directed and she is a former student of George's (he eventually went on to teach at the San Francisco Art Institute), so this is a portrait with affection instead of a critical look at the brothers' work.
There are generous clips of the films, enough to give a flavor of the brothers' blend of camp, melodrama, horror, psychological exploration and sexual provocation. (And also at least a superficial sense of the differences between them.) This sampling is fleshed out by interviews with George and Mike Kuchar themselves, and also with the usual talking-head parade of friends, colleagues, critics and students.
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