In Molly Bernstein and Philip Dolin’s new documentary Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse, Robert Crumb is the man who came to dinner. 

In one of the film’s central scenes, Crumb and his late wife Aline Kominsky-Crumb join longtime friends Art Spiegelman and his wife Françoise Mouly to break bread and discuss their respective connections as titans of the ’70s and ’80s underground comic movement. For purposes of this scene, Crumb is just a friendly and reflective old guy, a normal person having a normal dinner with his normal, if culturally significant, pals.

Crumb’s ease in this scene is disarming because while here he’s simply a peer and a colleague, he’s something much more significant in a broader cinematic context. Terry Zwigoff’s Crumb casts an impossibly long shadow over any nonfiction film about artists, comic or otherwise, but really over any biographical documentary of any kind. But while that movie was a delightfully weird synergy of filmmaker and subject, in Disaster Is My Muse, Robert Crumb is just amiably dull — which turns out to be appropriate.

Premiering at DOC NYC ahead of an eventual PBS launch under the American Masters banner, Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse is too often an amiably dull, or at least dry, documentary. It’s portrait of a man whose greatest artistic achievement (Maus) was an autobiographical graphic novel, who spent decades immersed in producing that achievement and then discussing it in the media, who followed up the achievement up with another book explaining it (MetaMaus) and who has, owing to unfortunate real-world circumstances, had to keep discussing the achievement, because it keeps becoming more and more relevant. 

Put a different way, Art Spiegelman is a remarkable artistic figure, for things associated with Maus and much more. But he’s also a figure who has spent decades talking about himself and about Maus and conveys that impression on-camera here. He’s never hostile — it’s a documentary celebrating his life, after all, nobody’s forcing him to do it — and if you don’t know anything about Art Spiegelman, he’s well-worth learning about. Still, this is a man who has been talking about why he chose to depict Jews as mice in an comic about the Holocaust since the late ’70s, and he doesn’t have the type of personality that allows him to pretend that he hasn’t. 

The focus of Disaster Is My Muse is, appropriately, the role that tragedy has played in fueling Spiegelman’s creative process. His parents were Holocaust survivors, and his younger brother died in Europe before he was born. His mother died by suicide when he was in college. In addition to two volumes and the companion book on Maus, he wrote In the Shadow of No Towers, about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He’s not a morose man, which should already be clear to anybody who knows that he was inspired by Mad magazine and that another of his key co-creations was, of all things, Garbage Pail Kids.

The creation of the latter is not featured extensively in Disaster Is My Muse, though it is acknowledged in passing, and it’s not like it needs to be. But as important as it is for Spiegelman to talk about his relationship with his parents and his process on Maus, the documentary is better when he gives the impression of addressing topics that are either less rote or less emotionally taxing in their repetition.

He and Mouly are great discussing their relationship and the different publishing endeavors they’ve collaborated on, from independent comics to their work through The New Yorker. The introduction of daughter Nadja, who helped inspire his 9/11 book, helps push Spiegelman’s stories into a fresher context. 

It’s just hard for anything said about Maus to sound new. Literary scholar Hillary Chute gives great panel-by-panel breakdowns of several key moments from the work, but when she says that her contributions to MetaMaus came as part of two years of interviews with Spiegelman, it’s another way of saying, “You’re not getting anything previously unrevealed out of me.” It’s all interesting and all just a bit calcified. 

Even when the conversation is brought to the “current” moment, Disaster Is My Muse feels just a little out of step. Donald Trump’s election and first presidential administration forced Spiegelman to resume talking about Maus in the context of anti-fascism, and right wing pushes to ban a number of books in the early ’20s pushed him back into the spotlight as an anti-censorship crusader. So theoretically, Spiegelman and Maus and these topics are even more relevant today, but the interviews all seem to have been conducted a year or two ago. I get that filmmakers can’t hold their project until the subject stops being relevant for new reasons, but there’s a news cycle and this film lags behind it.

You can spot the virtual timestamp on the documentary from the presence Aline Kominsky-Crumb, who passed away in 2022. More than that, you can glean it from the presence of Neil Gaiman as one of its featured talking heads. Having Gaiman to examine panels from the original incarnation of Maus as a three-page strip in a magazine called Funny Aminals [sic] must have seemed like a big “get” at the time, but with the author currently out of the spotlight after accusations of sexual assault, it’s a needless distraction.

With peers like Crumb, Bill Griffith, the film critic J. Hoberman and more, Disaster Is My Muse doesn’t lack for less distracting people capable of breaking down Spiegelman’s importance and his influence in the legitimizing of his chosen medium. A closing montage of current comic/graphic novelists signing books for Spiegelman feels like it could have been something more significant and more immediate.

The documentary is generally engaging, and putting Spiegelman in a spotlight will always be worthwhile. But Disaster Is My Muse is in the shadow of Crumb, in the shadow of Maus and just a little bit behind the times, in various disappointing ways.

“The Heretic”

(Psychological Thriller: 1 hour, 50 minutes)

Starring: Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East

Directors: Scott Beck and Bryan Woods

Rated: R (Bloody violence)

Movie Review:

Hugh Grant is a tour de force. His performance alone is a reason to watch this psychological thriller. His well-done, uncanny performance is powerful. He is charming as his character Mr. Reed.

Mr. Reed has stressed an interest in faith, so Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton arrive at his door to discuss their faith as Christians. Mr. Reed invites the missionaries in and tells them his wife is baking a blueberry pie. He pours the young women drinks and Barnes and Paxton begin discussing their branch of Christianity as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Their talk of theology quicks into something more deviously diabolical as they gradually become aware of Mr. Reed’s intentions.

Scott Beck and Bryan Woods are the directors and writers of this psychological thriller. It may be sacrilegious for some conservative people of faith to find this movie welcoming, but those who like movies that play with the mind should find this a philosophical treat.

Sophie Thatcher (Showtime’s “Yellowjackets”) and Chloe East (“The Fabelmans,” 2022) exude a certain sense of vulnerability as young religious women. They are clever but fit the roles of readymade victims.

However, the best reason to see this movie is Hugh Grant. He offers a superior portrayal of a creepy man concerned about the “one true religion” as he terms it. He plays Mr. Reed with an energetic zeal unmatched.

Grade: B (Even heretics can believe in this intelligent photoplay.)

“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever”

(Comedy/Drama: 1 hour, 39 minutes)

Starring: Judy Greer, Molly Belle Wright, Sebastian Billingsley-Rodriguez and Pete Holmes

Director: Dallas Jenkins

Rated: PG (Thematic material, violence and underage smoking)

Movie Review:

The holiday movie is officially here with “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.” It is an adaptation of the book by Barbara Robinson and a remake of the 1983 television movie that starred “M*A*S*H” alum Loretta Swit. This latest version is a surprise that easily wins one over. It offers comedy and endearing characters.

The Emmanuel Annual’s Christmas pageant is without a director after an accident. Grace Bradley, played by a likable Greer, agrees to direct the pageant that is getting plenty of local attention as it is the event’s 75th  anniversary. Grace’s task should be an easy one, but that changes quickly. Enter The Herdmans, six very unruly children led by older sister Imogene (Beatrice Schneider). The Herdmans take over the leading roles to the chagrin of the church’s congregation.

The movie shines because of a good cast. Judy Greer’s performance easily obtains favorability. Directing children in a pageant or similar event is not an easy task, especially with disgruntled parents and six misbehaving kids. Greer’s portrayal of Grace’s uneasiness in her job is formidable. Greer inspires one to cheer for her cause.

The children are also enjoyable to watch. Beatrice Schneider, Molly Belle Wright, Sebastian Billingsley-Rodriguezand and Lorelei Olivia Mote are engaging and provide plenty of amusing moments.

Dallas Jenkins (“The Chosen”) directs this cheerful Christmas movie. The story jumps through time haphazardly occasionally, but the movie remains enjoyable throughout its runtime. If one is searching for a good family movie this holiday season, “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” is a good reason to leave the house before the holiday shopping begins.

Grade: B (A good pageant.)

“Anora”

(Comedy/Drama: 2 hours, 19 minutes)

Starring: Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Yura Borisov, Vache Tovmasyan and Karren Karagulian

Director: Sean Baker

Rated: R (Strong sexual content throughout, graphic nudity, pervasive language, violence and drug use.)

Movie Review:

Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or winner “Anora” is an entertaining adult drama with plenty of comical moments to keep it fascinating. Mature audiences that appreciate movies as pure entertainment should find “Anora” a welcomed sensation.

The movie follows Anora (Madison), a sex worker who goes by Ani, and Ivan Zakharov (Eydelshteyn) whose nickname is Vanya and is the son of a Russian oligarch. They both present strong extroverted personalities while having introverted, compromised egos. The two meet at Anora’s job, a strip joint in New York City. The two begin a hypersexualized whirlwind affair that lasts roughly a week. During that time, Ivan proposes to Anora. All is well until Ivan’s parents send Ivan’s godfather Toros (Karagulian) and henchmen Igor (Borisov) and Garnick (Tovmasyan) to ascertain exactly who Ivan impulsively married.

From there, this movie becomes one of adventure and comical moments. Anora, Toros, Igor and Garnick search New York City trying to find an inebriated young Ivan whose parents Nikolai and a domineering Galina Zakharov (Aleksey Serebryakov and Darya Ekamasova, respectively) want the marriage annulled immediately.

“Anora,” among the cursing and gratuitous sex scenes, is an enjoyable movie. One truly gets to know Ani and Ivan through their sexual encounters, their drug and alcohol use, and the people they associate with daily.

Mikey Madison and Mark Eydelshteyn play these characters well. Despite their childish whims and immoral and unhealthy lifestyles, this story makes them endearing personas. It is easy to see why people want to party with them. Madison (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”) is especially keen as Anora, aka Ani.

They are joined by Karagulian, Borisov and Tovmasyan. They are a modern-day Three Stooges, providing plenty of humorous material.

These people are far from being saints, but they offer an exciting screenplay. Anora is good entertainment for mature audiences. It is funny and engaging throughout, even when moments appear forced or over-exaggerated.

Director-writer Sean Baker is a skilled moviemaker. He is responsible for “The Florida Project” (2017), “Red Rocket” (2021) and “Tangerine” (2015) that is similar to “Anora.” His movies are impressive.

“Anora” enhances his cinematic resume once more. It is splendid, energetic entertainment.

Grade: B+ (She dazzles like a shining star.)

“Weekend in Taipei”

(Action/Thriller: 1 hour, 40 minutes)

Starring: Luke Evans, Lun-Mei Gwei, Sung Kang

Director: George Huang

Rated: R (Violence and language)

Movie Review:

A “Weekend in Taipei” is a formulaic action flick directed by George Huang who cowrote this screenplay with Luc Besson. Think of this action flick as a weak “Fast and the Furious” type movie. It is good on the action while delivering thinly veiled characters and a shabby plot. If this movie is to cement Luke Evans, an otherwise capable actor, as a new action star, it fails miserably.

Evans plays DEA agent John Lawlor travels to Taipei during a weekend vacation and reconnects with an old flame, Joey Kwangwho (Gwei). She is now the wife of a notorious crime lord and billionaire shipping magnate Kwang (Kang). Joey and her son Raymond (Wyatt Yang) are soon reunited with Lawlor as they try to survive Kwang’s henchmen horde.

Action is all you get with this movie. The main characters are underdeveloped. The narrative needs help similarly. Wyatt Yang, a kid actor, offers better lines, which is not good since he is a secondary player.

The movie also tries to insert a romance substory. The chemistry between Lawlor and Joey is ineffective. This is no love on the weekend.

Grade: D+ (Reserve your weekend for something else.)

“Elevation”

(Action/Science-Fiction/Thriller: 1 hour, 31 minutes)

Starring: Anthony Mackie, Morena Baccarin and Maddie Hasson

Director: George Nolfi

Rated: R (Violence, peril/scary scenes, strong language, sexual references)

Movie Review:

Elevation is a science fiction thriller that has an asinine plot. The more the characters explain what is happening, including what the monsters are, the more irrelevant the plot becomes.

All humans now live above 8,000 feet in mostly mountainous areas. Any person below that altitude is hunted by these giant cockroach beings. Single father Will (Mackie) needs more medication for a medical condition for which his son Hunter (Danny Boyd Jr) suffers. Will decides to go below 8,000 feet.. He sets out to retrieve needed items from a nearby deserted hospital. A former Cal Tech research scientist Nina (Baccarin) and a courageous Katie (Hasson) decide to accompany him on this dangerous quest.

A trivial mix of “War of the Worlds” (2005) and “A Quiet Place” movies that started in 2018, “Elevation” is nonsensical science fiction. Such pseudo-science material robs it of being convincing.

George Nolfi and Anthony Mackie last worked together in biographical drama “The Banker” (2020) and previously in 2011’s “The Adjustment Bureau” (2011). “Elevation” is a lesser production for the two men. The sci-fi feature is something you would waste time with on the Syfy channel. But to watch that channel, you do not have to leave your home.

Grade: C- (This post-apocalyptic does not reach epic heights.)

“Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom”

(Anime/Action/Fantasy: 2 hours, 15 minutes)

Starring: Satoshi Hino, Yumi Hara, Masayuki Katô

Director: Naoyuki Itô

Rated: R (Bloody violence and language)

Movie Review:

“Overlord” is another anime movie based on a television series. Therefore, it is mainly for the fans who follow it on the tele. Like too many other anime movies, this one consists mostly of characters talking and then fighting and talking then fighting, a repetitive process.

This movie follows several characters attempting to save their kingdom by joining forces with the Sorcerer King Ains Ooal Gown. Together, the group is formidable, but their demi-human enemies are as relentless as their leader, the Demon Emperor Jaldabaoth.

“Overlord” has a complex plot and interesting multiple characters, yet they are placed in a lackluster narrative as if a lengthy nighttime soap opera. Plus, it ends with a cliffhanger. When watching anime, one wants to yell, “just shut up and fight already.”

Grade: C (Over it.)

“Small Things Like These”

(Drama: 1 hour, 38 minutes)

Starring: Cillian Murphy, Eileen Walsh and Emily Watson

Director: Tim Mielants

Rated: PG-13 (Thematic material)

Movie Review:

This historical fiction drama is a very quiet drama based on Claire Keegan’s 2021 novel. It is a visual experience. It resides on silent moments rather than the vocalizations of the cast. What is seen between the words are powerful moments to facilitate the narrative as much as words.

At the core of this movie, Cillian Murphy portrays devoted father Bill Furlong, a coal merchant in a 1985’s New Ross, Ireland. Seeing a young woman being forced into a Catholic convent because she is pregnant causes Furlong to have traumatic memories of his mother’s death. His sentiment towards a young lady he later encounters at the convent drives him to upend community norms to reveal a disturbing secret.

Historical fiction is a story that takes place with a background of particular historical events. “Small Things Like These” is comparable to “Philomena” (2013), which was based on an actual story. Both are about the Magdalene laundries of the 1800s and 1900s. Both are captivating, but “Philomena” is more emotively gratifying than “Small Things.”

Audiences may remember Murphy for his Academy Award-winning performance as the title character in Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” 2023. Murphy has always been an exceptional actor no matter what role. He continues that here in in “Small Things.” Even with little words in multiple scenes, he manages to exhibit a world of emotion and angst.

Tim Mielants (“Wil,” 2023), this drama thrives on Murphy’s talents, but the screenplay is a little dull, despite some key well done aspects. Again, this is a visual movie first that rests primarily on Murphy’s usual sound performance. For those liking a slow-moving drama, “Small Things Like These” is the perfect afternoon movie.

Grade: B- (The small things add up to make something bigger, eventually.)

In March 1998, Ben Decter drove from Los Angeles to Tijuana to get medicine for his 17-month-old daughter, Addie. She had “catastrophic childhood epilepsy,” the neurologist had told him, and a drug not yet available in the U.S. was their best bet to treat her nonstop seizures.

That terrifying moment is currently revisited five times per week as part of a new musical — one that’s deeply personal and more than 20 years in the making. Titled “It’s All Your Fault, Tyler Price!,” the family-friendly performance is entertaining, empathetic and educational about epilepsy, a condition that remains stigmatized despite its ubiquity. And its world-premiere production, running through Dec. 15 at the Hudson Backstage Theatre in Hollywood, is largely funded by a pharmaceutical company.

It’s an unconventional financing model for a piece of musical theater. But for a unique stage show with a singular origin story, it might just be the right prescription.

“The entertainment world has been changing, and that includes all of the ways that musicals, TV and movies typically get funding,” said the show’s director, Kristin Hanggi. “It’s really just the idea of partnering with people who are in alignment with the same mission as you are and want to serve the same community you do. And when you’re united on that level, it feels undeniable.”

‘I couldn’t talk about it’

At first, Decter — an Emmy-winning composer who’s scored TV shows such as “Lucifer,” “Lethal Weapon” and “CSI: Cyber” — wouldn’t discuss his daughter’s seizures. Not even with his college sweetheart wife, Jackie Sloan, or his younger child, Leo Decter.

“I had a lot of anger, sadness and isolation, but I’d just internalize and go to the gym or go out running,” said Decter. “I couldn’t talk about it, but I found myself starting to write songs on the piano, and that felt really good.”

Decter played his compositions for Sloan, who’d then sing them with him. “It was his window to express how he felt, like he could say things in songs that he wouldn’t be okay saying out loud,” she recalled.

“Even though it was painful, I felt encouraged and hopeful for us that he was finding a way to stay present and figure out how he was feeling. [These diagnoses] are so hard on families, and most couples don’t make it through.”

In 2007, a neighbor overheard Decter singing these songs and introduced him to Hanggi, who had just debuted the stage shows “Bare: A Pop Opera” and “Rock of Ages.” She immediately took to the material, and continued to develop it with Decter.

“One of the things that struck me about the lyrics was that some of them were from the children’s point of view and expressing emotions I hadn’t heard before,” said Hanggi. “The topic was so heavy, but there was also so much humor and laughter and lightness. I was like, there’s something here, we just have to figure out how to dramatize this.”

Ben Recter and Kristin Hanggi created the new musical “It’s All Your Fault, Tyler Price!”

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

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Mission accomplished. “It’s All Your Fault, Tyler Price!” introduces four characters who are thinly veiled versions of the Decters: an emotionally avoidant composer dad, a burned out corporate lawyer mom, a sweet older sister with epilepsy, and a charismatic younger brother tasked with taking care of her.

The inciting incident onstage — a school bully makes fun of the young girl’s condition, and her brother vengefully punches him in the face — is inspired by an actual anecdote. “A friend of mine was at our house and made an insensitive joke about epilepsy, and pretended to have a seizure,” Leo explained. “I was really offended by it, so I kicked him out.” (No fists were swung in real life, though.)

The show musicalizes some seizure statistics, like the fact that 1 in 26 people will get epilepsy in their lifetime, and that seizures can vary in appearance, with manifestations as muted as a sudden head drop. One musical number even outlines seizure first aid tips, and leads the audience in repeating back the safety steps via a call-and-response gospel song.

“This [show] really bloomed into advocating for this destigmatization of what epilepsy is,” said Addie, who inspired the show. “I hope that anyone who sees this, whether they do still have seizures, are seizure-free or know somebody who has seizures, feels seen and knows that they’re not alone.”

Charlie Stover, Jenna Pastuszek, CJ Eldred and Faith Graham play a version of the Decter family in “It’s All Your Fault, Tyler Price!”

(Jim Cox)

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“Tyler Price!” also portrays how a child’s diagnosis can affect everyone in a family unit: the parents argue about their daughter’s request for a bat mitzvah amid their struggles to pay her medical bills, and her brother craves the same parental attention his sister always seems to receive. Most movingly, it affirms that open communication and safe self-expression are a vital part of everyone’s treatment.

“It’s so powerful in the show when the dad just tells his son that, yes, he does get afraid,” said Hanggi. “We as parents think we’re not supposed to share our fears with our kids, but actually, it’s more helpful to talk about hard things and be intimate about your feelings as a family, instead of covering things up or trying to pretend they’re not there. That challenge is universal, whether or not you have firsthand experience with epilepsy.”

After over a decade of workshops produced by Dodgers Theatricals, Pasadena Playhouse, IAMA Theatre Company and Lythgoe Family Productions, Decter and Hanggi self-produced a reading of “Tyler Price!” last year at the Garry Marshall Theatre in Burbank.

“A piece will tell you when it’s ready to be on stage because that’s when people start giving you money,” said Hanggi of that reading’s very warm reception. “People start writing checks and saying, ‘What can we do to help?’ All this support erupted, and we could feel that energy of, it’s time.”

Addie Decter and her brother, Leo, at the Children’s Ranch. The two siblings inspired the musical “It’s All Your Fault, Tyler Price!”

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

News of the stage show reached UCB, a Belgium-based pharmaceutical company that produces various medications that treat epilepsy. UCB had recently contributed funding to “Under the Lights,” Miles Levin’s award-winning short film that’s since been developed into a feature with Lake Bell, Randall Park and Nick Offerman.

“We’re always looking for new ways to help address and support the community of those living with and caring for folks with a debilitating and complex form of epilepsy, and there’s often no greater medium than storytelling,” said Brad Chapman, head of U.S. epilepsy and rare syndromes at UCB, which provided the majority of the capital for the debut “Tyler Price!” production.

“For us, it’s a natural opportunity to reach more people potentially than ever before, in what might be described through these platforms as one of the greatest awareness campaigns for epilepsy.”

CJ Eldred and Charlie Stover play father and son in “It’s All Your Fault, Tyler Price!”

(Jim Cox)

‘Everything is still all right’

The entire run of “It’s All Your Fault, Tyler Price!” is visually designed to be “seizure safe,” since intense light sequences and patterns can sometimes trigger reactions. Already, the production has welcomed attendees of all ages for their first-ever live show experience. (A fully relaxed performance is scheduled for the Dec. 14 matinee.)

Ben Decter watched this week’s preview performances from various seats throughout the theater and chatted with families afterward; he is admittedly “a lot better” at expressing himself and communicating his feelings to others. His son Leo, now 25, plays guitar in the show’s band.

“Watching a kid play a younger version of you is an absolute trip, but I love getting to help my dad in this meaningful way on this project,” said Leo. Performing his dad’s songs five times a week, “I now have so much more empathy for my parents because I felt how hard it must have been for them.”

Meanwhile, Jackie Sloan pivoted from corporate reorganization and bankruptcy law to founding and running the Children’s Ranch, an Atwater Village organization that offers therapeutic animal caretaking programs for youth of all abilities and circumstances. She was inspired to do so upon seeing how well their daughter, Addie, who was diagnosed at 4 with Lennox–Gastaut syndrome, responded to caring for animals as a child.

Now 28 years old, Addie is an instructor at the ranch, helping to lead lessons for approximately 100 families a month on caring for rabbits, chickens, horses and guinea pigs. “She is a force, and I learn from her every day,” said Jackie of working alongside her daughter, who hasn’t had a seizure in years. “Addie has this way of seeing things through the eyes of the student and helping us understand how we can better help them.

Sloan described the Children’s Ranch not as a place trying to change anyone, but more so where kids and teens can get to know themselves better and show up more confidently as who they are. So in a way, the ranch is actually a lot like the musical itself.

“The show isn’t saying that everything is gonna turn out perfectly,” she said. “It’s really saying, even if things are hard, everything is still alright, and we’re going to make a great life together.”

Clockwise, from top left: Ben Decter, Jackie Sloan, Leo Decter, Kristin Hanggi and Addie Decter.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

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