"If you're the kind of person looking for romance or escapism or some fantasy figure to save the day... guess what? You've got the wrong movie."

From the very opening scene co-directors, Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, present us with a rather unconventional film by blending a feature narrative with documentary style footage. Through voice over narration, Harvey Pekar, introduces his character played by Paul Giamatti as an ordinary man living a complex and depressing life. So while this biopic follows a traditional narrative style, it also interrupts it by showing documentary footage of the real people being portrayed in the film explaining the events that took place. The film also includes animation throughout the narrative from Pekar's underground…

This is one of the best biopics I've ever seen. It seamlessly blends documentary-style real life interviews, historical footage, animation, and actors' interpretations of the real-life personalities involved. It's really a phenomenal model, and I greatly enjoyed the attempt as a unique and wonderful piece of indie filmmaking. However, despite all of that originality and the exciting story-telling techniques employed… it's mind-numbingly boring. It isn't a long film, but it felt like it took me forever to trudge through it!

American Splendor is the true story of comic book author Harvey Pekar: native of Cleveland, Ohio and the very definition of the "every man." He has a dead-end job as a clerk in a VA hospital, but he has a…

Harvey Pekar was an ordinary man.

He worked as a file clerk and lived a messy life. He had a thin voice, thin hair, and an even thinner temper. He was subsumed in records and comics and books and art, constantly collecting artifacts of culture and absorbing them into his world. He was as critical of the world as he was endeared to it, admiring the little things in life as much as he despised the complications that came his way. He was an ordinary, schlubby, unassuming man.

He was also a comic book character.

His life, documented in the pages of his comic book, American Splendor, made him a minor celebrity. He shared his criticisms, of himself and his…

State by State (17/50)

Ohio
Date admitted to the union: March 1, 1803
Origin of name: Takes its name from the Ohio River, whose name in turn originated from the Seneca word "Ohi:yo',", meaning "good river"
Population as of 2020: Estimated to be 11,747,694 inhabitants
Cities of Note: Columbus, Toledo, Akron-Canton, Dayton, Youngstown, Cleveland, Cincinnati
Official State Songs: "Beautiful Ohio"
Notable LB Users: sara, <Todd>

The beauty of Ohio has several components to it that have resulted in a majority of its populous to be more than swell and support the idea of "Midwestern Nice". The modest natural beauty of the state shows in the varied caves, waterfalls, and hills and makes sightseeing all the more pleasant. Those looking for…

Harvey Pekar is one of the most deeply relocatable figures in pop culture history. And this film being such a perfect petit four of it's time rounds the edges of his rich legacy. Joyce Brabner adds such lyrical but unpredictable balance to his ferocity, stops him in his tracks. I could watch a whole mini series on these two.

Hope Davis as Joyce reminds me so so much of my Dad's long term girlfriend, Holly. Like him, she was an artist and they clashed a lot but she was a positive influence on me in my teens. She encouraged me to paint and draw, one time she bought me a bunch of those velvet coloring posters. The "masterpiece" themed ones.…

March 2017
Scavenger Hunt #24
TASK #10: A lesser-known or talked about comic book film!

After directing some documentaries, Sheri Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini decided to write and direct their first narrative feature with American Splendor, about comic book writer Harvey Pekar. Based on the DC/Dark Horse autobiographical comics of the same name, American Splendor is a rather unique film in the sense that it combines a traditional biopic narrative with documentary footage of the real-life Pekar and Joyce Brabner as well as animation from Pekar's underground comic books. Normally, something like this come off as jarring and unfocused. In the hands of Berman and Pulcini, it's not only inspired but also wonderfully executed and extremely well though out.…

Another film I watched recently that fells like an exploration of the mid-life crisis. I’m on a streak. 

I have owned this film for a very long time. Paul Giamatti is one of my all time favourite actor.  When I’d see his movies for sale at video stores, I’d pick them up. 

I watched, “American Splendor”, for the first time when I was far too young. Likely 11-14 years old. At the time I wasn’t a huge fan of its narrative structure. I’m glad to say that revisiting this film has lead to a better understanding now that I’m older. 

Harvey Pekar, (both the real life person and the character portrayed perfectly by Giamatti), is a very interesting man to…